Muscovy Ducks

[birdbrain76]

Muscovy are a wonderful breed!
Very intelligent birds
Not particularly aggressive
Do clip the primaries on one wing
Best overall poultry personalities IMO.

 

[SolarDuck]

Muscovies are the best I have 3 girls myself, they are honestly the friendliest birds you will ever meet, if you raise them yourself they will love you forever but I live in Florida where we have a lot of wild ones and even the wild ones are super friendly and will walk right up to you and eat out of your hand. They also are amazing foragers because they have more survival instincts than most domestic ducks, so they can eat all the mosquitos out of your yard for you. And they have very different body language to regular ducks so they can be very entertaining to watch.

 

[Hemmywife]

Do they smell? I have raised only Pekin and they don’t smell like wet dog. Lol that’s the only way I can describe the Muscovy duck smell

 

[SolarDuck]

I dont have a fantastic sense of smell but the only time I really smell mine is when I'm cleaning out their in coop waterer because they tend to poop in it a lot.

 

[Hemmywife]

How long does it take for them to get used to their new surroundings? Are they pretty good with cold weather? Since I live in Wisconsin the weather is always up in the air.

 

[SolarDuck]

I live in Florida so I'm not sure, but wild muscovies are from pretty warm climates so maybe they wouldn't do great in cold? But I'm not sure if you house them well during the winter they would probably be okay but not positive. As far as getting used to their new surroundings I actually had one who flew away and lived as a wild duck for 6 or 7 months and then I found her again and brought her back in. Its only been a few weeks since she's been back and she seems to have adjusted wonderfully and she is great friends with my other ducks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have kept Muscovy since 2004 and have to say they are my favorite of all water fowl. I do have other breeds but Muscovy just have the best laid back personality and as others have said very smart. Make excellent mothers and are very protective of their young. My Muscovy has hatched Runners and as long as they are ducks she could care less. She's a wonderful mama.
Drakes can be a handful especially if you keep more than one I have had 4 at once and had to keep them all separate to keep them from fighting and I mean fighting to one was dead. So after many years of this I finally just have 1 drake he'll be 10 next June. Still feisty and him and my gander aren't able to be around each other during mating season. They are great for eating bugs mosquitos etc. I think they are long lived because their genetics hasn't been messed with like other domestics. I have a female who will be 14 in spring.