baby mallard questions.....

[duckman11032]

hey guys i have a question I have 5 4 week old mallard ducklings, and I need to know when to clip the one wing? to keep them flightless, all my other ducks don't fly......

i have a book that tells me how to clip, but i need to know usually when those feathers are mature enough to cut.....
i dont want to go out there one morning and all my mallards have flown off!!!


thanks

guys

michael "the duckman"

 

[ducklover15]

I clip my mallards when the entire duck is feathered. You really only need to get about the first 5 feathers on the wing and that's enough to keep them off balance. The drake I have had both of his wings clipped and he can still flutter a pretty good ways, so if you're really worried then clipping both wings wouldn't be a problem.

 

[xfilesnumber1fan]

I have 7 mallards and have never cut them..But 8 weeks they should be fully feathered..I have cut wings before..I always do only 1 and leave the first 3 the longest so when the wing folds back it looks normal..Then I cut the rest up to the colored ones..

 

[ChickenToes]

Well, they'll be fully feathered around 8 weeks, but I've never had one fly that young. Somewhere around 12 or 14 weeks is a good time to clip, that's when they start getting some air and flying around a little bit.