jonniemax426 Posted October 12, 2016 Report Share Posted October 12, 2016 Been feeding our pond now for the last 7 years. Pond is based on our ground so gets hand fed every day from August through till about April Slowly dropping down feed as we get to April. Normally get around 50-60 duck flighting in .. This year we have dug another pond close to the original pond which is also hand fed daily.. Hoping by having more water and space this would help attract a few more to flight in. Just after any advice /ideas anyone might have to improve numbers. Feeding barley at the moment bucket per pond . We only shoot a couple each per gun every three weeks so just like to see a few more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted October 13, 2016 Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 To give a good answer we need a lot more info on the size of the ponds, depth, what the surrounding habitat is like, what type of duck visit your ponds and how many duck are likely to be in the local area.. It looks as though you are attracting a fair number of duck with the methods you are using. However what is the source of duck and how many counter attractions ( fed flight ponds ) are there within 10 miles of you. If there is a large lake or estuary close by holding thousands of duck then you have the potential to attract a lot of birds if your ponds are large enough. But if your duck are coming from waters only holding a few hundred duck then it will hard to improve the numbers on your pond. Planting natural food plants may help attract species that you do not get at the moment and if the ponds are exposed then a shelter belt will make the warmer or if the pond is overgrown with trees then thinning out some may attract spcies such as wigeon who usualy do not like over grown ponds. A variety of foods may help. Wheat will quickly sink, but barley will float for some time and species such as teal will like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonniemax426 Posted October 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 Thanks for the reply. Original pond is roughly 20 metres across and about 35 metres in length. Starts very shallow at edge slowly dropping to around a metre in middle where there is an island with reeds around it. Plenty of open water but have let reed/rushes grow around back for cover. Newer pond is slightly small with island. Is situated adjacent to the other pond . Bit sparse at moment but have planted reeds and a few tress on 1 side to protect from wind coming up valley. Other side is a banking sheltering pond . Pond are based in s.wales valley. Around both ponds the field is boggy wetland just having mallard and we do get some teal. As far as I know our pond is the only fed pond in the area. We are close to two big reservoir . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie10 Posted October 13, 2016 Report Share Posted October 13, 2016 Put some duck down next year to increase numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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