Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Will my ducks hurt my pond?

I have 16 ducks on my .62 acre pond.

I tried rounding them up at night into a pen, but they quickly stopped letting me do that they just stay out in the middle. My pond is 1 year old and has had FA on alot last year it totally covered the pond. This year I had FA all the way around the pond about 10 to 15ft from the banks. The ducks have totally eaten the agea up.

I like that they are keeping the agea down but I'm concerned about them pooping too much and degrading water quality. I try to feed them away from the pond but they rarly leave the pond, they may wonder further from the pond as they get older. My pond gets alot of run off, with normall rain it gets enough to fill the pond at least 3 times a year.

Do I have a potentail problem with these ducks?

Also do duck eats tadpoles, frog and frog eggs?
I've seen a few bullfrog tadpoles floating toward the suface after the duck have swam by, I think they a trying to eat them, but not able to get them down.

i have 5 ducks on a 5 acre pond and the wildlife & fisheries dept. guy looked at my pond last year and he told me not to put more 8-10 on my pond.other than this i've never heard of anybody saying how mant per acre.

I think they do harm the water but then I don't care for tame ducks.

If you could do it, you could experiment by putting the ducks in a .62 acre fenced area and looking at the ground on a daily basis. Thats why I don't really care for ducks.

I think I may have too many as well. I have alot of coyotes I'm sure they will get a few. But my wife and kids sure love them.

Way too many ducks for .62 acre pond. Apart from the nitrogen buildup in the pond, that many will seriously mess up the edges via their dabbling as well as crapping all over. You could very easily wind up with a lifeless pit in a short period of time without taking some action. The Coyotes will get the odd duck but may not be as successful as you would like from my experience. Racoons will take ducks as well as hawks and Great Horned Owls. Ducks will eat small animals when they catch them but it is not a staple of their diet. Sorry to be pessimistic because I like and have ducks, but in this case it really is too much of a good thing.
Jim

Jim, in your opinion how many should I get rid of?

I don't think there is an exact science to the # of water fowl per acre based on many variables. I have close to 100 ducks and geese on my 19-20 ac. lake. It is a self contained body of water with little watershed , just an abundant amount of groundwater below a certain level. On avg. you could have 4-5 ducks per acre depending on your nitrogen levels already, etc as stated by Jim. If using geese these #'s should be halved. Trial and error with close observation is required. In my case I'm close to the max., but they help control the weeds, add some free fertilizer to the clear water and we enjoy their beauty on the water while managing a LMB/SMB/BG and YP fishery. I hope this helps.

Rowly

Rowly offers good advice. In a closed situation, no stream through, you get a rapid increase in problems. Ideally, you could probably manage 4 or 5 on your pond.
Jim

to many ducks for that size pond.i too have a 5 acre pond and have been told not to have more than 7-10 ducks on this size body of water.my info. came from la. dept. of wildlife & fisheries,might be same as above guy in la.one thing i think everybody agrees with is you have way to many ducks.