Hi from a Dorset duck owner.

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MillhouseDucks

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Hello fellow duck keeper fans. We recently bought a house with a large duck pond in Dorset with around a dozen resident ducks (most pinioned) and some of their offspring. As a complete novice all help is appreciated!
In the last week, we found two eggs just laid at the side of the pond. None of the ducks has made a nest - so I'm not sure what I should do with the eggs? Should I just leave them as it is early in the season or is it likely if one is laying that a nest will appear soon and I can pop the egg in with any others?
 
Hi again,
Well, in the short-term my problem is solved - the eggs had 'disappeared' when I went out to feed the ducks just now - assume they either rolled into the pond or got 'pushed' by others? No doubt there will be some more - so would appreciate guidance on what to do with any future ones and advice on whether this is normal.

Thanks in anticipation
Very novice - MillhouseDucks here!
 
Hello MillhouseDucks and welcome to the forum. Sorry no-one has replied to your introduction. Sometimes the 'view unread posts' function on the index page doesn't bring all the unread posts up. I know little about ducks myself, having only reared two orphan Mallard chicks the neighbour's cat brought back. The eggs disappearing will be due to a predator, probably rats. Large rats can carry eggs away, as we discovered when we found a big pile of eggshells on our canal bank -they had been taken from the previous owners chicken coop to be consumed undisturbed. Rats are a whole subject in themselves and it is a legal requirement to deal with a rat population on your property. Been plenty of discussions on this forum so just search 'rats'. They could also however be taken by Magpies -speared on their beak and flown off with. If one is building a nest it needs to be secure from predators otherwise it may be a fruitless exercise.
 
Hi,
Many thanks for responding - I was beginning to think there was no one using the site! The good news is we now have 8 eggs in one of the 2 nesting boxes by the side of the pond - so hopefully a female will start incubating them soon (very small box - so she is going to have to be a small 'mum' or Houdini. The boxes are well above ground on poles with ladders into the pond - so hopefully will deter rats. We do have some rat boxes in the garden left by the previous owners of the house, who managed to successfully breed duckings each year for the past few years. I have no experience with chickens - so can't offer any advice there, but do appreciate your interest and reply. Will post pics if we get some duckings in a few weeks!
Regards
Novice of Dorset
 
Hi Millhouseducks and welcome from me, too. I think most of the people on here keep chickens rather than ducks, but we do have some interested and interesting duck keepers as well. I think many people may miss posts in the Welcome section, so I hope that you will get replies sooner in future if you post in the Waterfowl section. So I'm going to move your post there now, hope that's OK.
 
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