Mandarin Duck advice

[Cassandragrenr]

I got my mandarins saturday, so im no expert, but ive read up a lot on them.

To me, eggs aren't the way to go. How much are the eggs? I would personally buy a started or breeding pair. Ornamental duck eggs don't ship very well.

It will be VERY VERY hard to make them imprinted to humans. They are wild. It's like sorta like trying to tame a ringneck pheasant. You may be able to get close to them, but won't be like a domestic duck that will let you pick em up and what not. In most cases they will be only oranmental .

Now, you can leave them full winged( not clip or pionioned) if you have netting on the pen. If do do decide to do something with their wings, pinion them because it is only 1 time you put them through stress, instead of catching them every so often and give them more stress. Plus pinioning is easier since it's easier to catch a duckling than an adult. Trust me. I ha to catch one flying inour garage

That's my 2 cents on that.

If you have any other questions just ask.

Hope this helped,
Justin

How's it going with the mandarin ducks? Have they grown fond of you or still skittish?

 

[Selgar]

They will still be fairly wild, they'll probably never want you to pick them up, no matter how much time you spend with them. I have a pinioned hen and I feel bad every time I see her... She still tries to fly but just flips over. Best thing is net the whole thing, top to bottom, and leave them full winged, IMO. If you have to clip or pinion, I'd pinion. Less maintenance and a permanent solution. I just feel bad for mine... And like Justin said, its much better to start with a breeding pair or two. The eggs are tough to handle and don't handle stress very well.

Beautiful birds, but not domesticated like pekins, runners, etc. They will want more time preening and standing around, will want and need cleaner water, and less disturbances from noises and people. They like seclusion...

Travis

My Mandarin runs right to me the second he see’s me and won’t leave my side. I wouldnt ping them cause that’s like breaking someone’s kneecaps to keep them hostage. I also have a wood duck that imprinted on me. He’s a pain in the butt, he knocks on my door until I answer it. He flys back and forth to his pond, but loves to hang out in the house.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What a sweetie