Snowy Mallards

[CK Chickadilly]

Any advise on raising a few for pets? Will I have to clip a wing? Are they like a call duck? I heard they are quieter. What can you tell me about them?

Thanks!

 

[nettie]

I have a snowy mallard who's three weeks old, female. Mine is a pet, a house pet to be exact... lol. They are mallards so females can get loud, but they are not the loudest out of the duck breeds. Calls are by far the loudest i've ever heard, with runners coming in a close second! lol. A female, all breeds (except muscovies), will quack very loudly when she wants something.

Since snowy mallards are only 2-2 and a half pounds, they are capable of flight, just like regular mallards you see outside. They are bigger than a call duck. If you do not want your snowy flying about, clipping wings is fairly easy. You just cut the primary feathers of one wing after each molt.

here's a diagram:
http://www.poultryhelp.com/wingclipping.jpg

Just make sure you don't cut the "quick" or the part of the feather that has tissue in it. Only cut one wing, if you cut both, it might still be able to fly.

Snowy's are very small compared to other day old ducklings. I was surprised. They also are not the cutest of all ducklings (but are some of the prettiest as adults). They have black skin under their white/yellow fluff which starts to show after abut a week, which can be alarming if you don't know about it before hand. lol.

Here's my little baby:

the darker skin thing-

 

[nettie]

btw, my camera time stamp isn't right, lol

 

[CK Chickadilly]

Awww...I think she is a cutie! Thanks for your info. Wouldn't ya think that if you raise these little ones from babies that they would want to stick around cause of the food & attention? Plus they would be with chickens. I hope they do well with chickens. My friends little call ducks stick around really well. ????

OMG she is so cute! Are they in your bathtub? That is what I thought of doing so to teach them to swim etc. lol Can you see some other people that don't understand our obsessions with poultry....lol You did what? You put your baby ducks in your bathtub?

I can't wait to do it!

 

[nettie]

all of my ducks take a bath everyday in the tub... I got them a kiddie pool, but my big ducks hate it.

 

[nettie]

with wing clipping, it's best to do so as a way to make sure they don't fly off distracted. Ducks seem to have A.D.D. and will go, "Oh hey look, something shiny!" and get themselves lost or stuck. They could end up in someone's backyard and they could keep her or get rid of her and not know she is yours. Also, if you get any wild mallards flying to your proterty, your unclipped duck could fall in love with one and fly off into the sunset with them, lol....

 

[ShadyGlade]

Quote:
I've lost ducks to wild flocks before, even saw some of mine on a nearby lake once but couldn't catch them. And where I lived before my ducks walked over half a mile to an in ground swimming pool and that did NOT make my neighbors happy! (I have a warped sense of humor, those ducks went to the cement pond rather than use our pond.

)

 

[CK Chickadilly]

We have geese that fly around the area.

Silly ducks! I guess I should clip a wing or 2

 

[rlhbond]

I lost my mallards last year because I didn't clip their wings. They were very tame and eating out of my hand but once they found a lake with a wild flock they were history.

 

[Wifezilla]

I lost a freaking parakeet to a flock of sparrows