Mandarin & Wood Ducks

[giffy]

Quote:
They can, but they don't have "domestic characteristics." They are (for the most part) flighty, skittish and tend to shy away from their keepers. Domestic ducks will normally stay around home in an open top pen.................Mandarins would be gone in a second.

giffy
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[Scott]

They are a wild duck, not domesticated like say a pekin. They are a small duck and, if I'm not mistaken, are comparable in size to call ducks (bantam sized). They really need an aviary type housing. They can not free range like domestic ducks because theyd just end up flying away.

Incidentally, does anyone keep mandarins on wire in raised pens?

 

[claud]

I used to have wood ducks. I do believe wood ducks are more flighty than the Mandarins.
As others have said their enclosure needs a nicely secured top. They fly and can climb very well - they will find holes between the netting and fencing and escape.

Other than some differences in housing and temperment I don't think they are any more difficult to keep than other ducks. The wood ducks are pretty hardy in cold weather too.