Aus. Native Waterfowl- What Breeds do you Keep??

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Surely this just presents another challenge...

Difficult- yes.

Insurmountable- no.

It would be a good project for someone with the space, cash and inclination.

Hopefully, after a few generations, they would be less fastidious and easier to breed.

ManyGanders · **Joined:** Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:59 pm **Posts:** 6

I agree

swayne · **Joined:** Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:39 am **Posts:** 118

Would the breeding of the gpg be affected by mixed species.?

I can imagine a huge aviary, mass planted with amazing rain forest plants and a huge pond..wow!

with a variety of other wonderful native waterfowl and birds...

Ian Clayton · **Posted:** Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:19 am

Hi All

Swayne wrote
"I can imagine a huge aviary, mass planted with amazing rain forest plants".

In more than twenty years of observing Australian native birds in their natural habitats, I have never observed any species of native duck in a tropical rainforest.

The natural habitat of GPG & CPG is not tropical rainforest but huge seasonal wetlands surrounded by tropical savannah woodlands. Take a trip to Far Nth Qld or the NT if you are in any doubt about the type of environment/habitat you would have too recreate to house these two species.

Regards

Ian

RPoultry · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:40 pm **Posts:** 933

Nice to se the poll starting to pick up pace :-D

Ian, do youkeep them??

Also if the person who has the GPG would mind PM'ing me or posting on here i would be very interested :-D

swayne · **Joined:** Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:39 am **Posts:** 118

It is rarely possible to recreate a natural habitat in captivity!
plants ,microflora, insects etc . massive wet lands ,savanna's, open forest etc

let alone the dry and wet seasons of FNQ.

Just won't happen, size of enclosure ,number of animals per enclosure..State where they are kept.

What if you lived in NSW and wanted to keep them?

Rain forest plants tropical and temperate would have to suffice, as well as plants from wetlands.
small trees, palms, ferns and bullrush,water lillies etc
Only plants available from nurseries could be used.
I can't imagine Ian with his shovel and ute in the middle of GPG land removing plants.
Or could i? :roll:

Ian Clayton · **Posted:** Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:35 pm

Hi Zach

No I don't keep any native birds or water fowl. Its far cheeper to go and observe them in their natural habitat. Unless a native species is endangered and a captive breeding program is the only way to ensure that the species is to survive then I feel that wild birds are best left to nature and in the wild.

But on the other hand if and when a native species does become endangered it is guys like you that will have the knowledge and expertice to help them survive, hopefuly in the wild.

Regards

Ian

Ian Clayton · **Posted:** Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:54 pm

swayne wrote:

It is rarely possible to recreate a natural habitat in captivity!
plants ,microflora, insects etc . massive wet lands ,savanna's, open forest etc

let alone the dry and wet seasons of FNQ.:

Hi Swayne

This could be the reason no one has had any success with breeding of GPG & CPG in captivity. They are not getting the habitat right.

One person wrote: 3 + males needed in a group.

From my observation the GPG males are very agressive towards each other and spend a lot of time chasing and fighting each other during the breeding season, this could be a deciding factor in pond and enclosure size in a captive breeding program.

Regards

Ian

RPoultry · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:40 pm **Posts:** 933

Ian Clayton wrote:

Hi Zach

No I don't keep any native birds or water fowl. Its far cheeper to go and observe them in their natural habitat. Unless a native species is endangered and a captive breeding program is the only way to ensure that the species is to survive then I feel that wild birds are best left to nature and in the wild.

But on the other hand if and when a native species does become endangered it is guys like you that will have the knowledge and expertice to help them survive, hopefuly in the wild.

Regards

Ian

Thanks

I appreciate it, i feel the same way but i would hate for the captive population to die out that's all

Re. 3 males: It was me :oops:

I was just reading "A Guide to Pheasants and Waterfowl" by Dr. Danny Brown and this is and entry from the Chapter on Green Pygny Geese.......
".....Pair bonds are reletively strong and seem to be maintained through out the year. The male will defend a small territory around the female. Males within a colony will fight vigorously, especially at breeding time. This fighting is considered extremely beneficial to breeding and rarely are birds injured....."

So to breed this little Jem you would need...

*A large aviary with a large pond (10 per pair) + wetland area or closed in dam, that is very secure and escape proof as apparently the ducks (females) have been known to go through 5cm x 5cm wire.

*Enough room to house a colony of breeding birds with their own individual territory on the water, as they are not known to come to land often.

*The money to fund it all

I have just found another piece of writing by Dr. Danny Brown ".... the bottom line is that, understanding environment and social structures, equals breeding sucess with this species..."

Perth Zoo also keep GPG's so it would be interesting to find out if theirs breed, i have e-mailed them in reguard to breeding success and management and am waiting for a reply

ManyGanders · **Joined:** Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:59 pm **Posts:** 6

Without captive breeding dozens of species would be gone today so I am 100% behind captive breeding of all species before we kill all the wild populations with pollution, land clearing, poisoning, our introduced feral pests, over population of humans and the list goes on.....................

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