JUST DON'T TAKE...PUT SOME BACK

This article is somewhat of a follow up to my last blog. My last blog was related to building mallard nesting boxes and placing them in the wild.

This blog will be for what a person can do at his or her home, that is enjoyable for the entire family and is much more hands on. The above photos are what 8 hen mallards and 2 drakes can produce in a 5 day period. The 75 eggs shown are taken from the nesting boxes in my back yard. These of course, are from ducklings that I purchased at the local feed store that are called wild mallards. I have about a 90% success hatching ratio. I will be able to remove and incubate this amount of eggs about 4-5 times per hatching season. There are many different size incubators that can be purchased and many articles written on incubating that can be found all over the Internet. Mallards are the only migratory waterfowl that can be legally raised and the penalties can and will be quite severe for raising other migratory waterfowl species without the proper permits and licenses from state and federal agencies.

I believe it is illegal to set these ducks free into the wild, but mallards are not required to have any certain types of fencing requirements. My mallards have no top to there area and can come and go as they please. Just last year about 350 mallards flew away from my mallard area. Just do the math and look at the numbers, what those birds that grew to adulthood under my guidance will produce. I have been doing this for many years and would have to guess that 10,000 mallards total have escaped from my mallard areas every fall since I have started. Now, if half of those are hens, and half of those survive one breeding season each. I would like to think,I have put about 400,000 birds in to the air somewhere. If just a few of the people who read this blog do this. The end result would be unbelievable. Keep in mind, the ducklings you will have to raise for 1 year before they start laying.

Also!!!!!! NEVER remove a egg from the wild even if you think the nest is abandoned. IT IS ILLEGAL!!! Goodluck, this is the time of year to buy those ducklings to get ready for next year, so just don't talk and think about. DO IT !!!! It will be very fulfilling and a great way to get the youngsters off the games and teach them and yourself about what conservation REALLY means. Just imagine, looking up at a big migrating flock next fall and saying out loud to your significant other or child "those may be ours"
This is just another step to becoming a full fledged Duck Junkie.
Hope to hear you in the marsh,
Darryl Mathews
A.K.A. Duckpoop
Duck Junkies Pro staff
Arizona
928-242-3736