MANDARIN DUCKS
Mandarins are like most ducks they are quite easy to keep and happily breed in the right conditions with little fuss. We have 5 pairs and they are housed in various sized pens from 8L x 4W x 3H (Meters) to 25L X 20W X 5H (Meters) all pens have a pond, with the smaller pens we used ready made Fiberglass fish ponds (3 Meter long) in the large pens we built our own from Cement (approx 7 Meters) In the larger pens the ponds have waterfalls with drum filters but like most ducks its almost impossible to keep the water clear. Mandarins are Territorial and will attack other types of birds, we have a variety of birds with ours mostly Finches and Parrots and in one pen we have Dark-Necked Golden Pheasants with them. In the breeding season ours will chase off any bird that goes near the pond or their breeding boxes but rarely do they make contact as the bird usually flees long before they get close enough. In all the pens we have an elevated water bowl; this allows the other birds to drink but keeps the ducks from fouling the water. Ours breed in small pine Dog Kennels (ready made from Bunning’s) about 30cm off the ground with a ramp up to the opening, and lined with dried hay. We feed all our ducks the same Diet, a grain mix of: Duck starter, Course Grain Layer, Small Parrot Mix. Crushed Shell Grit, Greens & fruit (Particularly Watermelon) In our experience we have found that first year “Ducks” (female) are not good layers and most only lay 1 – 3 eggs, the second year most will lay as normal. We use Incubators to hatch appox 80% of our birds including our Waterfowl and to date have experienced good success.
A tip, if your going to incubate Pheasants or Peacocks it’s a good idea to put 2 or 3 Pekin or Silky Bantam or Normal (chicks) with them, we have found this greatly improves the success of the chicks feeding from day one.
Mandarins are Magnificent and when in colour (they eclipse molt) and we highly recommend them.
Peacocks Australia