Do you clip Mallards wings?

[SassyKat6181]

Hubby just finished my run. It measures 100' x 45'. 2x3 welded wire all the way around and netting over the entire top, center height measures about 15' and slopes down to sides at 5'. Let the ducks out for the first time today and the Mallards thought they were "free" All 4 flew up, hit the net and dropped like rocks. What should I do? Clip their wings, put ribbons on the net, or let them get used to it? I am afaid that if they fly hard enough and at the right angle, their heads could get stuck in the net. Thanks

 

[Matapatos]

You can if you want, but I'd say let em keep their feathers, they'll learn very soon they can't fly that high and everything will be hunky dory... You do run the risk of them hurting or killing themselves, but its fairly unlikely they will. I have chicken wire, doesn't give at all, and mine have hit it a few times and are all fine...

 

[ElizabethinNY]

I clip my Mallard's wings, but only because she is my "garden duck" and helps me with the garden when I'm out there. If she was kept in her covered run all the time, I wouldn't clip them; she knows where the roof is.

 

[SassyKat6181]

Thanks for the replies.....hubby said they would learn too. It is flight netting, so there is some give to it. It's nice to see them fly and stretch, so I will keep an eye on them.