This is my first time raising ducks, I have 4 pekins an 3 mallards. Ok, now I may sound stupid for even thinking of an idea like this but is there any way you could attach a leg band to a duck, and having the leg band attached to a very long light weight rope or something like this and attaching the rope to a stake. This would allow the duck to be able to fly in circles. At least letting them stretch there wings, or would this cause problems when they ran out of tension in the rope. Sorry if this sounds ridiculous.
It sounds to me you are thinking of containing them similar to Game chickens/cocks. I STRONGLY advice AGAINST this. A few reasons why: -It will leave sores on there leg which can easily turn to infection -It will lead them to become overweight, they NEED space to roam -And there is no point because Pekins can't fly If you have true mallards, clip there wings. Its simpler and more humane. Just take sissors and cut through he wing feathers, they will bleed a little, but its not painful and there is no long lasting affect. If you choose to have them with full wings, they just need to molt and new full feathers will come in. Ducks need twice preferably three times the space chickens do, plus its prefered you have something for them to bath in (a kiddie pool works great). Ducks enjoy each others company so you want them together, though remember there should be a 1 drake(boy) to 3 hen (or more) ratio to keep the peace. Oh hear are some general facts on ducks that might help: - Ducks should have room to roam, roughly 2-3square feet per small duck and 3-5 square feet per large duck (Pekins for instance) -They are messier then chickens, so change the bedding regulary to keep mold from growing. -They should have a place to bathe, kiddie pools work great, but even letting them play in a flooded puddle often works great -Ducks can eat pretty much any feed, but make sure its NOT medicated, to much medication will kill them -They are fine to keep with other types of poultry, but the drakes will probably try to mate with any femal poultry, so keep that in mind
Quote:It would be a very dangerous thing to do. You would most likely end up with a duck that gets hung up in a tree or has dislocated legs. Most people who keep mallards will trim one wing to stop them flying or house them in an area with a netting roof to stop them flying away. Pekins will not fly.
Ducks have weak legs. You should never catch a duck by the legs, so tying them by the leg would not be a good idea. Your Pekins won't fly at all. If your mallards are domestic mallards, I doubt very much that they will fly away. They will stay where the food and their friends are. Ducks get the right type of exercise by strolling around and by swimming, if you can arrange to have swimming water for them.
