Wild Mallard Joins Flock

[PDurkin]

hey ya'll,
i got a flock of a dozen ducks, all different types of breeds, including a male wood duck. Well they are able to range out in the yard in a fenced in area about 100 ft x 100 ft. Well two weeks ago it seems a wild mallard female joined the flock which brings my number to 13. I didn't realize this till today when I was counting them. Took me 35 minutes to agree that I was counting the correct number which is now 13. Several questions...
1) Is this new female gonna bring disease into my current flock, I have physically picked her up and given her an inspection and nothing seems to be wrong with her.

2) I believe she is trying to lay an egg because shes walking funny and squatting whenever possible. I am not sure what egg laying looks like yet since my ducks are only about 8 months old and have yet to start...that could be a whole problem in itself.

3) If she lays will this "wild" mallard have fertile eggs, I am fairly certain she has been mated because a wild drake was following around her at first. Should I let them hatch them out?

She is free to go when she wants, all my birds can easily walk out of the fenced in area if they want to, and often times they do and go for a swim in the stream, but they always come back home to me. At night time I lock her up with the flock who seems to have gotten used to her. Is this illegal?
All advice is appreciated.

Thanks ya'll!!

 

[Speceider]

If you can pick her up, I seriously doubt she's "wild". More likely a bird from someone else's flock that flew off. She could be carrying a disease, like any new bird you may add to the flock.

Clint

 

[CKMom]

Don't have a clear answer for you, but I would call the federal game commission in your state and ask. I know there are laws about possessing dead game birds with or without tags, but this bird is alive and isn't being harmed , and can go as she pleases. I would wonder if disease could be introduced to your flock though, and how exactly do you keep them apart then. We have mallards that come into our meadow occasionally, but never get near the chickens.

 

[PDurkin]

Quote:
I keep my birds in a fenced in area similar to how you would keep a large dog. They have a lot of room to move around since there is only 13 of them. Birds can fly in from above (learned that once from a hawk attack back in December) but overall they've seemed pretty safe.