Adopt a Duck Box!

[cajunwannabe]

If any of y'all see an obviously abandoned duck nesting box wherever you live in SC, please adopt it, repair it, first and foremost make sure there is a predator guard, if not, take the box down and install one, clean it out, add cedar shavings and I'd bet it'll get used this Spring! Also, consider cleaning it out DURING Spring / Summer nesting season to encourage additional nesting attempts. Some of my boxes get 3 nesting attempts each year. I try to estimate hatch success by counting empty duck shells after the "jump day". My goal is to put back the total of my annual duck harvest each year....minimum. If I killed 50 ducks this past season and we assume a 20% nest success to adulthood, I have to insure a minimum of 250 ducklings get out of the nesting box!

The Wood Duck is probably one of, if not the most harvested duck in SC. Many folks think they need permission to adopt these nesting boxes. If they're obviously abandoned and lost predator guards they're duck killers. Coons and snakes have easy access to these boxes and help themselves to 1000's of duck eggs and possibly catch the hens each year. There is one thing we can do in SC, adopt a box and get it back into duck production!

I was out on Murray yesterday sinking a Christmas tree and found these birds already paired up near 3 of my boxes. This is a super easy and rewarding way to put ducks back here in SC!