Sad News

[degan]

My two white call ducks flew over their cage last night and the dog got them. I built them a little pond with a house to sleep in surrounded by 4ft chicken wire. When I first put them in one flew out but stuck around the cage so I put him back in and they seemed happy with the set up because for three week they never tried to fly out. My heart is broken they were so cute. I want to know before I get more if they will fly over an 8ft fence or any other suggestions to make sure this never happens again. The dog is not mean he basically was just playing with them but ended up mauling them to death. Please help I need a safe home for my new ducks.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Yes, they'll fly over an 8' fence too. If you want to get more, you could probably use the same set-up you have now, but put flight-netting over the enclosure so they can't get out.

And I'm so sorry!

 

[SkyWarrior]

Sorry you lost your ducks.

You could try clipping their wings to keep them from going over.

Good luck!

 

[degan]

Their cage is at the side of my garage and there is a big dogwood shrub (15ft high) growing beside it. It might be hard to weave the netting around it. How high would I have to put the fence to keep them in? Also I don't know how to clip wings. how often do you have to do it?

 

[Sweetfolly]

Here's a good guide for clipping wings in waterfowl: http://www.cornerstonefarm.net/wingdemo.html

Just make sure they're done feathering in before you do it - if you clip their wings when the feathers are growing in, there's an active supply of blood flowing to the feather shaft, and they'll end up bleeding and being in a lot of pain. As long as you don't clip any "blood feathers", clipping is perfectly harmless, and you only have to do it once or twice a year - after each molt, when they grow them back in.

 

[degan]

Can they still fly with blood feathers?

 

[katharinad]

I'm sorry for your loss. Have you ever though about getting non-flying ducks instead. I personally have 4 dogs so I went for heavy bread ducks. Their size intimidates the dogs and they leave them alone. I can have them all running in the same yard together without any problem. Obviously I would not leave the dogs alone with the ducks, because you never know. Otherwise you will have to cover your pen, or have to clip their wing feathers. You basically cut the feathers on one wing tip to throw them off balance, that is what stops them from flying. You don't have to cut them completely off, just clip them back a little. There are plenty of images on the net, if you google it.

 

[degan]

I did have heaver ducks at one time, the problem now is I have a fish pond and need to cage ht ducks to keep them out. The duck pond area is not that big so its perfect for the smaller ducks. If I clipp their wings how far off the ground can they get?

 

[Baybrio]

Sorry to hear about your calls.

Maybe you could use deer netting. Around here they sell a very light weight netting made of plastic. It is very flexible and could probably go right over the bush. It is very similar to the type of netting put over fruit trees to protect the fruit from birds. I use it to deter hawks in the small run I let my ducklings in during the day. I'm sure it will NOT keep out raccoons but should keep the ducks in.

I also use it to keep my birds from flying into my dog's yard. I have dog and poultry secure fence that is about 4' high, then I attached 1" x 10' pvc posts to the regular fence posts and strung the netting above the 4' tall real fence. It's been up almost a year and is still in good shape. I painted the ugly pvc posts and the netting is almost invisible so while not "pretty" at least its not glaring. The other nice thing about this netting is that it is about $25.00 for 7' x 100' .

 

[SkyWarrior]

When I've clipped my chickens' wings, they can still fly up to about 4-5 feet high. I don't know about ducks, but I suspect a small call duck would probably be able to get off the ground about the same. I clip the last 8 to 10 flight feathers on the end of the wing -- you can see pictures in a number of books how to do it. Most of the time, you only need to do one wing. Determined birds may need both clipped and you need to keep an eye on the wings because the feathers do grow back. As Annarie said, you need to wait for the feathers to mature before you clip them or it will be painful and you will have a bloody mess. (Styptic powder works to stop the bleeding).

I was scared to clip my birds' wings, but by the time I did the first one, I found it so easy and painless, I did the entire flock. They can still fly and get to their roosts, etc, but can't fly out of the pens. So much easier!