The Quack Shack

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

Drakes hiss. Females trill. Drakes just like other drakes are randy. My only drake I have now is 12.5 yrs old and he thinks I am his woman [lol] because he was raised by me when his mama rejected him. My other drakes were not aggressive like this one. When I say aggressive I mean he will nip on me . He doesn't outright attack. Muscovy are called quackless ducks.

Quackless ducks make sense; trilling and hissing sure isn't quacking!

 

[Canadian Wind]

What are you guys' opinions of Muscovy Ducks? My friend has some and she says they're pretty good...

There's a reason I hoard them! Best fowl, imo. I have never had a mean one in my two years of keeping them, and they make great mommas. Yes, the drakes can be idiots, but some time alone helps with that.

They are also very good at finding food for themselves, thus cutting down on their feed bill. At least in the non-snow seasons.

And the females' little trill is the sweetest thing!!!

 

[Summer_]

Summers Back yay... @Summer_ how are you and your ducks?

Hello
I'm doing well, so are the ducks

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

What are you guys' opinions of Muscovy Ducks? My friend has some and she says they're pretty good...

I will have some 'scovies in the future, once i have more time, money, skills and material to build a poultry-palace where ducks, muscovies, chickens, geese and maybe some other birds can sleep comfortable, warm and protected from ghastly predators. I have only heart good things about muscovy ducks so far. In the end it all depends on the individual bird and how it was raised.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Glad to hear no snapping turtles. Here they find every pond they can and lay their eggs and pretty soon there is a population of them. Mine gave me 5 eggs today after taking a small rest so I was happy for that. I am storing some up for the winter. