Will My Pet Duck Fly Away?

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:05:14 +0000

Most domesticated duck breeds cannot fly. As breeders have created ducks with certain characteristics, they’ve bred out the ability to fly in many types of farm fowl.

Domesticated Mallards can still fly...most of the time

For example, breeders want to produce a better meat duck, and thus they selectively breed the birds to be larger, which in turn makes them too large to fly. This is the case for ducks like domesticated Pekins, pet Rouens, and even medium sized ducks like Cayugas. Other breeds of ducks, such as Runner ducks, are able to fly for short distances, but cannot achieve sustained flight. Thus for all these types of domesticated ducks, it isn’t necessary to clip their wings in order to keep them from flying away.

However, some of the smaller breeds of ducks can still fly, and wing clipping may be necessary if they are not explicitly trained to stay around their home. This is particularly true for domesticated Mallards and Call ducks.

The ability to fly is an important consideration when selecting a pet duck. Most people prefer flightless ducks, as clipping wings can be a difficult process. If you do select a duck breed that is capable of flight, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will fly away, it will just have the ability to. Often times when someone has a pet Mallard for example, the bird will bond with it’s owner and never leave, despite being able to. Clipping wings is usually a precaution people will take when dealing with larger flocks of birds, rather than just a few waterfowl as pet ducks.

The Top 4 Pet Duck Breeds

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:17:49 +0000

Raising poultry such as chickens and waterfowl is becoming an increasingly popular hobby in the United States. However, many people who want to partake in a pet duck, have no idea where to begin in selecting one.

Breeding ducks has been a pursuit of many devoted farmers and bird enthusiasts for hundreds of years, yielding a wide variety of ducks with varying characteristics and traits. Some ducks produce more eggs than others, some are excellent birds for their meat. Which ducks make the best pets? Meaning which birds are the best behaved, the most adaptable, the friendliest, and the most aesthetically pleasing.

Here is a run down of the four most popular duck breeds, along with their basic Pros and Cons -

Pekin Ducks – are the large white ducks (think Aflac commercials), they have a calm demeanor and relaxed temperament. Pekin ducklings are the soft, yellow ducklings that you are probably used to seeing. They are the most popular breed of domestic duck in the United States.

Pekins are the large, white duck people frequently see

Pekin Pros - calm, sociable, very adaptable, unable to fly, easy to purchase
Pekin Cons – unexciting coloration, can be loud

Rouen Ducks – are larger cousins of the mallard ducks, having the exact same beautiful coloration. They are very calm and sociable, and bred to be a pet duck or farm duck. They key difference between a Mallard and a Rouen is that Rouens are too large to fly, and you won’t have to worry about clipping wings.

Rouens are larger cousins of the Mallard

Rouen Pros - beautiful coloration, calm, sociable, too large to fly, easy to purchase
Rouen Cons – Rouens can have a cumbersome stature

Cayuga Ducks – are medium sized ducks (still too large to fly), which have a very unique iridescent green plumage. They are the quietest pet ducks, and are often the choice for people who live in close proximity to their neighbors.

Cayugas are the quietest ducks

Cayuga Pros - very cool coloration, great stature, very quiet
Cayuga Cons – harder to find

Mallard Ducks – are popular as well because people frequently see them in the wild. However, domesticated mallards will still retain the ability to fly, which makes them somewhat less suitable as pets as it may be necessary to clip their wings.

Mallards will be able to fly

Mallard Pros - very cool coloration, great stature, very quiet
Mallard Cons – will be able to fly, harder birds to ship

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Will My Pet Duck Fly Away?

The Top 4 Pet Duck Breeds