Runner and Mallard cross?

[blueducklings]

Mine can go about 20 feet and peak at 6 feet
High

 

[NathanZee]

Mine can go about 20 feet and peak at 6 feet
High

I have learned that with daily practice runners can fly much farther than expected. I have one that can fly over a 1/4 of a mile!

 

[Russian Blue]

I suppose the runners can fly if they practice. They are not heavy birds. Mine has no reason to fly. His buds are all ground-bound. They are either non-flying ducks or they have their wings clipped.

 

[shortgrass]

My runners only fly if they want to lol, which is usually just to get down into or up out of the creek...

The mallards fly everywhere; DH even has some that migrate away and return every spring, but the 3 I kept this year got clipped until winter so they would stay until spring.

Now DH doesn't want my runners to mate with his mallards lol... Actually all I need is one of his drakes, I have most of the females and they're black runners

I'm curious what they would look like?


His concern is that we will become overrun with ducks that can't fly and won't lay...

Do the crosses lay as well as the purebred runners?

 

[119chixanducks]

I have 8 mallard and runner mixed ducks. I'm new to caring for ducks. How can i tell which are male and female?

 

[Russian Blue]

How they look depends on the runner's color. My mallard girls crossed with fawn-and-white runner drake tend to come out buff or light brown. Some have a white ring around their neck.

 

[119chixanducks]

I have this mix and t

I have hatched quite a few of the reverse cross, a fawn and white runner drake with a mallard. The resulting ducks are either all buff (strangely enough) or medium brown. In my avatar pic, the drake in the center and the girl on the far left are runner x mallard. This is a wonderful cross, IMO. They are smaller in size, lay well and can't fly over the fence.

I have this mix and they're about 3 months old. Im new to ducks. Theyre flying around the pen. One flew over fence. Will they fly away??? Should i clip their wings???

 

[Russian Blue]

Yes, you should clip one wing on each duck. This is for their own safety. I had mine fly to the neighbor's yard and not be able to get back over the fence. One ended up three houses down and I wouldn't have got her back except they knew I had ducks and called me. There are good videos on Youtube that show how to clip duck wings.

As for male vs. female, you have only two options. First is to learn to sex them when they are first hatched. This is difficult and takes practice but if you can learn it you will save money and probably be able to hire yourself out! The other option is to wait until their voices start changing at 3-4 months.

Unlike chickens, I don't think there is such thing as a sex-link duck that can be sexed at hatch by color. If there is, someone will brobaby jump in and tell us about it.

 

[119chixanducks]

Ok i will look on YouTube. My fence is about 5 ft. and big yard of 3 acres. I also dont know when to let them free range and if they'll go in house at night like chickens do?

 

[119chixanducks]

I got these ducks from my neighbor. They were about two months old when I got them, i've had them about a month. I've had chickens for about seven years but no experience with ducks. I want to take care of them properly. I've been reading on the Internet but will probably get storeys book for ducks.
They haven't warmed up to me yet. They move away from me when I go in the pin. So thinking about clipping their wings seems like it would put a lot of stress on them because I am a stranger as of now. Trying to talk to them and get them acquainted with me as I'm the one who brings the food, changes water etc. any advice is much appreciated! Thanks for the help so far!