Will ducks fly away if they are free ranged.?

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wngsttr

wngsttr

In the Brooder
8 Years
Feb 27, 2011
14
0
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Jackson, Ca.
I have two Mallards ducks, one hen and one drake.. They are about 6 months old..They have been free ranged since they were ducklings. They hang withturkeys, gunieas and chickens. The drake is starting to show his green head. Will they try to fly away or should you clip thier wings? New at rasing ducks....
 
I have mallards. Mine have never tried to fly away. If they start getting carried away with their flying you should clip for awhile.
 
I don't have mallards, cut I do have call duck which fly very well indeed. They merely fly from one area of my pro pert to another if they don't feel like walking the distance. Sometimes they fly when something startles them; again, they just fly to another part of the property. Occasionally they will fly out in a huge circle, coming back to the yard each time.

I don't clip their wings because 1) their flights are wonderful to watch, and 2) they may need to fly to escape predators.
 
In general no they shouldnt fly away. It could happen but as long as theres efficient feed and water its extremely unlikely. I even have wood ducks that I have raised that free range on my property
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Mine are Muscovy so obviously the drakes don't flap to far, my hens sure fly though but never away... they have shelter and food here so they shouldn't want to. I won't clip because at the least it will give them a slight edge if a predator were to come on the property.
 
I had a call duck pair, and they flew very well when they needed to. Once my dog got out and went after my call hen, and she flew away, if couldnt have flew, she would be dead.
 
My muscovy drake [the old man] couldn't fly if he wanted to. My young drake probably could if he was up high and got lift.
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but my Muscovy girls would fly in a minute, and where we live they would have a hard time finding their way back so I clip their wings. It would be wonderful if I could let them fly around and come home at the end of the day, but pretty sure i wouldn't have any left by now.
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Quote:
You might be surprised at how they know where they live lol
I am a firm believer as long as they are happy they aint leaving
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I have scovys, mallards and like I said even a wood duck flying around and none have ever left. Miss Lydia your right about the muscovy males though
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My muscovy hens fly all the time from the house to the field. One of these days when we can catch them we will be clipping their wings since last winter I lost a hen who flew down the river below the house. She and her buddy liked to fly around our property and I knew it wasn't a good idea but I let them anyways. Well one day doing chores I noticed they just kept right on flying. One came back 2 days later and the other never did. DH went and looked for her but never found her or any feathers. I like to tell myself she flew to another farm
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So we learned our lesson and will be clipping wings before that happens again! My older hens can still fly but usually not for too long since they are too heavy now. My drakes can't fly enough to get onto the deck let alone down to the river!
 
Had mallards. The will fly and "sometimes" return. If you are afraid of the exit, put a cargo net or something over their pen.

Perhaps even start to get them to stay penned (for the winter anyway) Good Luck!
 

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