tullyhubbert Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 First of all hello again, been quite a while since I last dropped by. I've just been offered the shooting (With my brother, an acquaintance and his son) on a small flight pond on the ground neighbouring my mothers home farm. Ducks have been stopping of there since my 75 year old mother can remember. No idea of the numbers of ducks who visit. Its an old quarry approx 80x60yds and only fills with water during the winter rainy season. It has plenty of cover on 3 sides. So what I need to know asap is .... I want to start feeding it asap, what do ducks eat? What amount of feed, where best to feed it, shallows/shore? How often to feed and what price should I expect to pay it? Generally anything that might help as I know diddly about the subject. Hopefully get something from a local farmer tomorrow if you can help as I want to get started asap. Thanks in advance ... John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Feed in the margins and if you can get to it daily just a bucket a day will do if its all gone.Dont overfeed as a lot will be wasted.Corn,barley and wheat are my usual feed but there are others.The most important thing to remember is not to overshoot.Ducks are very intolerant to too much abuse so shoot sparingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullyhubbert Posted November 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Feed in the margins and if you can get to it daily just a bucket a day will do if its all gone.Dont overfeed as a lot will be wasted.Corn,barley and wheat are my usual feed but there are others.The most important thing to remember is not to overshoot.Ducks are very intolerant to too much abuse so shoot sparingly. Thanks sako, does the barley/wheat/corn need to be crushed/bruised before feeding? And any idea of how much it costs? We are thinking of shooting it 4-6 times per season, does that sound too much/little over a season? My father used to say to always leave early and allow some birds to 'get in' that make any sense? Ta ... John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Your old fella was spot on.The feed doesnt need crushed,and the price is around £160 a tonne i think,making it about £8 for a bag,which will do a while depending on duck numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullyhubbert Posted November 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Another thought, are potatoes any good as feed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millrace Posted November 6, 2010 Report Share Posted November 6, 2010 go get them spuds.........champ them up best is the refuse rotten one,s ducks love them......... scatter wheat corn etc in the shallows at edges no point in deep water, if you have an island put spuds on it or make a floating feeder...old pallet builders insulation in middle and ply on top with lathe round edge to stop spuds coming of ,,,,tie this to either post or blocks in the pond and the duck will use this,,,,,looks weird but they work,,,,went to feed my pond today there was 2 teal happily perched on one of the feeders.... joy of spuds is if you cant get to feed for a few days with the grain the spuds keep them happy... shoot every couple of weeks on a really windy night and rem ducks always come in to land against the wind!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonevo Posted November 6, 2010 Report Share Posted November 6, 2010 good bit of advice Millrace and when shooting use 4s or 5s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullyhubbert Posted November 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 go get them spuds.........champ them up best is the refuse rotten one,s ducks love them......... Thanks all, got a hundred weight of barley on Saturday and put half a bucket out. Fed mushed up spuds on Sunday and another half bucket of barley tonight. My brother took a plastic bin over to the pond this morning to keep feed in and there were two teal on it <cheers> Hopefully they will tell their friends about the great feed they had ... lol What's the score with vermin guys, I'm feeding the grain right on the edge of the shallows. I'm leaving a little above the waters edge as want to see if it's being eaten. But vermin, crows, gulls, starlings etc could be scoffing it for all I know. Anyhow I'll be feeding on the way home from work so at least there should always be something for any visiting ducks. Its not as big as I remembered, sort of 60 x 30/40 yds and more a big mucky hole than a pond, its appox 5 miles as the duck flies to Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. And a rather bad picture taken with my phone camera in the rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millrace Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 looks grand to me,,,,you could always go in with a strimmer if you need to clear bits of it out,,have to do this with mine every year to keep rushes down,,,,,if duck are coming you should be ok.....nxt time yo feed wait around for dusk and count any duck in......nothing sounds better than duck whistling around your head...... if i understand you your feeding the edge of the water line its always better to feed into the shallows rem the duck will dive for it and they dont want to be walking round the edges incase of foxy...... as for other birds etc never worry what gets a bit of the food so long as the ducks come its your gesture for conservation......lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullyhubbert Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 if i understand you your feeding the edge of the water line its always better to feed into the shallows rem the duck will dive for it and they dont want to be walking round the edges incase of foxy Its all a bit of a learning experience atm. I'm feeding where the water meets solid ground