Management after release

Mallard tend to be the 'Cinderellas' on a shoot. Where 1,000 pheasants are being reared, a hundred or so duck are sometimes to be seen, squeezed into a corner as an afterthought and later released on to a pond without much idea of what is to be done with them. To show high, fast-flying reared mallard requires even more care than is needed for first-class pheasants.

One of the most fundamental mistakes that can contribute to poor flying qualities is overfeeding after the duck have been released. It is not uncommon for a hardworked keeper to throw down half a-hundredweight of barley to 100 mallard every morning, on his way to the more important job of feeding his pheasants in covert. Mallard are extremely greedy and will accept such generosity with relish, but all too often this means that when the shooting season starts they are too fat and too tame to fly.

Using a small pond as a release point can aggravate the problem because the birds get little exercise, apart from an occasional walk in a neighbouring field and a short flight back to the water if disturbed.

One can certainly understand the keeper's dilemma. If he doesn't give his ducks enough to eat, they may desert him: if he is too generous they will become obese and immobile. The amount of food to give requires careful judgement. The keeper should aim to give just sufficient to keep them in good condition and hold them on the shoot. If in doubt, he should keep them a bit `sharp'.

The time and place of feeding are just as important as the quantity. The basic thing to remember is that the food can be used to move the birds about, just as a donkey is lured with a carrot. This is easiest on a fairly sizeable area of water -an acre or more - particularly if it is long and narrow.

The feeding should be carried out twice a day, morning and evening. It is essential to whistle or call when putting the food down. In the afternoon the food should be scattered at the release point, but the morning feed (when reared duck are usually at their hungriest) should be moved farther away each day, until the two places are 100 yds. apart or more by the time the birds can fly (8-9 weeks).

From now on flying must be encouraged as much as possible by varying the morning feed point every day so as to keep the ducks guessing. If they know where it is to be, most of the birds will swim or walk to the area at leisure, and hang about waiting for their meal. An experienced keeper will choose half a dozen places which can be approached unseen, giving the duck no indication as to where they are to be fed until they hear his call. This should bring them flying from all parts of the lake.

Where there is more than one batch of birds of different ages, always feed the flyers first and then go back to the younger birds. This has the advantage of preventing bullying.

The same system can be used where ducks are released on a small pond, but the morning feed will have to be put down in an adjacent field, to get far enough away to make them fly. After they have cleared up the food it is advisable to make them take wing, otherwise they may walk back.

Where possible, gradual feeding on to higher ground some distance away will encourage duck to fly back - partly because they find it difficult to walk down a steep gradient.

Pinioning Wildfowl breeders often wish to keep stock birds in open-topped pens, which makes it necessary to pinion or clip their wings. For short periods of confinement, pulling out the primary feathers of one wing will be sufficient and this is a useful technique when releasing ducks. Clipping the primary feathers of one wing will keep ducks grounded until the next moult (the eclipse period varies between June and August), while wing-pulling is temporary and can be used for periods of 4-6 weeks.

Pinioning involves permanent removal of the manilas, or outer joint of the wing. This is a technique used mainly by breeders of ornamental waterfowl. The pinioning of adults is not recommended unless carried out by experts, but on downy ducklings the operation can be effected quickly and easily, the manus being removed with a pair of sharp nail scissors or, better still, an electric cauterising de-beaker. This is a virtually bloodless operation and does not seem to inconvenience the ducklings at all. It should not be done until they are feeding well at about 3 days of age, and not after they are 1 week old.

Pinioning adult birds should not be undertaken in summer when the scar may attract flies, nor should it be done during feather re-growth (for example, after pulling the flight feathers), or during the moulting period when arteries in the wing distend considerably. This operation should only be undertaken by a qualified veterinary surgeon.

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