Duck Takes Flight!

[MamacatPatch]

We have five four-month old Khaki Campbell ducks that we keep in a shed for now ... and probably until spring. Recently, one of them escaped the shed while I was feeding them and walked right out into the foot deep snow on the ground and eventually right through one of the square openings in the wire farm fence! DH and I walked around the backyard and woods and finally cornered her and caught her and put her back in the shed.

Two things surprised me. One, that she was able to slip right through the fencing with no problem. I am hoping it's just because she's still so young and small and that eventually she'll be too big to fit through the fencing. Our full grown Pekins and Blue Swedes cannot get through the fence this way nor have I seen them taking flight.

The other thing is while we were trying to calmly corner her, she TOOK FLIGHT and flew a good four to five feet and she was three or four feet in the air the whole time! I am hoping that this was also because she is so young and that when full grown she'll be too heavy to take flight. Last thing we need is for our five girls to take flight once they're allowed to roam in the fenced in area!

Am I on track with my conclusions here?


Marci

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

What size are your holes in the fencing?

I use this for my waterfowl pens:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/fencing/feedlot-panels/feedlot-panel-hog-1-6-ft-l-x-34-in-h-3610325

But I had to wrap it in "no climb" horse fence because even the largest of my Muscovies are able to squeeze out!

Younger ducks are sometimes able to fly better than older (heavier) ones but females in my experience have always been more agile and have had better luck in flying. My Muscovies will fly all over the place if I didn't clip their wings. The Cayugas when I raised them, never flew.

 

[MamacatPatch]

Well, darn, that's not good news for me!

Yeah, we use the exact same kind of 'farm fence' as you've got there on your place.

Two of the Blue Swedes near the fence that's covered with chicken wire.

Perhaps my Pekins and Blue Swedes COULD squeeze through the holes if they decided to do that, but so far they've not done it. We have chicken wire around two sides of the small fenced area, but not the sides on the woods and backyard.

I really really don't want to have to clip duck feathers!!! Our Khaki's are very fearful of us, despite our efforts to make them comfortable and I sure don't want to catch them and clip their wings! UGH!!!

Enjoyed your pix !!! I love your wide open spaces! We're mostly surrounded by woods and trees!


Marci

 

[awryexperiment]

I have raised domestic breed ducks for over 12 yrs. My ducks routinely fly especially down-hill; they typically only get ~2 ft above the ground but can cover 15-20 ft.

I have a swedish female with extrordinay flight ability. She has flown over fences and once she flew over an old apple tree which is probably 20' tall.

I also recently had a male who was separated from the females fly over a 4' fence to get some tail. He and I had a wing-clipping session later that evening. He is grounded for the rest of this season.

 

[MamacatPatch]

Quote:
Well, I sure hope I don't have to clip wings. What a CHORE that would be as we have 10 ducks now! Guess we can do all we can do and let nature take it's course for the rest.

 

[awryexperiment]

I only clip when there is a problem, but even if I had to do them all (23 currently), it really isn't all that tough.

 

[MamacatPatch]

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Clipping them might not be difficult but catching them would be!!!

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Same thing with my muscovies. I have about 30 young muscovies and they can fly as high 10 ft in the air (no kidding). They can fly across a 2 acre area with ease. They NEVER fly away and not come back. They are just show-offs. I do have to clip their wings because they can sometimes end up 1/4 mile down the road at my neighbors but they fly back home. It is difficult catching all of them. I catch them at night when they can't see to well and are half asleep. I have a 5ft fence but they fly right over that with no problem. Once they get a taste of flying, it's all over then.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Yep that tail works wonders! I had a big old African Gander that learned how to CLIMB fences when his mate went broody on the eggs and cut him off. He would climb out of his run go and climb into the toulouse run and seduce one of the spare females over there and then sneak back to his "wife". Have you ever seen a goose climb a fence? grabs on with his bill, first one foot then the other, shifts his bill up a wire and repeats. when he got to the top he had a problem which he solved by a flop and a fall on the outside of the fence. The second time he did it on purpose. LMAO when I realized what he was up to. Wasn't laughing when I had to sort and cull the toulouse hatchings that he fathered.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Same thing with my muscovies. I have about 30 young muscovies and they can fly as high 10 ft in the air (no kidding). They can fly across a 2 acre area with ease. They NEVER fly away and not come back. They are just show-offs. I do have to clip their wings because they can sometimes end up 1/4 mile down the road at my neighbors but they fly back home. It is difficult catching all of them. I catch them at night when they can't see to well and are half asleep. I have a 5ft fence but they fly right over that with no problem. Once they get a taste of flying, it's all over then.

Wait until they start roosting on the peak of your house and start decorateing your nice white roof! It is catch and clip whenever you can!