So I ended up with a female mallard, not rouen.... What now?

[Swiegand]

I thought I had 2 rouens, but learned today that my female, Gravy, is actually a mallard. I know they can fly, but that's about it. Is there anything I should know about having a mallard aside from my knowledge of keeping domestic ducks? I can't seem to find much info online. She is 9 weeks old and I've had her since she was about a week old. I bought her along with a pekin and a rouen from a woman outside of Walmart who was in over her head and needed to get them off her hands. We are in a very rural area with many feed supplies near us that sell ducklings. My guess is she bought them from the nearest tractor supply just 1 exit away as I know their chick day was just 4 days earlier. Will she fly away even though she is well taken care of with food and water? Do I need to clip her wings? Do I need to stop letting her free range? We have wild peacocks on our street and we have neighbors with dogs, tortoises, ducks, chickens, goats, donkeys horses(Which sounds nuts considering how our houses are pretty close together. Lakeside, Ca is an interesting place lol).

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

I had a little female mallard. She never flew. I rehomed her with someone who had other mallards and they taught her to fly the first day. You can always clip her wings.

 

[Isadora]

I have a single Mallard in with My other ducks. She can fly a little, but not well because she hasn't practiced. If I was worried about her flying away I would trim her wings in a moment. It doesn't hurt her at all and will make sure she stays close to home.
Other than that, I would say there's nothing special you need to do for her.

 

[Swiegand]

I have a single Mallard in with My other ducks. She can fly a little, but not well because she hasn't practiced. If I was worried about her flying away I would trim her wings in a moment. It doesn't hurt her at all and will make sure she stays close to home.
Other than that, I would say there's nothing special you need to do for her.

That makes sense. Thank you! hopefully she won't bother to fly too much since her bussies don't fly.

 

[Isadora]

That makes sense. Thank you! hopefully she won't bother to fly too much since her bussies don't fly.

Yes, exactly. She's the only mallard with my flock like I mentioned so even if she escapes from the pen (sometimes there's a divot in the ground and she slips underneath), she's right by the fence eager to be with them.

 

[KaleIAm]

Personally, I would clip her flight feathers. It is not hard, it doesn't hurt them, and it is easy to learn how to do. YouTube has many videos available to help you learn how. There are plenty of stories where people thought their mallards or muscovies weren't going to fly away, and then they did. Even very friendly ones who had all their needs met.

My own ducks, a welsh harlequin and a dark khaki campbell, shouldn't be able to fly. Somehow, they can a little bit. And my welshie flew into the barn last summer and broke her pelvis. Her recovery period was long, painful for her, and expensive for me. I trim both their flight feathers for their own safety. I'm not willing to deal with the consequences of having flying birds.