Cube mk2 and WIR

[markkettle]

Hi everyone.

 

I bought a pair of Nutmeg Call Ducklings last week. They are 4/5 weeks old and appear to now have almost all of their real feathers. I intend to clip their wings but don't know at what age I will have to start. Can anyone offer some ideas? I also have noticed they they are never apart. I only need to pick one up to put it away at night, otherwise they have the run of the garden, and the other follows. Could I perhaps only need to clip the wings of one of them??

 

Mark

[Duckmomma]

Hi

I would clip both birds to be on the safe side.

Also this will save you the problem of deciding which bird to clip and which one to leave.

This may sound silly now but over time as you bond more and more with your babies this is a choice you might find hard to make when the time comes.

After all you will be taking away the ability to fly, how do you choose between them which one gets to keep that ability?

 

Was there a reason for considering only doing one?

[markkettle]

No reason really. I didn't intend on allowing one of the Birds to fly. I assumed that if one stayed on the ground the other would too. Any idea how long before I may need to do them? The Drake seems to be growing his wing feathers very quickly. I could see that the quills of the primary feathers were there a couple of days ago but they are now taking shape and he has only a small amount of fluffy baby ones left at the bottom of his back.

[Duckmomma]

I bet they are sooo cute

Some pics would be lovely

I don't know about call ducks, but when my runner started getting off the ground (just a foot or two) I began to think about clipping her wings but didn't get round to doing it till she was about five or six months old.

I felt a bit sad about doing it but knew it was for her protection, if she flew off she would not survive

I now there are a few people on here who keep call ducks so am sure some one will be along to advise you better than I can

[gooner.girl]

I haven't clipped my call ducks wings yet and they're nearly a year old... The reason being - although they can fly as high as my 6ft fence they have never tried to escape....

 

... Until last week when Thierry flew over the alleyway that runs along our back garden and landed in a neighbours garden. I was besides myself with worry til i found him - thankfully ok. He seemed to be happily reunited with his duck friends and hasn't done it again. Now i know its possible i really ought to clip their wings but have hesitated partly cos its a bit of a pain to do and secondly cos i wonder if there was a fox attack could they fly high to safety? And am i taking that away from them if clip their wings?

 

Mark i would advise you wait til they are 2 or 3 months old and clip both birds if you're gonna do them.

[Chris5]

😊We have a call duck lady .. now with 4 beautiful babies, and a handsome Donald  drake. We also gave a visitor quite regularly from next door who is a best mate. Ours are now just a year.   Charlie our visitor is about 2-3 years. 

None of them have had their wings clipped.  We have a  pond and a stream as well as a lawn so they have a lovely environment.They are shut in  a small house with a small covered run every evening though.  Sometimes they go in themselves and  other times they  need to be ushered in. They can all fly and we have had a couple of nerve-racking experiences where they have missed the garden and landed outside of our boundary. Now though even though Charlie flies away in the evening ours will not. Home is home and it is lovely seeing them fly in the mornings to the pond.