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Thread: Adopt a Duck Box!

  1. #1
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    Default Adopt a Duck Box!

    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!
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    Listen to your elders. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.

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  2. #2
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    I've got hens laying daily right now. I suspect the will be setting by the weekend.

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  3. #3
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    Saw one on my box the other day.
    Low country redneck who moved north

  4. #4
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    I've got several boxes up at my farm that I always try to have ready this time of year. I've never constantly checked boxes during nesting season for multiple hatches a year. Question, How often do you try to check boxes that you believe are being used? How do you go about checking the boxes that are being used and is there any fear of a hen abandoning a box from scaring her or pressure from you?
    Quote Originally Posted by Birddawg View Post
    I dont know how it was done. For all I know that weird bastard that determined it's gender licked it.

  5. #5
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    They'll come back if you bump them off the nest a time or two without issue. Check 30 days +- after you spook one sitting, and the eggs will have likely hatched. If your box isn't stuck too tight, you can ease the door open enough to see if there is a hen sitting or not. She won't always bail out. If she does, she'll crap all over everything.

    I saw two pairs flying from tree to tree on Saturday.

    A good way to get a few more years out of rusted, falling apart predator guards is duct tape. Unless the slits are cut just right, there's enough of a gap between guards and posts that snakes can get through. A few wraps of duct tape seals them off well.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Catdaddy View Post
    I've got hens laying daily right now. I suspect the will be setting by the weekend.

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    I always get hens laying eggs early but I wonder about survivability since there isn't a lot of ground cover when the ducklings jump out. That's one reason I check my boxes every couple of weeks to clean them out for a second try or another hen. I know nature is going to nature but I find a HUGE percentage of repeat use if I clean the boxes out during nesting season.

    I have never had a hen abandon a nest due to my checking boxes. I even had one hen return to her nest after she watched me pull a 6' snake out of the box during a routine box check. She went on to hatch the remaining clutch. I've found that the closer they are to hatching, the harder she'll sit and most times won't leave the box.
    Listen to your elders. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.

    "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give" Sir Winston Churchill

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by cajunwannabe View Post

    I have never had a hen abandon a nest due to my checking boxes. I even had one hen return to her nest after she watched me pull a 6' snake out of the box during a routine box check. She went on to hatch the remaining clutch. I've found that the closer they are to hatching, the harder she'll sit and most times won't leave the box.
    Thanks.

    I went today and checked and refreshed 7 boxes at the farm, gonna do the rest tomorrow.
    First one I checked already had eggs.
    CBB4B9F1-FD5E-44D3-BB45-84208A97AF33.jpg
    The rest were just sign from last year. One box had about 4 un hatched eggs and 4 hatched ducks that didn’t make it out, not sure what happened there. First time I’ve had that many hatched that didn’t make it out. Was a DNR box so no hardware cloth on the inside. I took a saw and cut some ladder notches in it. Not saying that’s what caused it but couldn’t hurt.
    Quote Originally Posted by Birddawg View Post
    I dont know how it was done. For all I know that weird bastard that determined it's gender licked it.

  8. #8
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    Took my four year old out today to refresh our two on the farm. Found one of last years eggs. Other box was full of shells.
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  9. #9
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    That's awesome! You can count the wrinkled up empty shells as you're cleaning the nest box out and count how many ducklings hatched and jumped.
    Listen to your elders. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.

    "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give" Sir Winston Churchill

  10. #10
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    Nephew of mine was scouting one of his swamp holes about 10 days ago. Saw a hen that wouldn’t get up a kept making subtle sounds. After a few minutes, she swam off with 5 or 6 ducklings in tow. I’ve never seen or heard of them hatching that early.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by CUduckreeper View Post
    Thanks.

