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Advice on Mandarins please (Read 977 times)
kitkat
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I Love my Chickens!

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S.W France
Gender: female
Advice on Mandarins please
Oct 19th, 2009 at 9:18pm
 
We bought 2 of these yesterday and i'm struggling to get proper info on them, not much choice on Amazon for books either. I've read all the posts on here.
   I've got them in a small run about 1m2 , small i know but we're moving house in a few weeks so will have a run ready for them at the other end. They've got a large bowl of water to dunk in for now.
  They are the most nervous things i've ever come across, the female had injured her beak by panicking, thats why we felt sorry for them and bought them Roll Eyes we had intended to get a pair but not just yet. Will they get tamer once i've handled them and will they always have to stay in a run or will i eventually be able to free range them in the garden?
   Also reading different advice on feeding, what do you use? Any advice on anything would be good, thanks Smiley
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17 chooks, 2 dogs ,3 cats and 1 lovelyOH
 
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stevenmarie
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Re: Advice on Mandarins please
Reply #1 - Oct 19th, 2009 at 9:54pm
 
Mandarins being wildfowl will be wild even hand reared chicks are scatty, we have ours tamed enough to be able to walk through them without them going mad but not handleable. Are yours pinioned or not, if not and let out of an enclosed pen they will fly away, In the uk it is illegal to release wildfowl into the wild either by escape or deliberately, dont know about france. ours are in a covered enclosure ( not to stop them escaping but to prevent attack from birds of prey) with pond and plenty of shrubbery so they have places to hide, shelter etc. the birds need a nest box come spring, about 18 inches off ground and about 1 ft square 2 foot tall with an opening 2/3 rds the way up the side( a hole about 3 inches in dia), the inside will need a rough surface so they can climb out and when the chicks hatch so they can climb out too, this can be grooves cut in the wood or wire or sacking. Our enclosure has a large rabbit hutch 4 ft x 2 ft x 2ft that they like to sit on and in really bad weather they go inside also use it on hot days. We do not put them away at night as doing so can stress them, and stress is the biggest killer in wildfowl.
Feeding ours are fed on a mix of growers layers and wheat and seem to thrive on it, they also have drinking water bowls in addition to the pond and have an area below the pond which we flood on a daily basis to give them a natural marsh to waddle in and root through the mud. The higher part of the ground is grass which they also root through for bugs.
Enjoy your ducks
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Hobby keeper of Serama, Brahma, Pekin, Dutch, Polands, sablepoots, runner ducks and call ducks
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kitkat
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I Love my Chickens!

Posts: 714
S.W France
Gender: female
Re: Advice on Mandarins please
Reply #2 - Oct 19th, 2009 at 10:17pm
 
Hi , thanks for replying. I have put them away these past 2 nights as i'm not sure the the little run would be fox proof, obviously this is stressing them. We will do a lovely run ready for the move. They are only for pets , are there any other ornamental breeds that are a bit less skittish and can be mixed with the Mandarins?
   They are pinioned and the law seems to be the same as Engand. Smiley
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17 chooks, 2 dogs ,3 cats and 1 lovelyOH
 
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stevenmarie
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Re: Advice on Mandarins please
Reply #3 - Oct 20th, 2009 at 8:16pm
 
Hi our wildfowl pen contains Mandarins in normal, silver and blonde, carolinas, laysan teal, brazilian teal, hottentot teal, fulvous whistling ducks, northern pintail, they all get on without any problems so with enough space and cover almost any wildfowl should be possible to mix in with them. We have found the teal less skittish than the other breeds from day one, but as said in previous post they have all tamed down to the point where we can walk through them without them going mad, they will even come to within inches of the food bowl when being topped up.
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Hobby keeper of Serama, Brahma, Pekin, Dutch, Polands, sablepoots, runner ducks and call ducks
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kitkat
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I Love my Chickens!

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S.W France
Gender: female
Re: Advice on Mandarins please
Reply #4 - Oct 21st, 2009 at 8:44am
 
Thanks, really helpful, and it looks like Teal next Smiley
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17 chooks, 2 dogs ,3 cats and 1 lovelyOH
 
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pnpaul
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Re: Advice on Mandarins please
Reply #5 - Nov 14th, 2009 at 8:34pm
 
Have only just seen your post. My Mandies (one pair)are in a 3mtr square run with a small hut and a large water tray at night but are out in my pond area in the day that is about 50mtr x20 with a pond of approx. 30mtr x10 they are very good when we put them in their run at teatime,  we just walk quietly behind them and walk them to their run or use a rope to get them off the pond if thats where they are at the time. I would not say they were tame but as long as you are careful not to panick them they are well behaved, but if you have to catch them to worm them or anything it is just bedlam in their run and they are nervous for a day or two. They share the pond with my call ducks. I dont think Mandarins will ever be tame like like domestic ducks. A friend of mine has just given up on her Carolinas and sold them as she thought they were far too wild, she didnt realise when she got them that they would be any different from her domestic ducks
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Keeper of Call Ducks, Silkies, Silver Laced Wyandottes and various hybrids.
 
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auntie jinks
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Re: Advice on Mandarins please
Reply #6 - Jan 10th, 2010 at 7:55pm
 
Hello
Well I have to just say that my 2 drakes are sooooooooooo silly tame, they both sit on my chest with their heads under my collar and preen my hair, they come to the door when called and have been like this as I raised them from hatching , they are called Sid and Albert and are brothers. Under normal circumstances you would be silly to leave their door open for fear of escape but my lads will not cross the threshold.
They are also happy just to sit on my lap for a cuddle.
Having said all this I dont know of anyone else who has such tame Mandarins, so I feel very privileged to have such tame ducks
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