Question about wood ducks

[HeatherLynn]

Ok, my mother gave in on me putting ducks on our farm. My husband quickly ran out and bought me the ones I wanted. My father decided that since I softened mom up about her no ducks rule he wants call ducks and wood ducks. I know nothing of either of these but apparently this goes back to something when he was a kid. No clue but he told my mother he wants to see his ducks on our pond.

So from what I can see wood ducks are wild. Can they be raised and then allowed to do their thing in and around our pond with of course any assistance, shelter, or protection they may need from us? Or do I need to wait for wild ducks to decide they want to come here?

Call ducks I am pretty sure are an easier one. What I read said they were bantam. I am not sure how this would work since we would have geese and larger Roun ducks there also.

Hints, suggestions, and corrections of any false information I have gathered online would be awesome.

 

[Silkie Sue]

Congratulations on wearing her down..

i am in love with my Muscovy ducks.. they are very friendly and entertaining. they love to play in the pond and they are awesome bug control around the yard.
i am not a duck expert by any definition but what i do know about Wood ducks is that they nest in trees about 8 feet off the ground. the babies have to fall to the ground to get out of the nest...
i don't know if i could handle that act of nature.. it would be too nerve racking for me.
i have never seen a call duck so i can't help you there...
Indian runner ducks are cool looking
what ever you decide i'm sure you are gonna be happy..

let us know what you settle on

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

From what I understand captive bred wood ducks are not allowed to be released(aka not in a fully fenced inclosure with netting on top or pinioned birds). So if you are getting those and want them on the pond, fence the whole pond and get pinioned wood ducks so they cannot fly away.

Also some states will require you to have a permit to keep woodies(being native to north america).

 

[HeatherLynn]

ummmm pinioned sounds a tad uncomfortable. What is it. If it hurts the bird then my dad will say never mind. He has always wanted some but....

Since Kentucky apparently has a healthy number of wood ducks in some areas would it be possible to even make our location attractive to them so they can come here wild? nest boxes, certain trees, tall dead wood stumps? Last year he expanded our spring fed pond a ton. It easily double in size so not a small pond at all. I think if they came and went wild he would be thrilled.

 

[KansasKid]

When they are young they pinion them if they don't want them to fly, its normally painless at such a young age. Another method of them not flying off would simply be to cut there primary feathers after each molt. Google search Giffs farm and go to his wood duck page or even Mallard lane farms and theres.

 

[Silkie Sue]

you can definetily entice them to live at your place with nest boxes
if you google you can find out more
i am not a fan of pinnioning. what if a predator comes???

 

[KansasKid]

i have a pair of birds that are pinioned, but they live in my aviary and don't need to escape from anything. I do prefer full winged though. If you have a good number of wood ducks in your area you should be able to entice a few every now and then. they prefer heavily wooded areas and little sloughs of water. i had some this year on a water piece that was decently long but only about a car's width from side to side. The problem i see here though is that he will probably want to be able to sit and look at them, which A unless you have wood ducks that stick around will be in the winter during migration, or B they will be skitish and he'll have to look at them through binoculars unless you can figure out a way to "tame them" (scattered grains might help)

 

[desertdarlene]

I like the idea about nest boxes. Where I live, the wood ducks are here all year around and we pick up a few more in the winter. If you feed them regularly, they may drop their guard enough so that your dad can sit quietly and watch them. It would be better if he fed them himself because when they see him, they will automatically come closer even when he doesn't have any food with him.

I first learned about wood ducks through a nestbox cam on Ustream. It was fun to watch, the ducklings were popping like popcorn on Jump Day. Yes, they do jump from high distances, sometimes, but most survive the jump. On Jump Day, a soft pile of grass or leaves can be piled up under the box (but not before) if you want, but it has to removed before the box is used again..

 

[KansasKid]

I'm a little confused about what you meant by putting the grass/leaves but then having to remove them before the box can be used again.

 

[desertdarlene]

You can put a pile of leaves under to soften the blow of the jump, but it's your choice. That's what the nestcam owner did. The reason why I say remove them is that you don't want to make it easier for a predator to have easier access to the box by having a big pile of leaves underneath.