Mandarin Duck thread ( for posting pictures and discussing)

[RuzichFamily]

I don't keep the birds at home, they are on a small plot about 5 minutes drive. Do you let them hatch and remove them before they leave the nest after a day or 2? How long do you keep them under a heat source in the brooder and when do you introduce water? I'm in Ireland so its colder here than Louisiana I'd imagine. When do you introduce them back into the aviary or do they never go back?

I do not let mine hatch in the nest if I can keep from it. When I see one externally pipped or anywhere else in the hatching process, I move all eggs inside to the incubator. Then they stay in my brooder under a lamp until they are feathered out and I move them back to the aviary. I'm assuming that you are asking when they are old enough to swim? They need a week or two in my opinion, then slowly they may be introduced and under supervision.

 

[chickenzzzz]

I have a pair of white mandarins for sale, they are 1 year old, that male has molted his eclipse feathers. They will make a great breeding pair next breeding season. Send me a message if you are interested.

 

[cajunfowl0]

You will have more luck at softbills for sale.

 

[Emmet Mcknight]

I have 5 Mandarin ducks in my aviary and 5 nest boxes, 2 nest boxes have had the same amount of eggs for well over a week now and the oldest eggs in these boxes could be coming up on 4 weeks, one has 12 eggs and one has 5 eggs, I'm still seeing ducks going in and out of these boxes but no additional eggs, will these eggs still be OK? I have 2 other ducks sitting in 2 other boxes, one on 16 eggs and one on 14 eggs and the 5th nest box has had a new every day for 5 days now (5 eggs in total).

 

[Buck Oakes]

maybe you could sneak some eggs in with some other mamas

Also would it be okay if i get another male mandarin, would he fight with ember over sky? or would they like get along fine and share her in a way? Sky still has black on her wings and she's coming up a year old and i wanna try to keep that mutation going, only problem is that ember probably isn't split white so i need a white male, i called up our breeder we got sky and ember from and he said he would give me a male to mate with sky i would just have to give him 50% of the babies for the first year. Anyway what should i do? I dont want ember to get bullied.

 

[chickenzzzz]

HELP
One of my mandarin drakes is sick. His lower back side is very swollen (looks like a female mandarin that has an egg). His poop is a bright green color. He has no energy, walks very little. I did pick him up to look at the swelling, I don't see any cuts or anything.
Has this ever happened to anyone? What can I do?

 

[Buck Oakes]

If he is good around people you can take him to the vet. Exotic vets usually take in birds so you don't need a specific avian vet.

 

[copperduck]

So I just found out that mazuri fowl feed is 39.99 that's ridiculous

 

[BYC-user-174785]

The price may seem high in comparison to other commercial feeds designed for production poultry, but wild ducks should be fed a higher quality diet that reflects their feeding in the wild. Mazuri Waterfowl feeds are designed for the wild ducks that we have, with a breeder diet and a maintenance diet (this is for the non-breeding months). The feed is in the form of extruded disk-shaped pellets so you can feed the ducks on the water—it floats and promotes dabbling behavior. We are feeding our ducks with Mazuri feed. Ultimately it comes down to each person's choice as to what they want to feed their ducks, but I prefer a higher quality food for higher end birds. Also, if you have local feed shops/mills that carry Purina feed, see if they can order the feed for you, as it might be a few dollars cheaper per bag.

 

[sambat]

Anyone near South Georgia have mandarin ducks?