Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Mallards and My Pond

I have a 1/3 acre pond. We started out with the surviving pair of mallard babies a few months ago. The population has now gone up to 20-29 mallards hanging around all day. They don't spend the night but show up at sunrise everyday for the free food.

I'm just wondering if that many ducks on the pond will have a significant effect on water quality and possibly create problems for the fish. The pond is not used for swimming.

We enjoy the company but I don't want to ruin the pond. The pond is stocked with CC, LMB and BG.

Thanks

20-29 mallards is a lot on just 1/3 acre. They are adding a lot of "fertility" to the water, more than most of us would care for. I have no more than 3 mallards hanging around my ponds regularly (Huey, Dewey, and Louise) and am willing to put up with their contributions to water fertility. But 20, I would draw the line with.

Keep in mind that ducks are not like fish. They have an extremely high metabolic rate, and eat constantly. They dabble around the banks eating minnows, baby fish, insect nymphs, and mollusks, which are exactly what fish eat. Ducks are many times more efficient at gathering feed pellets than fish. Each duck probably consumes enough feed for 15 bluegill. That's why I try my best to evict mallards when they show up.

My neighbor has a 1/4 ac pond and he thought it would be cute to have a pair of white mallards on the pond. He rethought the idea when his banks showed signs of erosion where the ducks were digging in the bank, and his water was constantly turbulent. It's amazing how fast the water cleared up without the ducks (and that's having 100 CC in the pond as well!). There is still a line in the grass at the water's edge where the ducks dug all the way around the pond.

Thanks for the comments! We have quit feeding them and the population is shrinking rapidly. Down to around 7 now. Maybe migration will take care of the rest soon. It will be interesting to see what happens next spring.

A bowl of gumbo as a side for Thanksgiving?

They could be thinned out in a couple of days - duck season is open now.......

I wonder if an aquamax fed duck would taste fishy.

I know mergansers and other fish eating ducks taste fishy...

That's why I was wondering, a friend of mine wouldn't waste ammo on Merganser's cause he said they taste terrible.

AAquamax has some fish oil, but not like a daily diet of fish. Even fish on aquamax dont taste too fishy. I had rather try a mallard on fish feed than one on pond scum. Accidently drop a little corn around the edges.

My fish taste like chicken.