Clipping Wings

[MarblesMomma]

Well, found out that my 12 week old buff duck is flying. Is there any other more permanent solution to flying ducks? And if not, how often should you clip a ducks wings?

 

[Abriana]

Definitely clip wings. Your duck may try to fly south for the winter and then you may never see her again. Clip the flight feathers, the long, stiff ones, on only one wing. It will unbalance the bird when she tries to fly, if you clip both, she will be balanced again and can then get away. Re-clip whenever you see them growing back.

 

[The Moonshiner]

She will not fly south for the winter.
You can clip her wing or both. Both won't enable her to fly.
I have leghorns and they fly with one clipped so I have to do both.
I have buffs and am surprised yours is flying. None of mine ever could except if we had a strong wind and they caught it just right.
I'm guessing it is only because she is younger and not put on a lot of weight yet.
When she fattens up she will be grounded

 

[Abriana]

She will not fly south for the winter.
You can clip her wing or both. Both won't enable her to fly.
I have leghorns and they fly with one clipped so I have to do both.
I have buffs and am surprised yours is flying. None of mine ever could except if we had a strong wind and they caught it just right.
I'm guessing it is only because she is younger and not put on a lot of weight yet.
When she fattens up she will be grounded

I am getting Pekins, and I read that because they are a heavy breed, there is no danger of them flying south for the winter as there would be such danger for other, lighter breeds. That is one of the main reasons i picked a Pekin. I don't know if I was on a reliable website or not, but I have read that some light duck breeds with unclipped wings will fly south for the winter.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I don't see how they would even know about that.
I had flying mallards for years and they never fly off during the winter.
I have calls that can fly like crazy and they haven't left. Also have muscovies that fly. 2 of those flew off one winter but they went to a neighbors then came back in the spring.

Ya I don't see pekins flying anywheres. I stay away from them. Had a few before and they get leg issues sometimes from their weight.

 

[Abriana]

Really? What kind of leg issues? Do you think Pekins are a good choice for me? i have heard all good things from other people who have Pekins. Do you have any lighter, super friendly breeds that you would suggest?

 

[The Moonshiner]

They're a meat breed so they're designed to put on more weight and faster then other ducks. Their legs can have issues holding up the weight sometimes
I love calls. But they fly like crazy. Depends what you want them for. Also like mallards, buffs, anconas and runners.

 

[Abriana]

They are pets, I have always wanted ducks, and after seeing an ADORABLE picture of a duckling on another thread settled it. After I got chicken health issues under control, I asked a ton of questions about ducks and people said that they had Pekins and they were really friendly (as I pet, I want friendly). Is there a way to keep them from gaining as much weight? I love Calls, would they be friendly provided I handled them enough as ducklings?

 

[The Moonshiner]

With pekins the best you can do is try to watch their weight and keep an eye on their legs. I tried to not do anything that made them run. That's usually when we had problems was from when they would run .

As for friendly I don't what breeds are considered the friendlest. I think a lot would depend on the individual duck and how much effort you put into it. Our calls are our friendlest but we interact with them the most too.

 

[Abriana]

Maybe calls would be better. I have to think about it a little more. Thanks for all your help @The Moonshiner!