Oh groan!!
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May 23, 2011 4:01 p.m. Lesley SuperDork
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May 23, 2011 4:12 p.m. spitfirebill SuperDork
For God's sake don't get any Canada Goose unless you like a lot of crap.
Back when I was in college a wildlife professor got all excited because they finally got some Canada Goose to overwinter on Clark's Hill Reservoir. He was all giggley about it. Now these things are on just about every body of water in the area.
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May 23, 2011 4:16 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork
OTOH geese make a good alarm system.
Not good enough for me to put up with some, though.
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May 23, 2011 4:31 p.m. Lesley SuperDork
They remind me of a bunch of snotty, gossipy old ladies. Ducks OTOH, make me smile. I just love them.
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May 23, 2011 5:30 p.m. JoeyM SuperDork
Lesley wrote:
Whatever you do, don't get geese. They bite your bum when your back's turned.
I was bitten by a nene (fingers, not bum)
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May 23, 2011 5:51 p.m. RexSeven SuperDork
I'd direct you to this guy, but he only knows two facts about ducks, and both of them are wrong.
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May 23, 2011 6:10 p.m. Lesley SuperDork
I think you should get Indian Runner Ducks. Saw them at a fall fair one time, and couldn't stop laughing at the poor things. They crack me up.
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May 23, 2011 6:45 p.m. benzbaron Dork
I think geese brought fois gras onto themselves with their ornery behavior.
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May 23, 2011 7:16 p.m. familytruckster New Reader
They are slow on land and slower in the water, tall and carry lots of people. Usually tourists.
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May 23, 2011 8:46 p.m. valiant171 New Reader
Well thanks for all the input!
From what it looks like no ducks unless its on my plate! While it's always good to keep the "ol lady" happy I think I will find another way. Maybe some day when I am in the dog house deep for oh, like bringing home a 6x6 military jeep or forget our anniversary because I was out at the junkyard and found a Plymouth Style.
Maybe I will buy her a gun or something for our anniversary that way she can learn to shoot a goose that tries to attack her.
But thanks for the candid information... This board is the best!
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May 24, 2011 6:43 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork
Living at the shore.. we had plenty of Mallards that were abandoned by their mothers. They are pretty playful and very loyal when you hand raise them.. they are also pretty stupid as said above.
We always let them back to the wild in with flock that spawned them when they got close to being an adult. Aside from one pair that somebody captured, they all survived and carried on breeding, quacking, and doing what ducks do.
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May 24, 2011 7:25 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork
I've had many ducks over the years, as well chickens geese and guinea fowl.
Domestic ducks can't escape any predator. They rely on you 100% for all protection. So you've got to shut them up securely at night, every night. Day time your biggest predator is the neighbors dog. In my experience, they are easier prey than even chickens.
Poop. Lots of it. Keep them in an area you don't mind having awash in the stuff.
Dabbling. They love to do it, and will turn the area into a mud bog after the first rain. The larger the area you keep them in, the less devastating the damage. But make no mistake, they dabble like mad.
Noise. Not much. Soft chatter almost continuously, with raucus quacks randomly thrown in.
Breed differences. Almost all are derived from the mallard, and are far more alike than different. Two notable exceptions, the Muscovy and the Runner. The runner is very upright, a fast runner, and fairly high strung. The Muscovy is actually a goose. Virtually silent and very laid back. Looks are rather...unique.
Best way I ever kept ducks was in a secure aviary structure. A wire pen about 30x20x8. Covered on the top. Fence buried about a foot down, 1 foot tall plastic visibility shield, and a very nasty electric fence charger with multiple strands. That worked. They reduced it to a mud bog, and loved it. One kiddie wading pool that they would thoroughly muck up about every day.
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May 24, 2011 7:59 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork
Lesley wrote:
Ducks!
Fixed that for you
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May 24, 2011 1:46 p.m. jimbbski Reader
My sister has a lake front home and has wild ducks and sometimes geese come up on her lawn. A number of years ago a female mallard duck started to hang around quite a bit. She was feeding on the droppings that fell from my sisters bird feeder. My sister noticed that she had a damaged beak, the tip was just broken off, not sure how it happened. She started to feed the duck cracked corn in a small bowl. It got so use to her that it would come up on the porch to feed. It also learned that if it came up on the porch and there was no food there she could quack and/or look in the sliding glass doors to get my sisters attention to get some food. This went on for 3-4 years until this past fall when she just stopped coming around. Over the years 2-3 other ducks were brought to my sisters porch by this first duck to feed. Some of them still come for their corn fix from my sister.
These ducks are not afraid of people. I have visited there and while sitting on the porch these ducks would swim up to the shore, walk the 100 ft or so to the porch and then look around for their bowl of corn. You couldn't touch them but they would feed right at your feet as you sat in a chair. .
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May 24, 2011 1:53 p.m. GameboyRMH SuperDork
Duke wrote:
All I know from personal experience is DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES get guinea fowl.
Hahaha my dad talks about how he used to have those when he was a kid. They're loud and aggressive. I do hear they're the next best thing to an actual dog for a guard dog though.
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May 24, 2011 2:18 p.m. Bench Racer (BowtieBandit) Reader
My grandparents had guinea fowl, I spent much of my summers there as a kid. Loud, irritating, but they do caw and caw when something new pulls in the driveway. Also way more protective of their young than any red hen ever thought about being. I actually kinda miss that sound, sitting on the porch, or watching tv with the window open, hearing all the birds outside.
I'm gonna go see my grandma tommorrow, thanks guys!
EDIT: on a side note, my in-laws live right on the edge of the woods, at the edge of Green River Lake State Park actually, and have a terrible tick problem. He was bound and determined to buy some guineas to eat them all up. He then buys two adult guineas, not babies.
My MIL said she watched him take them out of their pen, and $18 walked right into the woods, never to be seen again, hahahaha.
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May 24, 2011 3:03 p.m. spitfirebill SuperDork
What you really need is a peacock!
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May 24, 2011 4:31 p.m. nedc New Reader
We rescued a lone duckling in our pond a couple of years ago and raised her as a pet- her name is Daisy. She swam in the pool with us that summer and eventually had at least 25 babies over the next year or so. predators are really rough on them, in water or out. Here she is swimming with my neice.
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May 24, 2011 5:30 p.m. Flynlow New Reader
In reply to nedc:
Is your pool chlorinated? Would that bother them?
I considered having some ducks or hens when I had 6.5 acres in rural Ohio, but decided against for all the reasons mentioned...maybe some day!
Loyal, friendly ducks that hang out in the pool would be beyond awesome though.
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May 24, 2011 6:16 p.m. nedc New Reader
In reply to Flynlow:
Didn't seem to bother her- but her poop did sometimes bother us! She eventually became more 'wild' as she hung around more with other ducks.
