After last winter when we lost our breeding pairs of Muscovy ducks to what we believe were neighbor dogs we decided to make pond improvement ones of our goals this year. The first thing we did was to fence the entire pond with small mesh woven wire fence which also has barbed wire along the top. The barbed wire is to keep the horses from leaning over the fence (the grass is always greener on the other side :>) We accomplished the fencing in July, the next mission was how to keep the water open when it gets really cold. Open water allows the ducks a place to escape should anything get under the fence. Well fortunately the answer appeared on craigslist. Now fountains are not cheap, but this person was willing to barter for an older atv we no longer used. So we now have a pond fountain, which is also good for water aeration. Now one last thing to do is to construct a winter shelter for the ducks. They probably won't use it, but we'll make one to offer protection if they want it. Check one more thing off the winter preparedness list. Now if I can just get the windows washed on the house!
