Bird Netting to keep Muscovy's IN?

[snowyswampchick]

We are on 2 acres of swamp in Canada, with a very wet and buggy lawn of about half an acre. Muscovy's look like the way to go for our conditions, but we're close to the road and protected wetland, so if the ducks get flighty we'll have a hard time finding them in all the swamp and brush.

As they like to free-range and we'd like them to go after bugs, will bird netting over our fenced yard keep them in?

Will it hurt them if they try to fly?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jpat]

Hey there! welcome to the forum fellow canadian!

I have no experience with muscovy flying into netting but i can imagine how they might get tangled . But lots of people do it so it there must be a way

Muscovy are very cool ducks

@Miss Lydia has muscovy, i wonder how she keeps them from flying away

 

[snowyswampchick]

Hey there! welcome to the forum fellow canadian!

I have no experience with muscovy flying into netting but i can imagine how they might get tangled . But lots of people do it so it there must be a way

Muscovy are very cool ducks

@Miss Lydia has muscovy, i wonder how she keeps them from flying away

Perhaps it'll work well if we clipped one of their wings so they can't take off, and use the net as an extra deterrent.

 

[Jpat]

Perhaps it'll work well if we clipped one of their wings so they can't take off, and use the net as an extra deterrent.

How high is your fence?

 

[snowyswampchick]

How high is your fence?

Currently unfenced, but looking at 4 feet

 

[Raenh]

Netting will work to help protect them, but clipping their wings is best if you're going to free range them. I used it over my whole backyard originally, but my fencing was 7 to 9 feet high in some places. And my girls had their wings clipped, so the netting was more for their protection to keep the hawks out, while they were outside with supervision.


After I moved, I tried to use it as a drape down the sides since at my moms I couldnt really do much to attach it overhead like i did at my old place. That is a mistake i will never make again.
I will never use netting again after my speedy got entangled in it a few days after my fancy died, she was so entangled that it was wrapped around her bill, in her bill and wrapped around her tongue - cutting into it. My mom was there with me, and I was home that she did not get seriously hurt. My mom cut the netting for me while I directed and held speedy to keep her from struggling more.

I use a type of plastic like porch screen material to cover my yard now, its sewable, and works well as a shade and to keep.them.enclosed without them getting caught or hurt in it. I can't remember what it's called exactly, I'll try to find out. It comes in a roll and you can get it at a hardware store like lowes or.home depot.

 

[snowyswampchick]

Netting will work to help protect them, but clipping their wings is best if you're going to free range them. I used it over my whole backyard originally, but my fencing was 7 to 9 feet high in some places. And my girls had their wings clipped, so the netting was more for their protection to keep the hawks out, while they were outside with supervision.


After I moved, I tried to use it as a drape down the sides since at my moms I couldnt really do much to attach it overhead like i did at my old place. That is a mistake i will never make again.
I will never use netting again after my speedy got entangled in it a few days after my fancy died, she was so entangled that it was wrapped around her bill, in her bill and wrapped around her tongue - cutting into it. My mom was there with me, and I was home that she did not get seriously hurt. My mom cut the netting for me while I directed and held speedy to keep her from struggling more.

I use a type of plastic like porch screen material to cover my yard now, its sewable, and works well as a shade and to keep.them.enclosed without them getting caught or hurt in it. I can't remember what it's called exactly, I'll try to find out. It comes in a roll and you can get it at a hardware store like lowes or.home depot.

That sounds like what I imagined to be the worst case scenario

Was it draped low to the ground that your lovely birds could reach without taking flight at all?

We’re thinking of a 4 feet high fence with netting over top, since clipping the wings leave these not-a-ducks defenceless. How high can they lift off the ground with just one good wing?

 

[DuckyDonna]

That sounds like what I imagined to be the worst case scenario

Was it draped low to the ground that your lovely birds could reach without taking flight at all?

We’re thinking of a 4 feet high fence with netting over top, since clipping the wings leave these not-a-ducks defenceless. How high can they lift off the ground with just one good wing?

ya, about the same thing happened to my little Sambo. I had cloth netting and a portion of it had fallen down to where he started messing with it and it got all wrapped up on his bill and neck and he couldn't move. Luckily I was doing a "duck check" and found he was missing and stuck behind our trees in the back of the run caught in the netting. From that time on I always did a "net check" every day. No more netting for us. We built a fortress with welded wire for a roof and hardware cloth down the sides.

 

[snowyswampchick]

ya, about the same thing happened to my little Sambo. I had cloth netting and a portion of it had fallen down to where he started messing with it and it got all wrapped up on his bill and neck and he couldn't move. Luckily I was doing a "duck check" and found he was missing and stuck behind our trees in the back of the run caught in the netting. From that time on I always did a "net check" every day. No more netting for us. We built a fortress with welded wire for a roof and hardware cloth down the sides.

ya, about the same thing happened to my little Sambo. I had cloth netting and a portion of it had fallen down to where he started messing with it and it got all wrapped up on his bill and neck and he couldn't move. Luckily I was doing a "duck check" and found he was missing and stuck behind our trees in the back of the run caught in the netting. From that time on I always did a "net check" every day. No more netting for us. We built a fortress with welded wire for a roof and hardware cloth down the sides.

we might go with chicken wire over top then, trying to avoid a permanent run until we are sure what the ducks want.

 

[Raenh]

Yes it was draped low to the ground to prevent them from getting out, but speedy tried to get out by pushing her way through.