WATERFOWL GARDEN
Waterfowl breeding in a garden setting
I will describe the methods I use for breeding my waterfowl here, but of course all waterfowl species are not the same and requirements vary greatly, therefore this page will be a general overview and any species specific needs will be mentioned on that species individual pages.
More to follow
If your waterfowl are kept in a well planted area many will choose to nest amongst the vegetation, sometimes a good distance from the water and sometimes in unexpected places ! If you can rely on the other inmates to leave the eggs whilst unattended then they can be left in place until either hatching or removed for artificial incubation/hatching. It also depends whether the nest is exposed to outside predators such as magpies , crows etc., in this instance I would recommend replacing the eggs with dummies, ( hens or bantams eggs are good substitutes ) until the whole clutch is laid and incubation starts, but better to remove the whole clutch for artificial incubation in these circumstances
Nest boxes provide a good alternative, even for species that usually nest amongst vegetation in their natural habitat, most species accept nest boxes readily. Only a few will refuse them. I try and provide at least two boxes per pair of birds.
For most dabbling species a good basic box size is approx 30cm square, you can elaborate on this basic size by adding entrance tunnels of varying designs if you wish or making them "higher " and placing them on their sides. A sloping removable lid is handy for inspection and egg removing as well as annual cleaning. I have found that it is sometimes beneficial to omit the floor in the box , this means that the nest is subject to the moisture available in the ground, as it would if built in the open. Another design is a simple triangle box.
An entrance hole from 10cm upwards will cover most of the smaller dabbling species, this can be a hole, or in the form of part or all of the front being missing, see diagrams. For larger species increase the box and entrance sizes accordingly.
I use wood shavings as a floor covering with a small amount of straw for nesting material, I have also used reed-mace leaves as well for this, dead and alive. I used to use a mix of sand and shavings but found it dried out to quickly and the sand simply settled at the bottom. If the box has no floor then simply scrape the soil away into a bowl shape and ad the shavings or/and straw. I now prefer boxes without floors.
These boxes can be raised of the ground and a ramp provided for access, I have used solid ramps with ladder type rungs attached and also solid ramps with a wire mesh covering. Both were successful. But I found those boxes placed over water were more often used, the duck launching herself from the hole directly into the water when leaving the box.
My favorite type of box is a hollowed out log, these are very popular and are almost always chosen over conventional boxes. I use large larch logs with a diameter of at least 40cm, and enlist the help of an experienced chain saw user.
First the logs are cut to size, about 60cm long, two 50mm thick "coins " are cut one from each end , these make the top/bottom. Next the log is sawn in half lengthways, if the chain saw user is very good they can remove quite a bit from the inside of each half, a bit like making a canoe. What is left is removed by hand tools to leave the walls approx 40- 50 mm thick, to thin and they will crack. I then screw and glue the two halves together, and screw the bottom coin into place. Then I decide what style of box it is to be, a hole can be made near the top and the lid fastened with leather or plastic straps for hinges. ( see pic ) A ramp must be provided for access. Or the box can be placed horizontally and the end left open, ( see pic )sometimes I use the hole type but horizontally and secure the " lid " end in place with wooden pegs hammered into the ground.(See pic.)
Incubation/hatching
I have tried
two types of incubators for waterfowl eggs, still air and fan assisted, and to
be perfectly honest I have never had brilliant results with either. To cut a
long story short I now use a combination of both worlds, natural and artificial with much improved
results.
I allow ducks
to incubate until the eggs have internally pipped, then remove the eggs to a
hatcher. If for any reason I think the nest may be prone to predation/interference,
I allow the duck to sit for the first week or so, before removing the eggs to
an incubator. I have left Emperor Geese to hatch and rear their chicks, but
NO-ONE (or thing) could enter the garden without some form of protection! Even small
ducklings in outside runs were attacked through the mesh. Be warned.
The only
drawback I find with this method is the feeling of guilt when removing the eggs!
but I keep reassuring myself that if left to hatch in situ the ducklings would
stand little chance of surviving in confinement with other adult ducks around,
it is in a mother ducks nature to remove herself and her brood to quieter,
safer waters when kept with other waterfowl, and she will wander endlessly in
her quest to find it, usually resulting in exhausted, hungry ducklings that will
eventually die.
Of course if
you have only one pair of ducks in a flight or on a particular pond then it
would be quite feasible to let the mother try rear the ducklings herself.
