Pond Boss Magazine
https://www.pondboss.com/images/userfiles/image/20130301193901_6_150by50orangewhyshouldsubscribejpeg.jpg
Advertisment
Newest Members
Shotgun01, Dan H, Stipker, LunkerHunt23, Jeanjules
18,451 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums36
Topics40,900
Posts557,088
Members18,452
Most Online3,612
Jan 10th, 2023
Top Posters
esshup 28,414
ewest 21,475
Cecil Baird1 20,043
Bill Cody 15,110
Who's Online Now
14 members (LANGSTER, Sunil, dg84s, ewest, Fishingadventure, Shorthose, Freg, IND1371, Augie, Groundhog7, Brandon Larson, Dave Davidson1, PRCS, Theo Gallus), 746 guests, and 312 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#512869 10/17/19 10:25 PM
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 2
B
bamaboy Offline OP
OP Offline
B
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 2
I have a 10 acre lake in central Alabama that I have owned about a year. Good bass fishing lake. I am concerned about the number of ducks that were already presiding here when I purchased the land. There are about 30 of them and they are all Muscovy ducks. Can you guys tell me what kind of damage these things will cause to the lake and the fish population?

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,792
Likes: 68
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent
Lunker
Offline
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent
Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,792
Likes: 68
Welcome to the forum, Bama.

Populations of waterfowl add significant amounts of phosphorous to the water and accelerate the eutrophication process leading to water quality issues. Too many nutrients for the water to process - something will utilize those nutrients often dense phytoplankton blooms or filamentous algae. Dense plankton blooms are subject to major die off events, which in turn can set the stage for fish kill events. All this is stuff we want to avoid.

While you have a a much higher quantity of water than most of us [10 acres - awesome!] therefore greater tolerances for nutrient loads, if it were my pond I'd start culling the flock or consider eliminating them altogether. It's a variable you can control, and so many variables that create management pond and fishery management issues are beyond our control - so I suggest knocking out anything you possibly can to tip the scales in your favor whenever possible. This includes encouraging the flock to move on.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

[Linked Image from i1261.photobucket.com]


Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 2,213
Likes: 514
S
Offline
S
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 2,213
Likes: 514
Waterfowl also tend to feed and dig into the shoreline at the waters edge that can create undesirable effects including erosion.
I agree fully with TJ on this. Best to keep them moving on if possible as the fishery is hard enough to manage properly without them.

Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 884
Likes: 201
G
Offline
G
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 884
Likes: 201
Muscovy ducks are pretty much domesticated, no? will hardly fly very far if at all, getting them to move on might be hard to do with out a little assistance, you might wind up with some duck burgers, I don't think one has to have a migratory waterfowl stamp to hunt them,, you might convince some city slickers from Birmingham out for a guided waterfowl hunt and make a little money off of them.


All the really good ideas I've ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 2
B
bamaboy Offline OP
OP Offline
B
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 2
Good info gentlemen. Thanks for the input. Looks like some target practice coming soon.

Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,470
Likes: 107
R
Offline
R
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,470
Likes: 107
We had a few of those ducks for a week or 2. We feed them dog food and loved it. Al little back ground here my wife dies daycare. So when a parent showed up they would be at there feet everytime they got outta there ride. They are very friendly. If we even opened our back door it was like a race between them to see who got 2 us 1st. I had to get rid of them because of that. They scared some of the kids and pooped all over our driveway.besides that they were funny little creatures.


The people who say I can't do it can just sit the @^#% down and watch me. Friends call me Rusto I also subscribe to pond boss mag. http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=504716#Post504716
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,470
Likes: 107
R
Offline
R
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,470
Likes: 107
I tired to get them to go away the 1st time. I took a bucket of feed across the road from me is a big cemetery that has a nice pond. Which they followed of course. They would follow me on the mower, side by side, half way to my work. So not sure why I thought it would work because they always came bk. Well the darn things ate the food and beat me bk home. Ended up having a relative wanting some. So got a few real ex cause they would let you pick them up.after they seen a couple of there friends get put into the truck they wasnt so friendly they took off. Had to end up chasing them with a big fish net. I'm sure it was quite a funny site. I eventually won the war with them. I gotta say they won a few battles anyway. I loved those things but it just didnt work for us. Only had a few of them maybe 5 or 6.


The people who say I can't do it can just sit the @^#% down and watch me. Friends call me Rusto I also subscribe to pond boss mag. http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=504716#Post504716
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
R
RAH Offline
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
Could trap and sell them?

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 274
D
Moderator
Lunker
Online Content
Moderator
Lunker
D
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 274
Ducks are like cows. They crap everywhere they walk.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.

Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP

Link Copied to Clipboard
Today's Birthdays
Bob Lusk, GaryK, GrizzFan, PhotographerDave
Recent Posts
New 2 acre pond stocking plan
by LANGSTER - 03/28/24 03:49 PM
Happy Birthday Bob Lusk!!
by ewest - 03/28/24 03:37 PM
Working on a .5acre disaster, I mean pond.
by Sunil - 03/28/24 03:32 PM
1 year after stocking question
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/28/24 02:44 PM
Paper-shell crayfish and Japanese snails
by esshup - 03/28/24 10:39 AM
Brooder Shiners and Fry, What to do??
by Freg - 03/28/24 09:42 AM
Relative weight charts in Excel ? Calculations?
by esshup - 03/28/24 08:36 AM
Dewatering bags seeded to form berms?
by Justin W - 03/28/24 08:19 AM
Reducing fish biomass
by FishinRod - 03/28/24 08:18 AM
Questions and Feedback on SMB
by Donatello - 03/27/24 03:10 PM
2024 North Texas Optimal BG food Group Buy
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/27/24 08:15 AM
Newly Uploaded Images
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
by Tbar, December 10
Deer at Theo's 2023
Deer at Theo's 2023
by Theo Gallus, November 13
Minnow identification
Minnow identification
by Mike Troyer, October 6
Sharing the Food
Sharing the Food
by FishinRod, September 9
Nice BGxRES
Nice BGxRES
by Theo Gallus, July 28
Snake Identification
Snake Identification
by Rangersedge, July 12

� 2014 POND BOSS INC. all rights reserved USA and Worldwide

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5