Ducks getting out

[deereemp]

I have a big fenced in are for my ducks, but one is getting out. He was getting on top of his house and flying over the fence. I have put something on top so he can't get on top. Hope this works. Any suggestions?

 

[elly21]

Some people clip the wings. This is not something I have experience with though. If the area is not too large, maybe you could put up some poultry netting. My step mom has poultry netting over her chicken run. It keeps the chickens in and the hawks out. She zipties the netting to the top of the fence. And she has some stakes in spaced out in the center of the run to hold the netting up. I think she used plastic baseballs pushed down on the top of the stakes so the netting wouldn't rip on the stakes. Hope this helps.

 

[Orca5094]

Netting over a duck pen is very very good to have to try and keep out aerial predators, so I agree with that suggestion! I have deer netting over the top of my big summer pens (stronger than the normal light netting people use here) and chicken wire over the top of my smaller winter pens. I don't like to take any chances with predators.

If you can't put netting over for some reason, I would suggest clipping the duck's wings. It is very easy to do, but you will want someone to hold the duck for you. There are some good videos on YouTube on clipping wings. You just have to be absolutely certain not to cut any blood feathers.

 

[cayugaducklady]

I've used bird netting (the kind that you put on fruit trees and berries to keep birds from the fruits/berries) and aviary netting to cover my forage pen when i need the girls to stay confined in an area.

My forage pens are not person tall so the extra netting drapes down the sides onto the lawn.

Another plus is that raptors can see the netting so it serves as a deterrent for bird predators, too.

Both have been excellent for keeping them in the forage pen.

The plus for the tinier bird netting is that it keeps snakes and voles (small rodents) away from them/the food/treat/snack bowl. BUT the tinier bird netting is harder to work with. It snags in show treads etc.

I got both on Amazon cheaper than i could get it locally.

 

[deereemp]

Thanks. Do I have to clip both wings or just one?

 

[elly21]

Thanks. Do I have to clip both wings or just one?

Metzer Farms says just one wing should do it. Be sure to check out some youtube videos first so you can do it correctly.

 

[quackingdom]

I made this video on how to clip a duck's wings. Hope it helps!

 

[deereemp]

Thanks so much