BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

I started my goslings on clippings the day after they arrived. And i have come to the conclusion that my brooder is way to small!!. The goslings will be 4weeks old when the baby chicks arrive. Still to small to turn loose in their pen. ( anxious popa syndrome ) so now,i have to build an intermediate goose /chick facility. So much for being donr until winter

JRNash said:

I started my goslings on clippings the day after they arrived. And i have come to the conclusion that my brooder is way to small!!. The goslings will be 4weeks old when the baby chicks arrive. Still to small to turn loose in their pen. ( anxious popa syndrome ) so now,i have to build an intermediate goose /chick facility. So much for being donr until winter

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We turned ours out on pasture once they were bigger than the crows. You could always just let them follow you around while you do your chores - that's what we did before we were ready to put them out. Then you can sit in the shade with a good book and watch them mow the lawn.

At night we put ours into a 12'x12' stall in the barn. They're usually up at the gate waiting for us around dusk and they'll run right up into their stall if the door's open. If only the chickens were so easy to put away.

If only it could be that easy bramblefir. My Neighbors husky thinks it's HIS job to follow me around,and protect me from all other animals. I tried to introduce him to one of the goslings. Not gonna happen. I will probably run the electric fence on the outside of the run tomorrow and let them play. Temps are in the 90s so there shouldn't be an issue with getting cold

Actual Rubber pond liner is very durable. Installed ponds ten years ago and not even a smidgen of a leak yet. Don't go to some hobby store if you want it to last.

@hellbender I don't know if I missed it or not but why are you after white Muscovy ducks instead of let's say Pekins or Rouens? They are both very good for meat.

hellbender said:

That's my intention but they are not too easily found, it seems but I've yet to put on a full court press. I should begin looking harder....anyone with information about them, please let me know.

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As Linda mentioned i do have white production muscovy but they are hard to keep the eggs around as she mentioned i have a 5 week wait atm.

JRNash said:

I personally never have liked the skovies. Years back we had a skovie hen with little ones in a pen with a mixed flock of chickens. We started noticing an alarming incidence of angel wing in the chickens. By chance one of the kids was feeding them and hung around longer than usual. When the feed was almost gone,the skovie would attack the chickens,the older ones would run.The chicks she would grab by the wings and twist. It wasn't angel wing. It was broke wing. She was immediately dispatched and her brood was gave away. My one and only experience with them.

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My White Crested Blue polish live with my scovies, my scovies orginally lived with all of my chickens....i never had an issue, maybe it was just an aggressive streak in your one hen i dunno.

MidwestChickens said:

@hellbender I don't know if I missed it or not but why are you after white Muscovy ducks instead of let's say Pekins or Rouens? They are both very good for meat.

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i own muscovy, pekin and rouen...muscovy get a lot bigger. Our pure white Drake is over 20lbs with a 6+ft wingspan at 1.5yrs old. The young drake we butchered last at about 5-6months was over 10lbs dressed....the young rouens we just butchered on sunday at roughly 5 months old dressed out at only about 5-6lbs in their defense we purposely picked the three smallest males. Other then size the scovies are tree ducks not water ducks, they have almost no fat, the meat is entirely dark red like beef and they don't quack. i love the scovies, they are also super easy to clean compared to the pekin or rouen, the rouen we noticed the feathers tended to break off instead of all being pulled out cleanly even with the ones scalded more then once.

Has anyone raised Corn X along side Red ranger and compared food intake, growth, final size and dressed weight/appearance/meat ratio? My friend holli got corn X and red ranger to raise side by side the same age, they will be butchered at the same time...but she keeps them in the same pen so we can guage food intake. So far they are a month old and the red rangers are the same size as the corn X. We really dislike the corn X and wouldnt even have any of our own this year if we didnt get them when we bought chick feed...we are wanting to get red rangers next year assuming these ones dress out nicely and take a similar grow out time. So far we just use our culls and extra roosters we hatch to fill the freezer. Between them, the ducks, and the rabbits we dont lack in the meat department.

I find it hard to believe you will get anywhere near the meat from red rangers that you will from the Cornish. No comparison there regardless of feed consumption. They are 2 entirely different related birds not developed for the same purposes.

JRNash said:

If only it could be that easy bramblefir. My Neighbors husky thinks it's HIS job to follow me around,and protect me from all other animals. I tried to introduce him to one of the goslings. Not gonna happen. I will probably run the electric fence on the outside of the run tomorrow and let them play. Temps are in the 90s so there shouldn't be an issue with getting cold

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That husky is going to be in for a surprise when those geese are full grown. Mine are only 7 weeks old now and keeping 11 goats in line, chasing squirrels off, and were even attempting to scare off a doe that got too close to "their" pasture.

misfitmorgan said:

i own muscovy, pekin and rouen...muscovy get a lot bigger. Our pure white Drake is over 20lbs with a 6+ft wingspan at 1.5yrs old. The young drake we butchered last at about 5-6months was over 10lbs dressed....the young rouens we just butchered on sunday at roughly 5 months old dressed out at only about 5-6lbs in their defense we purposely picked the three smallest males. Other then size the scovies are tree ducks not water ducks, they have almost no fat, the meat is entirely dark red like beef and they don't quack. i love the scovies, they are also super easy to clean compared to the pekin or rouen, the rouen we noticed the feathers tended to break off instead of all being pulled out cleanly even with the ones scalded more then once.

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I never realized just how large ducks could get. Sounds like the Muscovy is worth keeping for meat purposes since you wouldn't have to butcher as many to get a decent amount of meat.