Hi, one of our female ducks has had 9 ducklings, nearly 2 weeks old now, they are a big attraction for the crows and herons which regularly land on our pond. While I know nature can be cruel, I would like any suggestions to deter these predators! We have tried the plastic heron, and a scarecrow, but they have become wise to that now. The ducklings are getting bigger by the day, and mum hides them under her at night.This morning, the heron was sniffing around the ducks, but mum had the babies well hidden, and the other ducks stood all around her...lovely to see! But I fear he will be back...any ideas?

Don't count on the mother for FULL protection, you also have to play a role in this. The trick is to avoid the ducklings to meet the herons in the first place, how? You should figure that out by yourself!! What I did is that once the ducklings hatched and begun to follow thier mother around, try to lure the mother into a pen to stay with her ducklings until they are 3 or more months old (that's what I did). If you don't have an extra pen.. Buy one or make one as fast as possible, the Mother cant keep protecting her babies forever, if she did so now, it's because the predators are afraid of her aggression display ( such as opening her mouth and hissing while staring at the predator), but the herons or crows will soon over come this fear and attack her in order to get the ducklings ( crows can gang up against her and peck her in order to get the babies).

note: all of the said above is from a personal experience).

Jeepers I guess also she wont be able to keep nine babies under her for long as they get bigger,....

Great ideas there.. x

__________________

Thanks for the suggestions. We live right next to the pond, so have a very good view of all the ducks. Just recently, we have strung 20 odd c.d,s along the fence line, which have a fantastic flashing effect day and night, various colours are reflected too. The ducks are fine with this, and we have had no signs of any herons or crows! How long this will keep them at bay is another worry, but the ducklings are getting bigger by the day. We are very vigilant while this brood are on the pond, there are various people about all day. Thanks again for your help