Are muscovies friendly?

Hi,

I have two and would not be without them, they talk to me as soon as they see me and they love their cuddles and follow me all around, and enjoy eating from my hand. They are almost a year old now. Hope you will have a friendly pair like mine if you decide to get some. I think the more they are handled as babies the more friendly they will be. As babies they think everything is for eating though, like your jeans, laces, fingers and toes :)

I got my 4 yesterday. They are a JOY! I love them to pieces!!! They are getting more and more use to me being around, touching them and holding them. I'm still working on them though. They are starting to eat out of my hand. One is more daring and adventurous than the other 3.

They do think everything is food. They have tried to eat their poop (figured out quick it wasn't food), my hair tie on my wrist, freckles on my arm, a tiny mole on my hand and even towels. I have towels as beding in their brooder pen and I catch them constantly chomping on them and shaking their heads. It's kinda like ducky tug-a-war.

LOL, if you think they are happy with regular food, try leftover cooked broccoli in a dish full of water. Must be a good substitued for duckweed, 'cause mine always loved it!

Word of wisdom--if you EVER hear a quack from a muscovy, do not walk, RUN to the pen with a big stick or a gun. The only time a muscovy hen quacks is if she is in danger of dying. The one and only time I heard a quack from one of my girls I ran like H3ll--a dog was in the pen and by the time I got out there it had her pinned and was about to kill her. (I ran it off and she was unharmed).

Muscovies breed like rabbits, so unless you are willing to eat the offspring, stick with just one gender. I know of 2 cases where muscovy hens successfully hatched 22 ducklings apiece, and had one that was sitting on 24 before a possum got in the coop and ate the eggs. They'll set 2 or more times per year and are outstanding parents--my drake would bully any adult duck that got between him and food, but would back away from the feeder while the ducklings were gobbling; he also goosed cats that got too close to the brood and would come running if a duckling peeped in distress.

I don't have any currently, but if I had ducks again, it would be a group of muscovy hens. They are such a big, calm quiet breed that I just enjoyed having them around.

They are personable, I don't raise mine to be in my pocket however.. they free range daily and are closed up at night.  I have a mixed flock.. (drakes/hens) so they carry on quite the conversations.. I have a few hens that will quack and not because they are dying or in danger more mad and want to make there point well known lol

For now we trying to let a few sit, so far we have only gotten one baby.. If you don't want them to produce young you just remove the eggs which is what we were doing till we decided to allow them to produce.

The drakes are pretty large, I don't find the hens to be all that big if comparing to say a call yes but otherwise not really.. i saw much larger pekins at swap this past weekend...

All my birds will 'wag' their tails when i come by or talk to them, i can pick up any bird if necessary as well, however caution must be used due to the extensive claws that they have.

They forage well and herd equally well... I have no complaints about the breed as a whole.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CountryKitty 

 

Muscovies breed like rabbits, so unless you are willing to eat the offspring, stick with just one gender. I know of 2 cases where muscovy hens successfully hatched 22 ducklings apiece, and had one that was sitting on 24 before a possum got in the coop and ate the eggs.

Very true!!! The person I bought my 4 babies from had maybe 4 hens I'm guessing. 2 in with the drake, one sitting on eggs and one with hatched babies. The one with hatchlings started off with 22 eggs and 20 hatched. The one sitting on eggs also has 22 eggs.