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Muscovy

Muscovy
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22 reviews
86% Positive Reviews
Rated #2 in Ducks
Pros:
“Good egg Hatchers”
“So many colours to choose from, great mothers, great foragers, not as messy as other ducks”
Cons:
“Ugly beak, and face, they hiss, mean, heavy with sharp nails!”
“Those claws!”
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Member Reviews

Posted
By ChampionAlex

Pros: Great Meat, Good Mothers.

Cons: Could get really aggresive.

These ducks are great for meat and the females are great mothers. Males could get really aggresive. Not suitable for kids or other animals

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Posted
By Hokum Coco

Pros: good mothers, brooders, large clutches tasty

Cons: hard to handle, not to be coddle, claws

If you want to raise ducks for meat this is your bird!

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Posted
By jdywntr

Pros: good broody, good mother, delicious meat, lay pretty well, large clutch

Cons: Produce sterile offspring if bred with other ducks and I guess claws

Muscovy are great birds to raise.  Quiet, good foragers, excellent at bug control, many colors.  I raise mine for meat.  Their meat is similar to beef, not at all fatty. 

 

Typically (there are differences in every bird of every breed) they are great broodies and great mothers and will sit on a huge number of eggs.  In most areas, they are seasonal layers.  Right now, I have a hen sitting on 22 eggs (it is her first time going broody) and it is the end of November.  I have had a hen hatch out 11 of 14 eggs before and all of the hatchlings survived.

 

They are a great breed if you don't want the loud quacks of other breeds.  Don't get me wrong, they still make noise.  When my girls get to whistling you can hear it you just wouldn't think it was a duck. 

 

The males get BIG, some lines get huge. 

 

All muscovy have claws, the breed is a perching duck so they need them to climb and cling to branches. 

 

In my experience, people that say that they are mean birds have raised them as pets and when the hormones start, the bird changes and the cute little duckling turns into a hormone machine.  Again, I don't coddle mine.  They are treated well but they have a purpose.  I don't handle mine but they still will come up to me for food and eat out of my hand. 

 

The hens are protective of their babies, but that is only natural.

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Posted
By Birdgirl99

Pros: Quiet Nice

Cons: Nasty very nasty

They are nice sweet tame and quiet i had a baby once and a couple adults and boy are they NASTY and i really mean Nasty a lot more nasty than chickens

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Posted
By Southerngirl

Pros: QUIET !

Cons: None

Excellent ! They are quiet, easy to tame, lay eggs and raise and hatch them without any help. They are my favorite duck breed out of all I have had ! :)frow.gif

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Posted
By dalmation1080

Pros: They dont mind being near you

Cons: They fly more than my mallards!

When I first found out abotu muscovies I couldnt believe they were a duck! After doing more reasearch I found a guy nearby that sold some ducklings. So I bought 2 and they have grown up to be the biggest (and best) ducks I have owned. All of my other ducks are not as gentle and dont want to be around me, but my muscovies will walk right up next to me and look at me with that "Give me food look". When they first started flying I was very surprised, becase I thought they were to big to fly. Well I guess tey dont really "Fly" they fly "Jump" I guess. They cant sustain a flight for longer than 10 seconds. The only downfall to them is how they break my netting over my coop because of their weight.

 

Otherwise they are a great, weird looking breed!

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Posted
By ChickieBooBoo

Pros: Hardy, good foragers, good mothers

Cons: Not great layers

I've had many breeds of ducks and now I think I can safely say that I won't own another duck besides Muscovies. They are smart, curious and friendly if raised around people and come in many different colors. Unlike other breeds of domestic ducks they are not as water crazy and don't make such a mess, they are also very quiet in comparison. When young the females do fly but rarely for long distances and never leave the yard, the males are too heavy. They make great mothers but only lay eggs in season so they aren't a great layer breed.

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Posted
By Susanjoans

Got mine by accident . . . long story.  Can't imagine life without them at this point lol.

I have a pair, and they are smart, funny, and have great personalities.  My drake is HUGE.  They are also very quiet.  Beautiful animals.

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Posted
By Muscovie Lover

Pros: Good birds

Used to have them but got rid of them and now I'm gonna get back into them.They are better than any other duck and they would make a great meat bird.Liked them way more than my Pekins and Campbells.As they can keep their numbers up when the others can't.

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Posted
By CayugaLover

Pros: beatiful, sweet temperement, very quiet, gets in my lap, great bug control, shiny white feathers make it hard to miss.

Cons: uuuh..... my drake likes earrings.

i am the proud owner of two muscovies, one male and one juvenile female... i am hoping to get more soon. the female is the most tame animal i have ever met. she will eat out of your hand, and sit in your lap. she makes a wide variety of quiet, sweet noises. my drake, cyclone, is very sweet and will stand in my lap, without food or treats to bribe him. he will 'talk' to me, huffing when i bring him treats. i think that muscovies are overall great birds and a great pet! (the drake was free as a gift. i don't remember how much the duck was, but she was well worth it!)

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Facts and Details

Muscovy
Description:

Muscovies are the only domestic "ducks" that are not bred from the mallard. They are a wild South American species that has been domesticated. They are actually a "close cousin" to the duck. The muscovy being to the duck what a donkey is to a horse. Males are very large, and can weigh up to twelve pounds and females may reach eight pounds.

Details:
DetailValue
Breed Colors/VarietiesThe original, wild muscovy is predominately black and white. Domesticity has produced other colors,such as all white or black,chocolate, blue, lavender and more, and patterns such as barred.
Breed SizeLarge Fowl
Models:
Model Name/TypeMPNEAN/UPC
Links:
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Guide: Muscovy

Breed Details:

The Muscovy are considered by some to be ugly birds because of the large red "warty" caruncles around their eyes and beaks. And while you may consider them ugly, if you've ever spent time with a Muscovy you can't deny they are very intelligent birds, funny and full of personality. They are known as the "quackless" duck and hiss ( females making a quiet squealing sound) rather than quack, making them perfect for the small backyard keeper, whose neighbors might not welcome the loud quacking of other domestic breeds. While Muscovy can fly, they are more likely to just fly around than to fly off. They have big strong sharp claws for perching and will fly up to perch on all manner of things. The muscovy female lays in clutches and is an excellent mother. They multiply quickly  a drake and five ducks can hatch over a hundred offspring in one year. Not only do they make excellent pets, but the eggs are tasty and the meat is compared to a good cut of veal. Raising muscovy in the back yard flock is a joy that has to be experienced to be believed.

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