Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Nested Mallards

I had a sneaky suspicion that I had a mallard hen nesting on my island in my tiny pond this year. I saw hen show up on the pond without seeing her fly in, then next thing in knew she was gone but I didn't see her fly away. My suspicions were confirmed this morning when my wife sent me a video of her and a bunch of ducklings rooting around on the edge. On to the question, I don't mind them now, but has anyone had experience with hatched wild mallards? Will these migrate on after some time, or will they stick around longer term?

All the mallard chicks we've had hatch at our pond got eaten by LMB.

The mallards that have hatched on my pond grow up and then if they get big enough to fly they just disappear one day. I thought I would see them learning to fly but I haven't seen them do that

I just have YP and SBS currently. Added male perch during spawn this year, so once I see YOY I'm going to see about getting a couple saugeye for control, but for now they will avoid being eaten by fish. Now a snapper may be a different story, but I'm guessing they'll still be fine since they are more scavengers of the dead/dying.

Thanks! This is the experience I was looking/hoping for. I was hoping this would just be a temporary deal and they'd take off on their own when ready.

Ouch!

Were you using the Optimal mallard chicks or the ones from Aquamax?

In more seriousness, my uncle lives on a golf course pond. They have had a mallard hen build a nest in their garden for five straight years. I believe that ducks have excellent "object permanence" and there is a good chance your hen will come back to your pond.

However, the survival rate on mature ducks is not great, so she may suffer a fatal mishap before returning to your pond next year.

If you have a snapping turtle in your pond I would expect your ducklings to have a slim chance of leaving.

Before I renovated my pond I watched a snapper grab one of my domestic pekin hens by a foot.
I climbed into the water and took the duck away from the turtle. She was sore for a few days afterwards
and I never saw her get into the pond again. It was a week before the others would go back in.

It would also be helpful if the theme music from Jaws started playing at the pond every time the snapper began stalking a duckling or duck.