Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)

History of Mallards in Australia:

Mallards are not Native to Australia, they where introduced last century from the Northern Hemisphere, as an introduced species this poses a threat to native species such as the “Black Ducks” a close relative to the Mallard. In some states such as NSW & QLD the interbreeding of the two species has many Conservationists & Aviculturists worried, as this threatens the long term population of the Black Duck as the Mallard gene in Dominant. If this continues we may see the characteristics of the Black Duck disappear.

Can we help: Yes, from the Black Ducks point of view, Aviculturists are not there best friend, one of the biggest problems are Domestic Waterfowl that are Dumped in waterways like Parks, Swaps & Rivers, I’ll bet the last time you visited one of these places you probably saw some sort of cross breed domestic waterfowl. The two main offenders are Muscovy / Muscovy cross, Khaki Campbell crosses, but also in growing numbers are Indian Runner crosses. These are dumped by People with little or no regard for our Native Fauna particularly giving no thought to the impact on the Native Waterfowl in that area. We believe the primary reason they are dumped is the low or no value of such cross breeds, which comes back to the irresponsible breeder. We cannot stress enough about the IMPORTANCE of NOT cross breeding, not only as its unnecessary but 99.9% of cross breeds are worthless and no reparable breeder will touch them. Please if you have Cross bred waterfowl to dispose of do the right thing, if you cannot find a person to take them, then they MUST be destroyed. To help the Black ducks long term future, if you have or are going to get Mallards, then they MUST be penned at all time, some people allow there Mallards to live on or around a Dam which may look good but these are also great waterholes for Black Ducks and our Native Waterfowl must come first.

 Housing:

Mallards, like all waterfowl love to forage so the pen should be big enough to allow them to do so, you should also keep in mind that they will be in this pen 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We recommend 7 meters x 4 meters for 2 /3 pairs with a 3 meter pond, you can plant the pen using Fruit trees but remember waterfowl will eat just about anything so make sure they are advanced trees with no low foliage and you will need to protect the base of your trees(wire) as when you water it they will move in to forage through the wet sand.

 Feeding:

Mallards dietary needs are no different to other domestic waterfowl, we recommend the following base diet: Crushed course grain mix(Barnyard) Turkey crumbles, Medium grade shell grit, lettuce cabbage, silver beet, (any greens) apple, Watermelon,  Wild grasses & Bread.

 Breeding:

Mallards breed from September to February but can breed as late as May depending on the wet season. They generally lay between 7 -12 eggs and incubate for 26 days. Mallards will readily use poultry laying boxes as used for Chickens make sure is has a front lip and it should be lined with dried grass or hay. Mallards like all waterfowl are shy & secretive when nesting so place the boxes in the further most point from the front of the pen and face them away from the front.  Mallards are good sitters but are not the most protective mothers so we recommend if you don’t have your pen roofed, then isolate the sitting duck in a brooder cage. Duckling should be fed Duck starter or Chick starter or Turkey starter for at least the first 8 -10 weeks, as the additives will help their immune system and growth rate.

 Summary:

Mallards are one of the best Domestic waterfowl you can keep, they are easy to keep & breed, and they look great, and have very distinct personalities. We highly recommend them to anyone looking for Waterfowl.

Peacocks Australia

Article written September 2005