Duck Feeding?

[Qbgrey 4,086]

we have 200 duck on 4 lake/ pond locations,we feed wheat,i can get tons and tons of sweet pototoes.do you guys think duck will like them.any advise chaps please.?

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

From memory ,potatoes are best fed when they are just turning smacky .Not everyone's idea of a truck full of grub .Try a few good runs split with a spade ,you'll soon find out .

[taz2010 1,297]

sweet potatoes are great fed a duck pond 2 years ago with them and had 3 night of the best shooting ive ever had on ducks like already said best when going mushy but chop up and they will soon go soft

[Hydropotesinermis 724]

Heap them uo and let them rot, they get a little red worm in them that the ducks love.

[Qbgrey 4,086]

ok fellas sounds great,ill fetch aload in.thanks

[Nik_B 3,790]

How long does it take the potatoes/sweet potatoes to rot? I'm looking at renting some land with a pond but as it's late in the season maybe I would be better off with something else like barley to start drawing them in?

 

I've never done this before, do you just leave the food round the margins of the pond?

[jok 3,213]

I posted on this topic about a year ago. Maybe you'll believe maybe not. The best (apart from barley) margin food we ever put down was bananas. My mate worked for a wholesaler who, when the fruit was out of date, dumped it. We gave them a go and having 4 smallish and 1 large pond on the shoot used up loads. The ducks love them. I suggested that would be banana feeders might contact their local supermarkets because obviously they have the same problem with out of date stock. Definitely worth an ask. Jok.

[johonawhitness 110]

I tried the bananas after reading similar, was a post of joks If I rember right. They love the things I just cut em in half and get the down they always go and ducks a plenty

[Nik_B 3,790]

Cheers fellas I found a few good bits of advice. Going to pop down the farm tomorrow and hopefully get the rights

 

If I start feeding now is there still a decent chance of pulling them in or will they already have established splashes?

[Nik_B 3,790]

Might as well share what I've found so far

 

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/128830-feeding-and-setting-up-a-new-flight-pond/

 

http://www.wildfowling.com/mournewa/flightpondfeeding.htm

[jok 3,213]

Now the weathers coming in the duck will be looking for any food they can find. It only takes 2 or 3 to get it started and your patience is important. Let them in. Don't take your gun or your dog with you. Get under some cover and watch and listen. Pure magic when they come in chattering away to each other and that lovely whistle of wings as the teal dart in without you knowing where they came from. Good cloudy night so you get a chance to see them. Oh them were the days lad. Jok.

[Nik_B 3,790]

Now the weathers coming in the duck will be looking for any food they can find. It only takes 2 or 3 to get it started and your patience is important. Let them in. Don't take your gun or your dog with you. Get under some cover and watch and listen. Pure magic when they come in chattering away to each other and that lovely whistle of wings as the teal dart in without you knowing where they came from. Good cloudy night so you get a chance to see them. Oh them were the days lad. Jok.

 

You aren't wrong mate Teal are fantastic to see drop in, only ever shot one of them in my life

[Tiercel 6,986]

If I may offer a few suggestions. If you are building hides remember the way they will enter the pond will vary with the wind direction and strength. The best wind for shooting ducks is an Easterly, for the simple reason that you are looking in to the last of the light from the West and the ducks will nearly always come in into the wind.

 

I have fed a few spalshes in the past and found that the food, which was mainly boiled potato peelings with rolled barley, deposited in the margins in shallow water did the best. We would get Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon and Shoveller basically all dabbling ducks, but there again the splashes were adjacent to a major estuary.

 

TC

Edited November 21, 2016 by Tiercel

[Nik_B 3,790]

If I may offer a few suggestions. If you are building hides remember the way they will enter the pond will vary with the wind direction and strength. The best wind for shooting ducks is an Easterly, for the simple reason that you are looking in to the last of the light from the West and the ducks will nearly always come in into the wind.

 

I have fed a few spalshes in the past and found that the food, which was mainly boiled potato peelings with rolled barley, deposited in the margins in shallow water did the best. We would get Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon and Shoveller basically all dabbling ducks, but there again the splashes were adjacent to a major estuary.

 

TC

 

Thanks mate!

[jok 3,213]

Good point TC. We however are in the centre of England. Normally the duck flight from the local water parks and big lakes out to our little flight ponds. Still used to get good numbers though. I think the secret to a good flight pond is a, feed it well, b, watch the weather and learn when the birds are active, c, only take a few and get away to allow more to come in,d, clean up everything regarding cartridge cases and the like. Your hoste doesn't like mess. Jok.