I use a
still air type incubator as a hatcher, I
keep a record of when I think the duck started incubation and try and get the
eggs when they have just started to pip internally, when candled the chicks
head can be seen in the air sack. All the eggs are then candled and any
infertile or “dead “eggs are removed, the remaining eggs are placed on their
sides and are not turned, (turning is unnecessary at this stage in the
incubation process. ) The temperature is kept at 37.5 and the humidity is kept as
high as will allow, ( I block off two of the four air holes on my model) Once the hatch is under way I reduce the temperature
by a degree or so. When I am sure all the viable eggs have hatched I unblock
the air holes and leave the chicks to dry off, the lid is NOT removed at any
time until this moment, and chicks will be fine for up to 24 hours in the
hatcher. As stated I achieve very good results with this method, BUT, your environmental
conditions will not be the same as mine, and no two incubators are the same, therefore
you may have to adjust things to suit your requirements.
There are
two types of brooder I use when rearing ducklings, the dry brooder, and the wet
brooder.
The dry brooder is a basic brooder as used for rearing poultry chicks, if you are buying a brooder then there are many types to choose from and many different methods of heating and temperature control. I will only describe the type I use but of coarse other types will work just as well.
Dry Brooder
My basic dry
brooder consists of wooden “box “built around an under bed plastic storage tub!
with a 60 watt spot bulb as a heat source. First get your under bed tub, those
with wheels are best, mine are **x** and about ** deep. Then you can make your
box to suit, I make mine out of 5/8 plywood. the sides are **x**.These hold a single broods of
ducklings. (or up to 10-12)
Diagram of dry brooder.
Once you
have added the support for the bulb and put in your wire base it is ready for
use.
I start off
with small ,approx 0.5cm sq mesh, so that even the smallest feet can’t fit through,
but initially at one end ( approx half of the floor space ) I place either
kitchen paper or rough cardboard for the ducklings to sit on, this is to help
ducklings find food particles that would
other wise fall through the mesh. A large ( 15cm+) shallow food dish ( 2cm ) is
placed on the paper end, and a another for water, the bulb is lifted or lowered
to reach the desired temperature, 90deg f to start of and then lowered by
approx 5 deg each week, this will depend on how well ducklings are doing and
ambient room temps etc. As a guide if the ducklings are huddled beneath the heat
source they are to cold. Ideally they should form a ring beneath the bulb. (A
word of caution, I have learned the hard way and I now clip a small 20 watt
spot lamp onto the side of the brooder, if the main lamp fails, and they
occasionally DO, through the night at least the small clip on lamp keeps the
ducklings alive )
As the ducklings grow I change the mesh floor
with a larger square mesh, but make sure it is still small enough as to not
allow their feet to go through! And once the ducklings are feeding well out of
a dish the paper is no longer used, any wasted food and droppings fall through
the mesh into the tub below for easy disposal.
I try and get the ducklings outside on grass
as soon as possible, usually after about two weeks. The water bowl is increased
in size and depth, But they will still
need a heat source until they start to feather up.
Wet brooder
Wet brooders are commonly used for species
such as stiff tails, sea ducks, and diving ducks, ducklings of these species
benefit from early access to deep water in which they can fully submerse
themselves. Some of these species also take food items directly from the water
surface or dishes placed at water level. And diving ducks like to submerge and
look for food items. Most stiff tail ducklings can dive when just a few hours
old, and are pretty much independent compared with say, a teal duckling. I have
found that starting Smew, Hooded mergansers and diving ducks off in a dry
brooder for about 3-4 days then transferring them to the wet brooder works
well. If placed straight into the wet brooder you MUST keep a close eye on them
in case they get wet and chilled.
I have been
unable to find a manufacturer of wet brooders (please let me know!) therefore I
made my own, a bit makeshift I know but it has done the job for the last 4
years. I plan to “up-grade” and make a fibre glass model later this year with a
water depth of about 18 “. I used a large water storage tank for the main body,
any large tank would suffice but the sides must be high, some ducklings are
adept climbers and unless the sides are high enough a mesh cover should be in
place. Next I fashioned a mesh platform out of heavy 2”sq plastic coated mesh.
This was about 6-7” off the floor, and covered approx half of the floor area,
with a ramp leading down to floor level at one end, (see diagram).
A hole was made at the water end of the brooder at 5-6” off the floor and a drain pipe fitted to an outside drain, with another slightly higher to act as a safe guard over flow, in case the first blocked. Then an inlet hose is fitted, this is left to trickle continuously and then flushed through to clean the water when necessary. The water level is now about 5-6” deep. The 2” inch mesh is first covered with very small mesh and progressively gets larger as the ducklings grow. A heat source is placed at one end and to start with a rubber car mat is used under this on the mesh for the ducklings to sit on, this covers about half of the floor area, but is only used for the first week or so. I also clip a very small spot light to one side of the tank to act as an emergency heat source if the main bulb fails (which they do!
Once the
ducklings start to feather up I put them outside in a pen with a small pond and
an under cover heat source, Wet brooders are very useful for species like Smew
and sea ducks. This type I use now has it’s limitations as regards water
depths, and I plan to make a fibre glass model with a water depth of about 18”
for stiff tail species.