Indian runner ducks for my vegetable garden?

[DJ-Studd]

I'm getting extremely desperate, with the same thing happening this year as last year; slugs have decimated $60 worth of seedlings in a week, even with my three slug picking adventures every night. They especially love marigold, which only lasted the one evening.

I need to know what is involved with indian runner ducks or something of the like. I have raised garden beds one sleeper high. Would the ducks not get on my beds and make a giant mess, destroying everything with their feet? I'm thinking perhaps the ducks are only suitable once your plants are fully established? I need some solutions now while I grow out my seedlings and seeds.

My vegetable garden area is 350M2 and has a small pond in it. What shelter do they require, what is best for feeding the ducks, what maintenance is involved, do they really need to be wormed, etc?

Thank you!

[permasculptor]

I have muskovy,s so don't know about runners but muscovys will get into a raised bed 3 foot high but do surprisingly little damage to plants, don't get me wrong you still need to exclude them at times . a 4 foot fence would probably keep them out but I use nets . they will make an instant mess of your pond .They are very opportunistic feeders they hang around the chook shed at feed time .apart from that I don't do anything no feeding no worming no housing ,but I'm on acreage with plenty of room and dams for them .Slugs have not been much of a problem for me.

[permup]

I have Khaki Campbells, which are a cross between an Indian Runner and something else (can't remember). They are not too bad in the garden - say once a week, and yes, they trample seedlings, so I put a mesh basket over anything I want protected, and let them loose to do their thing. They should be able to get up into your raised beds but it may take them a while. Fence off any ornamental ponds you don't want destroyed though!

Other ways of catching slugs include using stubby beer bottles (filled with an inch of beer), burried on a 45 degree angle in the soil, up to the lower opening of the neck. Slugs love beer, and the idea is that the slug is attracted by the beer, it makes it's way down into the bottle and drowns. The slant of the bottle reduces the amount of water that can get down into the beer (thus diluting it). I've had some success with this.

Ultimately, if you can increase the compost and nutrient in your soils, to make your plants as strong as they can be, and increase the water in your garden to attract predatory insects, your garden will not suffer slugs so much, as the natural balance of things will take hold.

Good luck.

Paula.

[ho-hum]

DJ,

One of the issues with ducks [and runners are the most gentle] is that they trample and scramble over and through things.

As a kid I used to 'trap' slugs ie give them somewhere nice to hide. At that time I used half-case banana boxes with wet newspaper in and on them to reduce the light. I did try some homebrew mum made but not even slugs would touch it!!

The other thing is to spring clean your garden and get into all nooks and crannies and see where they are hiding during the day. Also, slugs come out at a specific time about 30 mins after sunset or when dewpoint has been achieved. When you work out what time that is for you, do a patrol then and catch them on the move.

PS I didnt know slugs like marigolds.

cheers

ho-hum

[gbell]

I have good luck controlling them with a knife and a headtorch, just before bedtime. Checking out your garden at night is useful for seeing different things as well. You can see into areas that are too dark during the day for your dilated eyes to see into, and there are different critters out and about.

Note that there's a low-toxicity slug pellet available these days: http://www.greenharvest.com.au/pestcont ... Multiguard