Farm Pond Advice Please

[Ira]

Middle of last Duck season an old acquaintance invited me out on his pond for an evening duck shoot, it was my first time out at night round a pond and it was an eye opening experience. Thoroughly enjoyed it although I didn't shoot anything, in my opinion there were too many guns and dogs and it got pretty hectic.

 

So back on the farm where I work theres a now disused reed bed system with 3 final settling ponds, always a handful of ducks on there so I sat down there a few times and had some really pleasant nights, just two of us each with a dog and we would get a couple of ducks apiece, not greedy but a few more would have been nice. Due to the orientation of the farm two possibly three guns is all that the ponds would hold which is fine by me!

 

I started feeding with some old barley and teathered a raft in the middle with a feeder on it but think we started feeding way to late in the season. Anyway I have carried on feeding and noted that there are a couple breeding down there now and the food is still being taken.

 

The layout is basically one large pond with two 4' bunds dividing it up, the bunds have chunks out of them to allow water to pass through when the level is up, it is these cut outs that we stand in to shoot. I plan on gravelling the damp areas to give better footing in the hollows of the bund and put some basic benches in to rest on, I will also cut the willow saplings that are starting to get a bit big and maybe fashion a hide out of one by weaving it.

 

I would be grateful for any other advice on how to improve these ponds, without spending a rake of money, I don't intend to stock other than what flies in. It can be quite reedy and they drop off deep very quickly so the edges are covered in vegetation but theres a lot of deep open water. Would some shallow spots be good?

 

am I right to keep feeding, should I put some feeders on the banks as well as on the raft?

Any good advice would be gratefully received as Im just guessing at the moment, many thanks

 

 

[motty]

Shallow spots would be good if you intend to feed mallard and teal in them. Some feed around the outside of the pond could also be good. When I used to shoot a friend's pond, we used to get a visit from several pheasants in the mornings which is a bonus. I wouldn't say it could ever be too late to start feeding during the season, especially if you have open water during spells of freezing weather.

[anser2]

Start feeding ( though it sounds as though you are not going to stop feeding all year round ) in August to some of the resident ducks used to comming into the ponds, if there is any way of creating more shallows do so , keep the pond as quiet as possable and do not shoot more often than every 3 weeks. Feed with a mix of barley and wheat , there will be no need for any other foods and some like spuds may pollute the pond if uneaten. Duck prefer wheat which quickly sinks , but are happy with barley some of which will float. Though if you have some where to sweep them up , ie a farm track , acorns are a good free food for mallard , but they are too big for teal. Be wary about putting food on the banks it will attract rats . Keep the the food in the water, if there is any chance of attracting diving duck put some of the wheat in the deeper water but do not over feed the deeper water untill you know you have some diving duck comming in. In an ideal world feed enough so the ducks clear it up by dawn or your pond may change into a day roost. However for most of us its a case of feeding heavy when you get the chance , enough to last until your next visit.

 

Dont shoot too late to leave a lead in of late duck and if you do get a lot of duck coming in take it easy on them. I see you are making a willow hide , if you can have it faceing over the water to the east so you will have the ducks comming in against the good light as it gets dark. You do not say how big the total area , but two guns sounds ideal

 

Sounds like you have a good flight pond in the making , good luck.

Edited April 24, 2015 by anser2

[Ira]

Many thanks for the replies much appreciated, as luck would have it I have a 10T dumper next week and a pile of clay sub soil to push about so I may lose a bit to create some shallows, does that sound right?

 

The pond is divided into three lagoons each about the size of a basketball court maybe a tad larger, we generally sit between the furthest two from the farm, unfortunately facing NW, due to the orientation its the only real way to be sited with a gun, the bonus is thats the way the majority of the duck fly in as they are then coming head into the predominant wind, SE, it means we can't see em so well but theres quite a bit of sky to have them against.

 

I have been feeding today, should I stop till August. How much barley would you put down every evening, a bucket, half a bucket? or just a little and if it all goes give it a bit more till you have right!?

 

If you don't ask (or read) you'll never learn. cheers fellas

[scotslad]

If u can afford it probably not a bad thing to feed all year, never ever heard of a shoot that feeds duck all year thou,a althou my local nature reserve does (froma spring hopper).

 

Only thing to watch is in warmer weather if u have uneaten feed in the water goes stinky/off quickly at this time of year which is not so ideal.So just feed wot is being eaten every day.

 

I've never been in a position to feed a pond every day but they say it does work better, but usually just feed a pond once a week/fortnight so just a tiny bit left when next fed, wether that is a few buckets, bags or 1T doesnae really matter ust feed wot the duck are eating.

 

Making some shallow areas will help for feeding, about welly deep at the deepest is fine for feeding althou shallower for teal, and nice gentle sloping edges so duck can waddle out of the pond easily too.

Probably some advice on either BASC or GWCT sites for pond design

[Ira]

Cheers for the advice, Im a little limited as to design as they are existing and Im going to try and make the most of what is already there,maybe some minor work this summer, shallows by the sound of it are a must!! so thats my top priority, as is getting rid of some of the foxes!

cheers

[anser2]

Gear the amount of feeding to the number of duck comming in and how much food is going. If its all going every night lowly step up the feeding. In general start with a bucket full in the autumn and see how it goes. This time of year there is lots of natural food and probably fewer duck so feed less. Beware of overfeeding any duck bred in the ponds getting too over fed as they are likely to get too tame , stay on the pond all day and not flight.

Edited April 25, 2015 by anser2

[ollie]

Just to add my a little to the good advice you have already received.

 

On our flight pond we make the most of free food. We go to potato farmers and ask for a couple of bags of mouldy spuds, chop these up in a bucket and put into the shallow areas. This gives a bit of variation but it's also cheaper then constantly feeding barley/wheat. On some of my permissions there are also crab apple trees, so I also chop some of this up to mix in with the grain. I also keep the veg peelings from the house.

 

As Anser said adjust the feeding to suit the numbers. We normally start feeding around end of July, and every few weeks we sit a couple of hundred yards from the pond to see how many ducks are attending. This doesn't disturb the ducks as we sneak away after the flight is over and it also gives you an idea what time the flight starts.

 

Good luck and don't shoot anymore than you need.