Mallard duck as pet?

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Mallards are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit.

Sounds to me like this one moved in of its own accord ... i am not keeping a skunk as a pet but one moved into the sugar house woodshed and it helps itself to cat food. Always comes out to say hi and sometimes visits us when we are boiling.

 

[neo71665]

Feeding wild animals and claiming one as a pet are two different things. We regularly have wild ducks and geese come to our farm pond.

Skunks make great pets. Had one for 15 years was even house broken.

 

[Lordofthegreenpeas]

It's possible someone actually dumped a domestic mallard in your yard, knowing that you already had ducks. If you check her feet, hatcheries and breeders will clip off the back toe on one foot to mark a mallard as domestic - you could check to see if she's missing that toe.

Not all breeders do. I've had domestic mallards surendered that haven't had their toes clipped and are from places like tsc.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Mallards are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. It is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase them or their parts, such as feathers, nests, or eggs, without a permit.

If you want Mallards you can order them from California's Metzer Farms. Mine made it from California to Ohio just fine and were great little Momma ducks as they hatched out babies for me the first try. They could fly very well so I clipped one wing and after that they were happy to be here and when their new feathers came back in they never had the desire to leave. I recently sold them but have some of their eggs which I am hatching out in a home made incubator. They are beautiful birds but not as friendly as my Rouens as they were more skittish. That is why I sold them.

 

[Pippin quail]

I'm jumping in on this thread to ask a similar question since this is fairly recent. Our puppy stole a mallard egg from a nest along our property. My daughter managed to get it away from her without it cracking or anything. Then she looked around for the nest but couldn't find it. I candled it and nothing had started to grow yet, I assume the duck just started laying and not sitting on the nest yet. Anyway, my daughter begged me to put it in the incubator with the chicken eggs I had in there... So without really thinking too much about it I obliged. Couldn't stand the thought of just tossing it... A few days later I candled it and, sure enough, it's growing. I had the thought that maybe I could pass it off to a mother duck if I see one with ducklings, but will she accept it if it didn't hatch in her nest? Also, I found another egg the next day that was already eaten by our puppy. I'm not sure the mother will actually stick around if her eggs keep getting stolen. So IF the duckling actually hatches, what should I do with it? My daughter is quite convinced she will be having a pet mallard, but I'm pretty sure it's not really allowed. (I'm in Canada) Though would it really matter if I let it out on our dugout eventually and it found wild friends and followed them? Sorry lots of questions!!

 

[SolarDuck]

I'm jumping in on this thread to ask a similar question since this is fairly recent. Our puppy stole a mallard egg from a nest along our property. My daughter managed to get it away from her without it cracking or anything. Then she looked around for the nest but couldn't find it. I candled it and nothing had started to grow yet, I assume the duck just started laying and not sitting on the nest yet. Anyway, my daughter begged me to put it in the incubator with the chicken eggs I had in there... So without really thinking too much about it I obliged. Couldn't stand the thought of just tossing it... A few days later I candled it and, sure enough, it's growing. I had the thought that maybe I could pass it off to a mother duck if I see one with ducklings, but will she accept it if it didn't hatch in her nest? Also, I found another egg the next day that was already eaten by our puppy. I'm not sure the mother will actually stick around if her eggs keep getting stolen. So IF the duckling actually hatches, what should I do with it? My daughter is quite convinced she will be having a pet mallard, but I'm pretty sure it's not really allowed. (I'm in Canada) Though would it really matter if I let it out on our dugout eventually and it found wild friends and followed them? Sorry lots of questions!!

Best thing would be to find a wildlife rehab once the little one hatches, you might run into problems with the law if you keep a completely wild mallard.

 

[Pippin quail]

Best thing would be to find a wildlife rehab once the little one hatches, you might run into problems with the law if you keep a completely wild mallard.

I can't see it being an issue out on our acreage. But I also have no idea how to raise a mallard, so that does sound like the best idea. Hopefully my daughter don't be too devastated. I'll just have to hatch out some domesticated ducklings next spring i guess!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I've heard that even though they're hatched by you, wild mallard ducklings/ducks never really act like a domestic duck. They're much more difficult to form a bond with and act wild, as they are. Of course this isn't always the case. I wouldn't keep it as a pet, but I also would have trouble tossing a viable egg. Probably contact a wildlife rehabilitator and ask their thoughts

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Using the search, you may be able to find some of the threads where this is mentioned. I have a pair of wild Mallards that built a nest and hatched out ducklings but all of their eggs hatched naturally under their mama and she's already left. She would come to me for some feed but she wasn't like my domestic ducks. My domestic Drake was absolutely amazing all around. I still miss him to this day. I wish you the best with whatever you do

 

[Pippin quail]

Using the search, you may be able to find some of the threads where this is mentioned. I have a pair of wild Mallards that built a nest and hatched out ducklings but all of their eggs hatched naturally under their mama and she's already left. She would come to me for some feed but she wasn't like my domestic ducks. My domestic Drake was absolutely amazing all around. I still miss him to this day. I wish you the best with whatever you do

Thanks! I'm definitely try and find a wildlife rehab in my area and see what they advise.