Muscovy keepers share your pics!

[Onlyducks]

Well I didn't want to do it but it had to be done. Tonight the drake and one of the ducks had their wings clipped. Only those two, because the other two are AWOL and I can't find them, and that's the line. It's one thing to make me gather you up in the afternoon and herd you in at night but when I can't find you and you're out all night unprotected? You lose flying privileges. The one duck wasn't out of the pen and the drake was outside the pen but wouldn't leave her, so he was okay to round up. Then both of them lost their feathers on one wing. Tomorrow when I can manage to hunt down the other two ducks they're getting clipped too. I understand wanting to free range but until they learn to stay in the yard and come in at night they don't get to. If they learn to behave I won't clip them again after their next molt. I was really trying to avoid this and tried a bunch of different ways of covering the pen but today in order to get out they literally tore down the chicken wire and tarp over the pen to create a gap to go through. Of course now they're gonna be mad at me but I'm hoping that since it happened after dark they won't recognize it was me that did it.

The ducks really don't know that you clipped their wings—they just figure out they can't fly anymore. Trust me, they won't hold it against you! Clipping wings is a way of protecting the critters. I clipped the wings right away on my Muscovies, mostly so they wouldn't try to fly back the 150 miles to where they used to live. Now, they are going into a more open area for the winter, so I am not clipping the wings as long as they remember to stay in my yard where they belong. They really haven't shown any tendancy to want to leave (I usually have to chase them out of their pen to get them to free range) so I'm hoping it stays that way.
(Aren't these critters so clever with pushing a hole in the cover and escaping?

I wired the pen cover down about every 6 to 12 inches so they can't get it loose! One was escaping out the door where the water pans get put in and out, so I had to put a bungy cord across door to prevent escape. They keep you thinking!)

 

[Buck Oakes]

Quote:
For my ducks, i coop train them as babies like when they're juveniles but big enough, i let them out during the day and put them up after about two hours to where some will just go in and wait to be locked up while the others i have to go get but still go in reluctantly. irt helps when they're only food they get to have in a bowl is in the coop along with a bucket of water. It might help to give them little treats every time they go in, i do that with mine and its world, since they're adults it could take awhile for them to get used to going up by themselves though or being put up .

 

[Buck Oakes]

Also what if you clip their wings and you can't find them, or they don't go up? Then they do need their wings to fly up on something to sleep, or to fly away from danger, Thats why i don't clip my duck's wings because some of them like to stay out and they need their wings. So if they were to stay out then they would need their wings especially if their free range to get away from daytime predators like dogs and stuff.

 

[Pyxis]

They do only have food in the pen, doesn't stop them from breaking out. They're gonna get their wings clipped once I have them back to keep them safe. I'll take having them in at night and knowing they're safe during the most dangerous time over slightly better predator protection during the day for now. They also get out and head straight for the road, and that's much more dangerous. They won't be free ranging until the spring most likely. The whole point of me clipping their wings is so they don't get the option of staying out at night, so they won't need the extra predator protection or the ability to get up in the trees.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They do only have food in the pen, doesn't stop them from breaking out. They're gonna get their wings clipped once I have them back to keep them safe. I'll take having them in at night and knowing they're safe during the most dangerous time over slightly better predator protection during the day for now. They also get out and head straight for the road, and that's much more dangerous. They won't be free ranging until the spring most likely. The whole point of me clipping their wings is so they don't get the option of staying out at night, so they won't need the extra predator protection or the ability to get up in the trees.

Did your 2 runaways come home yet?

 

[Onlyducks]

They do only have food in the pen, doesn't stop them from breaking out. They're gonna get their wings clipped once I have them back to keep them safe. I'll take having them in at night and knowing they're safe during the most dangerous time over slightly better predator protection during the day for now. They also get out and head straight for the road, and that's much more dangerous. They won't be free ranging until the spring most likely. The whole point of me clipping their wings is so they don't get the option of staying out at night, so they won't need the extra predator protection or the ability to get up in the trees.

I am wondering about the whole "wings clipped" thing. It seems many people prefer their ducks "au natural", as in able to fly. This, of course, means the very real possibility of the duck leaving. Others seem to want the ducks safe at home, thus clipping the wings. As noted, I did clip the wings and will do so again if the ducks don't stay here. I don't see that one way or the other is superior—both have risks and the decision seems more closely tied to the desire to keep the ducks home than anything else. The problem with predators and clipped wings is no different than many domestic duck breeds that cannot fly, so the predator argument is only partially valid. I know I am leaving my ducks unclipped because their winter pen is not very secure, but if they do not stay in the pen, then they get clipped wings and back in the secure pen. The whole thing is entirely dependent on what your situation is and how you view your ducks. I can't see that either choice is "right or wrong" in all cases.

 

[Pyxis]

I definitely agree! I would have left mine flighted if they had behaved. I'm only doing it because they aren't safe and that's just not okay with me. I think it's a personal preference and one way isn't necessarily better than the other.

Miss Lydia - No, not yet. I have a good idea of where they are though so when I get home between classes and work, I'm gonna head over there and see if I can't herd them back. They must be getting hungry by now.

 

[houdiniduck]

My female muscovy flew up onto the roof, so I clipped her wings. She can still fly, just not as high.

 

[Going Quackers]

Some updated pics of a few of mine...

 

[Going Quackers]

Clipping wings all depends on the situation. I don't, but i free range to me that would be like tossing someone into a lake holding an anchor... they need that line of defense. My girls will fly up on occasion to the silkie run, the kids old playground.. had a few roof walkers on the house lol but overall they all stay, and all future generations have been the same, it's mostly the young each summer, fall who are wing newbies as i call them, who test wings out and will flutter about but still only here.

I have never had anyone fly away, nor fly off and not return. They like it here lol good food. no fees.