Keeping Ducks: Pinioning

Ducks are generally a flying bird. This makes them harder to keep around. To avoid this from happening you should pinion your ducks. Pinioning is the act of clipping the pinion joint, which enables any bird to fly. Pinioning is regularly done to poultry and waterfowls, and should be administered to duck breeds that have lighter bodies, which allows them to escape because they are more capable of flight.

Removing the pinion joint is similar when you remove a person’s hand by cutting through the wrist. This eliminates the primary plumage, preventing the velocity and acceleration needed to take flight. This can be done by a veterinarian or an experienced duck breeder.

Most breeders use a sharp pair of scissors designed for docking. They hold a wing, extend it, and locate the joint on the end of the wing. There are two pieces of wing part that are attached at the pinion joint. One part is very small and the other is more noticeable. The larger piece should be cut-off at the joint, leaving the smaller piece whole. Cauterization is also done so that all bleeding of cuts will be stopped and the ducks can heal faster and easier.

Pinioning is typically only administered to duck breeds that can fly; otherwise they would escape the coop or fly above the fence yard. It is recommended to perform pinioning before they are a few days old. When done with older ducks, the pinioning is more stressful to them and the cut tends to bleed needing further cauterization.

Most raisers don’t perform pinioning. Instead of cutting the joints, they clip the feathers instead, although this solution only lasts until the fathers are replaced again during the molting season; these flight feathers are grown by most domesticated ducks at least once a year.

Lasting duck pens, made to prevent escape eliminates the need for pinioning, but this will entail more costs in your part.

Ducks, who can’t fly, doesn’t need pinioning, so before you bother yourself and your poultry, check whether the breed you are raising is indeed able to fly.

The elimination of a body part of livestock is an issue of animal rights activities. The quality of life for the ducks is often used to justify this. In some situations, if the ducks are not confined, pinioning can increase the quality of life. Ducks that are allowed to roam around the yard or a pond have a higher quality of life, because of freedom of motion, natural habitat and increased mental and physical development as compared to penning.

Clipping is an alternative to pinioning, but it is not always reliable. The molting season can happen earlier or later than the expected date. A partially molted duck can summon the required acceleration and be able to take flight, which does not increase their life preservation in the wild since they are not adapted to survival in the open. They cannot fully fly and avoid possible predators.

Remember, pinioning should be performed by a veterinarian or an experience breeder. Amateurs can harm the ducks and even prove to be fatal if the cut is infected. Ducklings have a lower survival rate when they are injured.