I had to be up near the cabin on business this morning so I stopped by quickly afterwards to check out the pond. There was a great blue heron there that has been hanging around a lot. I'm sure he has taken some of the shiners. Anyway, I saw some clusters of slime on the vegetation and tree branches that looked to be some kind of eggs but I have no idea what kind. I did locate a school of shiners and filmed them with my phone. I threw some chick starter to them and got video of them eating it. It's not the best footage because it was windy and the shiners kick up mud from the bottom when they thrash around after the food. The shiners have been in there for weeks and look to be in good shape. Here's the clip:
I've never seen feathers on a fish. Do the fish a favor and use good fish food, they will grow a lot faster and your pond will benefit from it. Get 10# shipped to you to try. https://optimalfishfood.com/product/optimal-starter-4/
It's the same reason why you don't feed range cubes to your dog, or that you don't have rabbit pellets on your dinner plate. There are feeds formulated specifically for the animal that you are feeding and they grow much better on them.
