Sexing my duck and wing clipping question

[IsisFaythe]

Hello all, Gonzo says hi as well. Gonzo is just over 10 weeks old right now, this one is a fairly recent photo here.

Now I'm pretty sure that it's a she, still have some chirp but will quack and quack and it can get to be quite loud at times. There are no curled tail feathers yet either. And as for the breed, all we got told when we got her from the flea market was that is was a black duck. Ha, yeah.
And she can already lift off and fly around by herself as well, so I'm wondering when it would be safe to clip/get her wings clipped due to her age.

Please let me know what other kinds of pictures you may need to answer these. I.E: what breed could Gonzo be? What sex or can I determine the sex yet? Safe to clip wings?

 

[njduck]

when you clip the wing, you are only clipping the feathers. so it is safe. I always do the right wing. but that s my preference because I am clipping 30 or 40 at a time. so i can look at any time and know which are clipped and who needs clipped

 

[IsisFaythe]

Would it be safe to clip with her age and the time of year though? I read up on blood feathers and with her having darker feather some spots are harder to tell.

 

[learycow]

Hi, She looks like a black swedish. I have a few of them myself. Mine don't fly, but they are all adult birds and quite heavy.
If you do have to clip a wing, only do one. This throws them off-balance and then she won't be able to fly. When you clip it, it doesn't matter which one you do. You only clip the longer feathers, but not too close to the wing itself. There should be no blood at all since you are only clipping the ends of the feathers. I usually clip off 2-3 inches, but it probably won't be so much since your's is still young.

 

[IsisFaythe]

I originally thought her to be a black swedish but there are a few spots that make me question that a bit. She has light brown edging to her bottom by the tail feathers and the underside of her wings are almost silver in color, does this still keep with the traits of a swedish?

And I did research as to the chances of them being able to fly and only found that it might be very little if at all. this is certainly not true for her but I know this may be just because of her size and age too at the moment, she's maybe 4 pounds right now.

My boyfriend won't allow me to try and clip any feathers right now until we get the first time done by an avian vet so that we can see how to hold her without harming her while the other person clips. I can understand a bit there but this will definitely help me for the second and later times if we feel the need.

The ironic part, she only flies with either my boyfriend or me, if she is walking around with anyone else she stays on the ground. I think this might be a little quirk to her personality.

 

[dutchhollow]

she looks like a call duck or cross, and yes she will be able to fly. You will be able to see any blood feathers, they look like straws (full of blood), You can also pull the flights, but I think it hurts, and they grow back faster (instead of molting time, they start to regrow right away)

 

[learycow]

My mistake! I thought she was a black Swedish, but now that I can see how small she is (the picture of her in your hands), so is WAY TOO SMALL to be a swedish! SO she must be some sort of call duck. The calls are much lighter and fly very well. I have one call in with my Swedish, and he flies all the time. He never goes anywhere though, he likes to stay with the other ducks.
So clipping the wing probably wouldn't be a bad idea. You are smart to have someone show you how the first time. Even if you can't find a bird vet, look for someone who has call ducks or even chickens. A lot of people clip wings for the same reason, and someone might be able to show you how.