Mallards.

[Mallards and Quail]

Hello! I was thinking of getting some mallard ducklings soon and I was wondering if a few people could share their experiences with me. Thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Luv Ducks

 

[Luv Ducks]

I have had Mallards for three years now. They lay a greenish egg and can fly. I clip one wing and had wanted to order them pinoned from Metzer but they forgot to do it. That makes them flightless and if done before they are 3 days old its painless. They just clip one wing as newborns so that they cannot fly. I ordered two females and they made it to Ohio just fine from California during June when the weather was good. They are not my friendliest ducks and they can quack rather loud but Mallards were the first ducklings that I had so I still love them. They don't eat a whole lot. The Male I have is half wild Mallard and half Rouen and he does mate them but is pretty chill for the most part. I hatched him out in my living room a year after I got the two from California. I started out with 2 wild ones that we saved from a cat getting them. They have since gone back to the wild but I did get some offspring from them and they got along just fine with my tame ducks. My one flew quite a few houses away but a neighbor returned her to me before I got her clipped once. I still clip them just in case because my one neighbor has large dogs and if they fly into their yard they will be dog food. Let me know if you want to know anything else. Good luck with yours.

 

[Mallards and Quail]

I have had Mallards for three years now. They lay a greenish egg and can fly. I clip one wing and had wanted to order them pinoned from Metzer but they forgot to do it. That makes them flightless and if done before they are 3 days old its painless. They just clip one wing as newborns so that they cannot fly. I ordered two females and they made it to Ohio just fine from California during June when the weather was good. They are not my friendliest ducks and they can quack rather loud but Mallards were the first ducklings that I had so I still love them. They don't eat a whole lot. The Male I have is half wild Mallard and half Rouen and he does mate them but is pretty chill for the most part. I hatched him out in my living room a year after I got the two from California. I started out with 2 wild ones that we saved from a cat getting them. They have since gone back to the wild but I did get some offspring from them and they got along just fine with my tame ducks. My one flew quite a few houses away but a neighbor returned her to me before I got her clipped once. I still clip them just in case because my one neighbor has large dogs and if they fly into their yard they will be dog food. Let me know if you want to know anything else. Good luck with yours.

Thank you so much! I was wondering if I could clip their wing but let them free range or would they be sitting ducks to predators? (No pun intended lol)

 

[Luv Ducks]

Thank you so much! I was wondering if I could clip their wing but let them free range or would they be sitting ducks to predators? (No pun intended lol)

You are most welcome. Mine can still fly a little but not enough to get over my 6 foot fence in the free range part. They are kept 99% of the time in my covered pen because predators are quick even when they are able to fly a bit higher. Plus our big hawks here can fly too so I don't trust leaving mine outside the pen for very long and my pen is very large with thick bird netting over the top. I hope your arrangement works out well for you.

 

[Mallards and Quail]

You are most welcome. Mine can still fly a little but not enough to get over my 6 foot fence in the free range part. They are kept 99% of the time in my covered pen because predators are quick even when they are able to fly a bit higher. Plus our big hawks here can fly too so I don't trust leaving mine outside the pen for very long and my pen is very large with thick bird netting over the top. I hope your arrangement works out well for you.

Thank you! If you get the chance could you post a picture of them? Have a great day!

 

[Luv Ducks]

Thank you! If you get the chance could you post a picture of them? Have a great day!

Thank you! I wish I could but she and her sister are sitting on eggs right now and to be honest Miss Lydia that is on this site has always had to help me with pictures. If you can find my profile there are pictures of my flock that she put on there for me. I am just not computer savvy no matter how easy people say it is to do, lol.

 

[Miss Lydia]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pictures-of-my-duck-flock.1543984/

 

[Mallards and Quail]

Thank you! I wish I could but she and her sister are sitting on eggs right now and to be honest Miss Lydia that is on this site has always had to help me with pictures. If you can find my profile there are pictures of my flock that she put on there for me. I am just not computer savvy no matter how easy people say it is to do, lol.

No problem! Thank you so much for all the help!

 

[Luv Ducks]

No problem! Thank you so much for all the help!

You are most welcome!