in the picture foreground and too the left and right. The far side in the trees/gorse is too deep. The clear water in the centre is around 3 feet deep and it seems pointless chucking any feed there. I forgot about Mr Foxy and the ducks not liking him, something else to think about (Though the waters edge / shore is hard to define and the most of the feed is in a few inches of water) I think there is enough clear water for now, but I'm already thinking about clearing a little with a digger when the pond dries up next summer. Will keep putting out a little feed each night and maybe watch from nearby on Friday evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 (edited) looks a very nice place for abit of ducking (snipe will like it too!?) i shoot over a grass field that floods after a few days of rain, no digging needed, just naturally there after rain, the ducks love it. none of the water is 'clear' there is always the tips of the grass showing and the ducks drop in and stay there all night, i guess they like dabbling about amongst the grass for the grain i throw abit of grain down every 3rd day and chuck potatos down aswell to keep them happy when the grain runs out crab apples go in aswell when i get time to get a few, i like to mix it up abit and try feed alsorts, give them a nice balanced diet Edited November 9, 2010 by TJ91 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullyhubbert Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 crab apples go in aswell when i get time to get a few, i like to mix it up abit and try feed alsorts, give them a nice balanced diet Seriously? I have a couple of crab apple trees at the back of the house and the wind falls are all over the ground at the minute. Gathering them will be a good job for my nieces at the weekend. Heck I might even get some cabbage and sprouts, then when the ducks light the after burners it'd make for very sporting shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 (edited) Seriously? I have a couple of crab apple trees at the back of the house and the wind falls are all over the ground at the minute. Gathering them will be a good job for my nieces at the weekend. Heck I might even get some cabbage and sprouts, then when the ducks light the after burners it'd make for very sporting shooting get them to collect a few and stick them in a big plastic feed bag, then tell them to jump on it to mush the apples up abit mushy rotten crab apples..they seem to luv them here, mainly mallard on our floodwater and the mushed apples in the shallows soon dissapear! i throw some acorns in now and then aswell..a few years ago after seeing ducks up ending in a dyke i noticed they were after acorns so i gather some up now and then Edited November 9, 2010 by TJ91 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyboots Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 you can always get your friends etc to keep there spud peelings and put them in as well mallard love them we put bags of spud skins into our 2 ponds and they are always gone by the next day, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Dog Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Top tip MB, we feed a lot of spub peelings and the duck love em. Nice looking flight pond u have there, good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullyhubbert Posted November 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 Been feeding the pond daily with barley, spuds and crab apples for coming up on three weeks now, not shot it yet. Sat out a few evenings and there was always 3 or 4 Mallard arriving just after dusk, usually stayed 45 mins after that without seeing anything else but the feed was getting mostly eat by the next morning. Done a few reccies around midnight and was very surprised to find lots of Mallard, around 20 one night and at least 40 another. So that's were the feed is going then Sat out this evening, first time I've seen the Teal flighting in after dusk, about 20 or so in small groups. So why are the Mallard flighting so late then? The most of them arrive some time between an hour after dusk and midnight. I'm thinking this could actually be a good thing, hopefully gives time for a shot in the evening but the bulk of the birds will get in undisturbed. So all is well, except my ickle pond will probably freeze at the weekend, any point in feeding a frozen pond guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ91 Posted November 25, 2010 Report Share Posted November 25, 2010 Dont stop feeding it no matter what mate...if you cease feeding they will find somewhere else and not bother with your pond Break the ice around the edges(or the whole pond) when you feed it.. i have been trying to think of a way of stopping the flood i am feeding from freezing over..there must be something i can chuck in it to stop it freezing..the obvious would be to get the water flowing but thats easier said than done whats the moon been like?..maybe they are flying in late as the moon will be bright..they can see alot better than us and the water will stick out like a sore thumb from above, under the moonlight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullyhubbert Posted February 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 And so the season ends ... The pond provided a lot of interest for me, what with the freezing conditions the weather wasn't too kind but I got manys an evening watching the ducks come in and between the brother and I we took 2 Mallard and 5 Teal. Which brings me to the point of this post, the brother shot a Teal drake last night. He rang me this evening to say it's leg was ringed (Racing duck!) Apparently it says ... "Inform British Museum London SWT" I've googled and can't make any sense of this, any ideas? -- JC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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