Wild mallard drakes want my girls 😕

[Percipen]

Does anyone else have an issue with wild ducks messing with their flocks? It started here about a month ago when a mallard drake was watching my girls from the roof. He hopped down into the yard, my drake got a hold of him, they tussled for a minute then the mallard flew away. This has been going on a few times a week, but the number of wild drakes is growing. Today I had 5 mallard drakes in our yard!! My drake went after them one by one, but they didnt go far. They're sitting on the neighbors roof watching and waiting.

I have 2 concerns. First is disease: can my ducks catch something from the wild ones? Second is injuries: could these tussles lead to an injury either in my flock or to one of the wild drakes? I worry more about the wild ones since my drake is WAY more aggressive than they are.

Any advise??? Thanks in advance!

 

[neo71665]

Our mallards drew wild ducks and geese to our pond all the time. Pretty sure they mated a few different times over the years.

 

[SolarDuck]

Yes, your ducks can catch diseases from the wild mallards. That is certainly a risk that @KaleIAm has experience with. If your drake is much larger than the wild ones and he is going after them I would assume there is some risk of him hurting them.

 

[KaleIAm]

Thanks for the tag @SolarDuck

Yes, your ducks can get diseases from wild ducks.

Mine lived in a pond with wild mallards before I got them and had internal parasites, external parasites, and infectious bronchitis. All diagnosed by an avian vet and she told me it most likely came from the mallards. After they repeatedly got recurring internal parasites she told me to stop taking them to our own pond where wild ducks visit at times.

I recently watched a webinar ran by state avian veterinarians where they explain that wild birds, in particular wild waterfowl, can have immunity to diseases and spread them to domestic poultry who are very sensitive them, especially young poultry including young ducks. It is long but worth watching in my opinion.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/avian-influenza-webinar.1447089/

Last year I contacted wsda to ask about the legality of rescuing domestic ducks, as there were some debates going about this. Their reply was that rescuing was fine, but they went on about the disease risk! The diseases, of course, would come from the wild ducks introducing them to the domestic ducks. This is part of their response.

"Second, be very cautious about mixing rescued ducks with other birds that you might care for because they may be harboring avian diseases such as Avian Influenza without showing clinical signs of illness. Introduction of the rescued ducks to other poultry, such as chickens or pheasants that are more susceptible to Avian Influenza might result in a disease outbreak accompanied by mortalities and transfer of the pathogen elsewhere.
Third, be very cautious as the rescued ducks might harbor zoonotic pathogens while not showing clinical signs. In other words, they may be unaffected by a bacterial disease such as salmonellosis, but they might transmit that pathogen to you, your friends or family, resulting in illness."

And so... Personally I would take great effort to keep my ducks from interacting with wild birds. Especially waterfowl. It has cost me so much money and pain watching my birds suffer.

 

[Percipen]

Thanks for the tag @SolarDuck

Yes, your ducks can get diseases from wild ducks.

Mine lived in a pond with wild mallards before I got them and had internal parasites, external parasites, and infectious bronchitis. All diagnosed by an avian vet and she told me it most likely came from the mallards. After they repeatedly got recurring internal parasites she told me to stop taking them to our own pond where wild ducks visit at times.

I recently watched a webinar ran by state avian veterinarians where they explain that wild birds, in particular wild waterfowl, can have immunity to diseases and spread them to domestic poultry who are very sensitive them, especially young poultry including young ducks. It is long but worth watching in my opinion.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/avian-influenza-webinar.1447089/

Last year I contacted wsda to ask about the legality of rescuing domestic ducks, as there were some debates going about this. Their reply was that rescuing was fine, but they went on about the disease risk! The diseases, of course, would come from the wild ducks introducing them to the domestic ducks. This is part of their response.

"Second, be very cautious about mixing rescued ducks with other birds that you might care for because they may be harboring avian diseases such as Avian Influenza without showing clinical signs of illness. Introduction of the rescued ducks to other poultry, such as chickens or pheasants that are more susceptible to Avian Influenza might result in a disease outbreak accompanied by mortalities and transfer of the pathogen elsewhere.
Third, be very cautious as the rescued ducks might harbor zoonotic pathogens while not showing clinical signs. In other words, they may be unaffected by a bacterial disease such as salmonellosis, but they might transmit that pathogen to you, your friends or family, resulting in illness."

And so... Personally I would take great effort to keep my ducks from interacting with wild birds. Especially waterfowl. It has cost me so much money and pain watching my birds suffer.

Thank you!! I will check out the webinar. What a nightmare! I have ducklings 3 weeks old and younger right now that I've been taking outside around the flock, not in direct contact though.
Do you think theres a way to keep the wild ones at bay without scaring the crap out of my flock? Like windsocks or pinwheels??

 

[KaleIAm]

Thank you!! I will check out the webinar. What a nightmare! I have ducklings 3 weeks old and younger right now that I've been taking outside around the flock, not in direct contact though.
Do you think theres a way to keep the wild ones at bay without scaring the crap out of my flock? Like windsocks or pinwheels??

That's a good question, my ducks are frightened of pinwheels and anything else I can think of like bird of prey statues that might intimidate the wild ducks would probably scare your ducks, too.

I use fencing and hardware cloth. It isn't perfect... Contaminates like poop can still get in. But I feel like it is the best I can do while still letting my ducks forage in my backyard.

 

[Percipen]

Thanks @KaleIAm I'll have to see what I can do. For now, I'm keeping my wannabe LGDs out with the ducks more often than normal.