    I went today and checked and refreshed 7 boxes at the farm, gonna do the rest tomorrow.
    First one I checked already had eggs.
    CBB4B9F1-FD5E-44D3-BB45-84208A97AF33.jpg
    The rest were just sign from last year. One box had about 4 un hatched eggs and 4 hatched ducks that didn’t make it out, not sure what happened there. First time I’ve had that many hatched that didn’t make it out. Was a DNR box so no hardware cloth on the inside. I took a saw and cut some ladder notches in it. Not saying that’s what caused it but couldn’t hurt.
    Are the different colored eggs significant, or is it just stained? I’m ignorant to nesting in general, and am going to start trying to do my part this year to put back.
    A fish bites 2 times a day, right before I get to the water, and as soon as my boat gets back on the trailer.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by CUduckreeper View Post
    Thanks.

    I went today and checked and refreshed 7 boxes at the farm, gonna do the rest tomorrow.
    First one I checked already had eggs.
    CBB4B9F1-FD5E-44D3-BB45-84208A97AF33.jpg
    The rest were just sign from last year. One box had about 4 un hatched eggs and 4 hatched ducks that didn’t make it out, not sure what happened there. First time I’ve had that many hatched that didn’t make it out. Was a DNR box so no hardware cloth on the inside. I took a saw and cut some ladder notches in it. Not saying that’s what caused it but couldn’t hurt.
    Looks like last year's eggs to me. I would clean them out unless it looked like a hen had a blanket of down feathers over the top of them. Old eggs are stink bombs, so don't let one break near you.

  13. #13
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    Check out how to "candle" eggs to be certain you're not tossing viable eggs. Here are a couple pictures of old vs new eggs. As hens are laying there won't be any down around the eggs.

    WMN is absolutely correct, old eggs can explode on you when cleaning out a box and, for the weaker stomachs, have you heaving overboard if you're not careful. lol
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    Listen to your elders. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.

    "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give" Sir Winston Churchill

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by WNM View Post
    Looks like last year's eggs to me. I would clean them out unless it looked like a hen had a blanket of down feathers over the top of them. Old eggs are stink bombs, so don't let one break near you.
    Yea I wasn't sure so I left them. Gonna try to check back in a week and see if anything has changed (more eggs, feathers).
    Quote Originally Posted by Birddawg View Post
    I dont know how it was done. For all I know that weird bastard that determined it's gender licked it.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by SpottailSpecialist View Post
    Are the different colored eggs significant, or is it just stained? I’m ignorant to nesting in general, and am going to start trying to do my part this year to put back.
    I don't know the answer to your question as I'm ignorant as well. I have seen where a merganser will lay eggs in with wood duck eggs but not saying that is the case here.
    Quote Originally Posted by Birddawg View Post
    I dont know how it was done. For all I know that weird bastard that determined it's gender licked it.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by thunderchicken View Post
    Nephew of mine was scouting one of his swamp holes about 10 days ago. Saw a hen that wouldn’t get up a kept making subtle sounds. After a few minutes, she swam off with 5 or 6 ducklings in tow. I’ve never seen or heard of them hatching that early.
    That's mighty early!

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    Delta in a nutshell: Breeding grounds + small wetlands + big blocks of grass cover + predator removal + nesting structures + enough money to do the job= plenty of ducks to keep everyone smiling!

    "For those that will fight for it...FREEDOM...has a flavor the protected shall never know."
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  17. #17
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    ttt
    “Duck hunting gives a man a chance to see the loneliest places …blinds washed by a rolling surf, blue and gold autumn marshes, …a rice field in the rain, flooded pin-oak forests or any remote river delta. In duck hunting the scene is as important as the shooting.” ~ Erwin Bauer, The Duck Hunter’s Bible, 1965

  18. #18
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    4 more showed up this morning. I still have two empty boxes left. This is from my kitchen window while drinking coffee.


    https://photos.app.goo.gl/drbwnLZychTMmQQV9

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  19. #19
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    That's killer!
    Listen to your elders. Not because they are always right but because they have more experiences of being wrong.

    "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give" Sir Winston Churchill

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