Mandarin Duck thread ( for posting pictures and discussing)

[Duck-duck-goose]

Thanks! They seem to be happy.

 

[cjexotic]

No, Mandies do better in winter than summer. They are good until -20 degrees. Now they need a place to get out of the weather if they choose. I have perches up in my pen and they mostly perch and when it snows they get on the ground and play in it. I have a large pen off the ground for them something similar to yours and a large dog house (very large) in their pen and they go in and out but other than that they are fine. I have hay and straw in the two pens. Biggest battle is keeping the water from freezing. I have a preformed pond and I shut it down in dec. if the weather lets me hold off that long. then I put a tub in the pen off the ground for them. It holds about 4 gallons or so of water then two rubber buckets of water. Hope that helps.

 

[timmcd1]

I'm working on getting ready for a pair of Mandarins this spring. I'm planning on housing them in an existing aviary I'll expand and modify for them. I am told they will get along with my Amherst and Red Golden pheasants. The finished aviary will be 10'x24'x8-9' high with a 50 gallon pre-formed pond. I currently have 7 pheasants. That works out to over 26 s.f. per bird once I add the pair of Mandies. Any anticipated problems anyone can share? Thanks from a newbie to this forum.

 

[timmcd1]

I'm working on getting ready for a pair of Mandarins this spring. I'm planning on housing them in an existing aviary I'll expand and modify for them. I am told they will get along with my Amherst and Red Golden pheasants. The finished aviary will be 10'x24'x8-9' high with a 50 gallon pre-formed pond. I currently have 7 pheasants. That works out to over 26 s.f. per bird once I add the pair of Mandies. Any anticipated problems anyone can share? Thanks from a newbie to this forum.

 

[timmcd1]

Given that I haven't received any replies to my post of a couple of weeks ago, I'm going to make the assumption that folks don't see major problems with my plans to add a couple of Mandies to my mix. Given that, I guess I'll move on to matters of accommodating them. Since I plan to have a male and female, I would guess I should provide a nesting place. I would like to make things as naturalistic as I easily can and am thinking of making something out of a found tree crotch. I might enhance and possibility slice it in a way that it could be split and cleaned out periodically. My question would be what should the opening and the hollowed inside area be? Please pardon my wordiness, but any replies would be appreciated. Tim

 

[timmcd1]

One more thing. I would really like my pair of Mandies to be as take as they can be given their wild origins. As I mentioned, I currently keep ornamental pheasants including Alex, who I hatched from an eBay egg. I had to help him out of his shell and handled and spoke to him at least once a day for his first month in an aquarium broker in my livingroom. He is my only pheasant that lets me pet him and climbs on me. I won't be hatching the Mandies, but would be able to get them a day or two old. Will it likely make a difference in their tameness if I raise them like I did Alex? Would it be worth the trouble, or will I end up with the same result if I get them a month or two older? Thanks, Tim

 

[Recomachi]

Good evening. I have Mandarin ducks and they get along perfectly fine with my pheasants. Over the years I've had red golden lady Amherst and swinehoe pheasants in with rhem at different times. And never had any problems. As far as nest size I make my nesting boxes 11 -11 inch square. 20 inches tall in the front and 22 inches tall in the back. The roof is hinged and drops the two inches to give the roof slope. The entrance hole is a 4 inch circle two inches down from the front top. I add about four or six inches of sawdust inside for nesting material.. Hope that makes sense and helps.

 

[Recomachi]

Mandarin ducks are flighty and stress easy but I'm sure you can convince them to eat out of you hand. Move slow around them and always wear your same color feeding shirt when feeding them. Then change into that nasty colored shirt you never wear to catch them or clean the pen. They aren't color blind....

 

[Recomachi]

heressome of my ducks

 

[timmcd1]

Good evening. I have Mandarin ducks and they get along perfectly fine with my pheasants. Over the years I've had red golden lady Amherst and swinehoe pheasants in with rhem at different times. And never had any problems. As far as nest size I make my nesting boxes 11 -11 inch square. 20 inches tall in the front and 22 inches tall in the back. The roof is hinged and drops the two inches to give the roof slope. The entrance hole is a 4 inch circle two inches down from the front top. I add about four or six inches of sawdust inside for nesting material.. Hope that makes sense and helps.

Thanks so much for your reply. I was beginning to think I was talking to myself. I'm glad to know my plans aren't too off base. Tim