Hello I’m Howard. (Picture below) Myself and Penelope are White Campbell Ducks. We were born at Easter time, 1999. I came to live with Bonnie before Penelope did. I was only a few days old when she brought me home, and had to be kept warm, so I lived in the spare bedroom. Ducklings are not happy being left alone, and I became very attached to Bonnie. This was fine when she was at home to fuss me, and sit me on her knee, but when she had to go to work and leave me I got very upset, so she bought Penelope (my sister) to keep me company. When we were babies we had a heat lamp to keep us warm and were fed on chick starter crumb. We were only allowed shallow water at first because baby feathers are not waterproof. As we got bigger, we were allowed swims in the bath! Ducklings grow quite quickly so it wasn't long before we left the bedroom, and moved outside.
Outside we have a shed to sleep in at night. It has wood chips on the floor, and a water bowl deep enough for us to get our heads into – this is important for ducks, as this is how we keep our eyes clean. At first we had a temporary pond of a paddling pool, but a proper one has now been installed for us by a very nice man called John. As we grew, our food changed to Growers Pellets, and we also get things like mashed potato, cottage cheese and grated carrot as special treats. (Too much of this will make us fat!) When we were about six months old we began to lay eggs! Yes, we both lay eggs, so I am a female. (Ducks are very hard to sex, and I was already called Howard,) Once we began to lay, Bonnie changed our feed to Layers Pellets, we also have Floating Duck Food which is not a complete feed, but a complimentary one, that can be fed on the water.
Before getting Ducks, Bonnie and Colin tried to find out all they could about keeping them. This was not an easy task, most of the duck books they found, were full of information on what different duck breeds tasted like and how to eat them –Gulp!!!!! They did find out bits and pieces, including the fact that us White Campbell’s have the best egg production! Bonnie and Colin think they are delicious. (As long as they stick to the eggs, we’ll be fine!!!) Ducks can be quite noisy, so you need to have tolerant neighbours, ours throws us lots of bread! Penelope is a lot shyer than myself, and doesn’t make a lot of noise, I like to make it known when I want something to eat. If the back door is open, it’s not unheard of for me to go into the kitchen and quack at the top of my voice, until I get some food! Bonnie is glad she got duck as we’re such fun to watch, though she says don’t get ducks if you want a garden!!! We have eaten all the flowers and turned the lawn to mud!! Luckily for us, Bonnie likes us more than she liked the grass!
If you would like to know about hatching duck eggs "Click Here"
Building a Pond
These pictures have been taken from "Water in the Garden" by James Allison.
First mark out the size and shape of the pond you are going to build. If you will be buying a preformed plastic pond then make sure you get the correct measurements from your supplier.
Now you can dig out the hole and shape some ledges at the sides.
Next you need to fit an underlay to protect from sharp stones, roots etc. A thick layer of sand also acts as a good underlining.
Now you can fit the pond liner making sure to tuck it into all the corners nice and tight. If you are using a preformed plastic pond you can now just slowly lower it into the hole and with any luck it will be a perfect fit.
You can now fill your pond so the liner takes its proper shape under the weight of the water. At this point you should also check for any leaks in the liner. If you are using a preformed plastic pond then you should also let it settle under the weight of the water.
Now your pond has settled you can edge the pond with maybe some nice rocks, paving slabs or bricks, bed them down with cement on top of the liner and then when dry you can cut away the access liner to make a nice clean job. For further advice on pond building you should speak to your local supplier.
