New Mandarin Ducks *CLOSED*

[Feathered Wings]

I went this afternoon to buy pigeons but when i got to the sellers house i saw some little ducks.
I ask what they were and he said Mandarins my heart almost stopped i had been thinking of getting some.
With my heart in my throat i summoned the strength and waited for the disappointing"not for sale"

To my utter delight he said well i was holding them but the guy hasn't come back.

I was dying and then he said okay i will take $70 for the trio

I about passed out

They were in a very huge flight pen with a wire top and they were terrified and kept flying into the wire.
I have always heard mandarins were calm and good ducks to raise but these were so frantic.
He said they are always that way i never go near them but to feed them.
They were ragged from hitting the wire he said they were molting.

My mind was raceing and i thought these ducks haven't been properly card for and i should get them.
He said he fed them scratch grains and i silently thought "yea" so thats why their feathers look so bad.
I believe the open pen scared them and with only a small box to hide in they were just scared of everything that moved.
He said he had them a year!?! I thought not likely these are young ducks.
I don't think he meant them any harm i think he just didn't know how to care for them properly.
I have been there myself and not known how to care for a new member of my flock (pheasants)
He has excellent pigeons and takes superb care of them.

Well i bit the bullet and bought them i brought them home and placed them in a small covered cage.
I covered it with a tarp all the way around and only left the door uncovered for them to see out.
Lined the floor with hay and put in a bowl of laying crumbles and a bowl of water.
I put them in and they sat down in the hay as if to say "Finally we are safe"

My questions are>> Will they calm down if i'm very careful about aproaching them??
I will move them to a brand new pen when they show improvement in both health and trusting me.

What can i feed them to help their feathers they really look they have been threw the spin cycle??
They seem a little thin too what can i do for that??

What can i do for them i feel so helpless as far as them being so fearful??

Any advice anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated

 

[DuckyBoys]

Two of my males have ratty feathers right now - I don't know why really. Don't worry though, they should molt soon and then get new ornamental feathers in the fall.

Most mandarins are crazy...I have a few that fly into the wire as well. Most of mine don't fly away, but they will walk "briskly" when I enter the pen. I do have a female that goes nuts and flies all over...nothing much I can do with her.

Lot of others have mandarins too - maybe they will chime in.

 

[call ducks]

hi i am getting a trio of them in the fall and so far i have learnd that the are a wild duck. and if you place ducks like call ducks or any other bantom duck beside wood ducks. I

them so much . when in the year do they have those fancy fathers ?

 

[Feathered Wings]

Thanks i hope to get some more replies i edited the title so people will have a better idea on what i'm looking for.

 

[Feathered Wings]

Anyone else with any advice?

 

[LuvDux]

Chances are they won't calm down. I only have one female I bought at a swap meet. She gets very excited/nervous whenever I come near her and sometimes tries to fly into the walls. I've had her about a year now and nothing has changed. She is still very much wild.

 

[Feathered Wings]

I'm really wanting to just get them in a secure pen and see if they will at least calm down a little.
I think the very open pen they were in was frightening to them.
They have been doing good in their small covered cage and haven't been hitting the cage with their heads.
I saw them eating and drinking today and preening.

Could i put them with my calls when they get used to being here??

 

[call ducks]

if you put them in with calls i think that it would be good for them to tame down and become more tame good luck. did you know they need a nest box to lay there eggs in ?

 

[katemary63]

Mandarins are wild - plain and simple. I can't imagine one being tamed like a domestic duck. The ducklings are so wild they will climb the walls trying to get away from you. Nothing like a domestic duck. My opinion is that it is a waste of time trying to tame them. If you had only 1 and spend many hours with it - MAYBE. They are an ornamental duck and we have them because they are pretty to look at, not to be pets and play with. BTW: I've had my Mandarins in a pen with calls for 3 years now - it just made the calls more flighty with no positive effect on the Mandarins. Once we took the calls out and put them with the big ducks, they were friendly again. The Mandarins are still crazy.

Right now, Mandarins are molting - they ALL look like crap. Our male looks like a female and he will look like that till fall. This happens every year just after breeding season. In the fall, just about mid September, he will be fully feathered out again and ready to impress the ladies.

I wound't think this guy was taking bad care of his ducks just because they looked ragged. It is normal. If he takes good care of his pigeons, there no reason to think he doesn't do the same for his ducks.

 

[DuckyBoys]

I'd just add that mine are in the call pen as well and although my calls are tame, my wild ducks are not.