The Lawn Ranger Posted August 21, 2016 Report Share Posted August 21, 2016 Hi everyone, I have a cracking duck pond which I have shot and managed for about 15 years or so, I generally start feeding the margins from about now onwards with a couple of buckets of wheat or barley twice per week. Due to work commitments last year I couldn't feed as often therefore longer intervals resulted in very low numbers using the pond. I was wondering if putting a couple of phesant type feeders with spirals in say about 6" of water would do the trick, that way if I'm away working then feeding intervals of about 7-10 days wouldn't be an issue. Any input appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberFowl Posted August 21, 2016 Report Share Posted August 21, 2016 Automatic feeders are handy gadgets in some places. We found the pheasant feeders didn't have the desired effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted August 21, 2016 Report Share Posted August 21, 2016 With work i usually only feed once a week but try and put enough to last near enough the whole week and it works fine. If you do a bucket or two twice a week then put a bagful a week and and there shouldnt be much waste if there are numbers and a decent margin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lawn Ranger Posted August 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2016 Thanks for the replies. Getting the balance right is going to be key I think, I gave the pond a good scattering of barley on Saturday and when I went tonight there was nothing left and no birds to be seen. I spoke to the farmer just as I was leaving and asked if he'd seen much about 'hundreds' on Sunday through to Monday was the reply. Another challenging season ahead by the looks of it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadkill Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 i have some nice ponds with a few duck on, do i just scatter the barley wheat on the back sides? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simjakcal Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 This year on 2 of our ponds we have built rafts out of 4 pallets fixed together with water containers fixed underneath to help float, fixed carpet on top and put a 50 gallon drum top hat feeder on each one (half filled with wheat so not to heavy, lasts a good week) .. it seams to be working well and seeing the ponds holding a lot more birds than normal.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 I am going to get an auto feeder to feed one of our margins, I think I can put it on a little spit of land so I can feed more of the margin with every spin. What I want is some potatoes, but can't get any (not for the auto feeder) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberFowl Posted August 26, 2016 Report Share Posted August 26, 2016 I am going to get an auto feeder to feed one of our margins, I think I can put it on a little spit of land so I can feed more of the margin with every spin. What I want is some potatoes, but can't get any (not for the auto feeder) Crab apples are a good feed if you have any growing local you could pick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Crab apples are a good feed if you have any growing local you could pickYes, they are a good feed, and the hedgerows are bursting with them now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stimo22 Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 We have a large pond and a lake to feed up and we have eight automatic feeders that can be set for up to twenty seconds twice a day. Morning and evening we got them from America and they are called Kenco feeders. They spin barley in a vertical line along the bank where as most pheasant feeders spin horizontally and spread the grain around the feeder. I will take a photo this afternoon and post later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stimo22 Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 As promised here is some photos of the automatic feeders we use on our flight ponds, they came from USA and are Kenco PC-44-S. There must similar items in the Uk but you need them to spray the barley out in a straight line so that you can aim in the shallows. We also feed up manually at weekends and once midweek on a rota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettinsoli1 Posted September 16, 2016 Report Share Posted September 16, 2016 Try beet pulp nuts. When you put the nuts out they swell out and float on the water has worked for me in the past Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 Have only been feeding since the start of the month and the five ponds are all getting used and by good numbers of birds already. Had an evening with Mac on Saturday and had 6 teal with no mallard coming in at all which is strange for this pond which is very small but loads of teal. A bag of barley doesnt last long in the bigger ponds so will be cracking on them pretty soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted September 21, 2016 Report Share Posted September 21, 2016 Once you start you better not miss a feed or they are gone elsewhere. We used to tip a half trailer load at the edge and let them shovel it up and it used to last a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 Landowner up at rough shoot has texted me for the last three mornings to tell me how many ducks have been lifting off the pond each morning. Upwards of fifty now, he reckons. He's been feeding it with the dregs of last years barley he cleaned from the tower before putting in this years yield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnytheboy Posted September 22, 2016 Report Share Posted September 22, 2016 We have two ponds we fed like you, our farmer dumped two tonnes of old grain on our pond in the margins, we thought it was a disaster, turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to the pond! This year we dumped a pile on and put the auto feeder over the top of it, seems to be going just fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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