New to Ducks and need Advice/Help

[CascadiaRiver]

Hello! Very recently we have hatched a duck for a friend, it's a regular silver appleyard and we were sort of using it as a test to see if we wanted to raise more and add some ducks to our flock. We have mainly encountered one issue, which is size. When things get bigger they eat more and poop more and take up more space, and being just a smaller person, having smaller ducks would be a lot more manageable.

I've been looking into duck breeds and checking what we have locally, but with the bantams and mini's I've noticed that they can just fly away.

Do all small ducks need their wings clipped? (or put into an enclosed area) or is that just the flighty ones? Would a more tame duck not fly away?

And if anyone has an advice for breeds that'd be wonderful! Nearby we have people that raise call ducks but I did find about 3 hours away someone who has mini silver appleyards, ducklings and hatching eggs, would either of those be better than the other?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@WVduckchick @Pyxis @shawluvsbirds @MillersFarm I believe all have Calls

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hello! Very recently we have hatched a duck for a friend, it's a regular silver appleyard and we were sort of using it as a test to see if we wanted to raise more and add some ducks to our flock. We have mainly encountered one issue, which is size. When things get bigger they eat more and poop more and take up more space, and being just a smaller person, having smaller ducks would be a lot more manageable.

I've been looking into duck breeds and checking what we have locally, but with the bantams and mini's I've noticed that they can just fly away.

Do all small ducks need their wings clipped? (or put into an enclosed area) or is that just the flighty ones? Would a more tame duck not fly away?

And if anyone has an advice for breeds that'd be wonderful! Nearby we have people that raise call ducks but I did find about 3 hours away someone who has mini silver appleyards, ducklings and hatching eggs, would either of those be better than the other?

Calls can fly, yes. But wing clipping is easy to do until they are trained to stay put. The problem with the smaller ones is they are sure easy to pick off by predators. . .
.especially if their wings are clipped.
All birds are susceptible to predators but the little ones are just an easier target. So consider your space and where you will keep them and decide what's best for predator proofing.
Mine are kept in a secure run. . I don't free range. So I've not had a flying away problem. But I have had them fly out the door on me before but they always come back. Most of the call owners I've ran into here have said they learn where home is and will come back to food water and safety as long as they don't get eaten.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I bet mini appleyards are super cute. I think any miniature or Bantam duck will be basically the same as keeping calls, unless you get into wood ducks or mandarins. . they climb AND fly and require a different set up to keep them in.

 

[Daisy Minotaur]

I’ve got standard sized ducks of several varieties. I clip wings on the flighted ones easy to do and only has to be done twice a year. before I started clipping they did get out occasionally but would always come back without much difficulty (despite being barely socialized with people at their previous home).

 

[Texag87]

Runners if you are worried about flying.

 

[WVduckchick]

I’ve had a few call ducks fly off, but they come back. I think by the time they learn to fly, they have figured out where “home” is, so it’s usually not a problem. I don’t clip wings, because I do let mine roam my yard. They have more ability to escape if they can still fly. Just had one last week get chased by a hawk, I thought she was a goner, but she returned about an hour later. I had a drake fly off last year and return after a couple hours.

Mine do enjoy going to one end of my yard, flying across the yard, and landing in the pool on the far end.

You may also look up black east indie ducks. Gorgeous and small, but a bit bigger than Calls.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Thank you all for the replies!! Is there anything to like "training them" to keep put or just similar to chickens where they grow up in their home and learn its home? We live in a nice neighborhood with really nice big yards and so thankfully we don't have many predators, we have crows living in the trees around our house so we actually don't have much of a hawk problem either, in 5 years we've only lost one bird to predators!

We were considering runners but they're a little big bigger, but we have a close friend with them and we love the upright look so we might end up with one or two anyways ;D I've seen east indies and it could have just been the owners (it usually is for birds at fair) but they were kind of flighty and more skittish, but I'm keeping an eye out for all small and mini ducks nearby!

I've heard that ducks are usually more welcoming to new additions than chickens, do they cohabitatw with different sizes very well? I know a runner isn't that much bigger than other bantams/minis but I wanna cover my bases lol! And I have heard it a few times, but are runners really mostly flightless?

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Thought I should include a picture of our baby right now, since who doesn't like baby ducks? <3

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Love baby duck pictures. What's a Chinese owl?