Postby day break » Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:13 pm
he lost 9 mallards today due to 4 dogs. that is 54 to date out of 3,068. he paid for 3,000. as for disease, delta wild life says these birds should not spread disease. the birds are not penned but in a wide open break and scattered in 5 or 6 large groups. all dead ducks or any dead animals are removed from the premises each day rain or shine. the ducks are fed prime food with 18% to 24% protein not medicated. any maimed duck is removed and disposed of immediately. the 54 ducks were lost due to owls-18 (done in one night), dogs-27 (done on 2 separate days), transportation - 5 due to stress - the rest were removed for physical problems. there are 2 traps with dog food as bait. captured dogs go to the pound to be bailed out by the owner or adopted by others. NITE GUARD LITES (google it) are used to deter owls, hawks, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, etc. he has (4) 12 to 14 foot poles mounted in the air with 4 nite guard lites on each pole pointing north, south, east and west. these are for the flying predators. he has many lights facing every direction away from the ducks 12" to 18" off the ground for the ground predators. the lights (40 totaled) are mounted at every feeding sight which will eventually be close to where the blinds are located. 2 hired hands feed every day, rain or shine. the ducks will not accept a new person feeding them nor will they accept a new mode of transportation. these men begin blowing a high powered whistle while driving to the feeding location. they change locations every day going from north to south to east to west and the ducks will fly these same locations when they are able to fly. looks like they may be flying in 2 weeks. at that point they will not be as susceptible to predators. as of today the ducks were running and flying behind the 4-wheeler to the new feeding location. some ducks may be getting injured while learning to land. they are going to give these ducks a few days to shake it off and hopefully recover. otherwise they will have to be removed. those of us observing, including my neighbor, never go near the ducks and use binoculars to enjoy.
I want your ugly......I want your disease....I want your everything........as long as it's free...................Lady Gaga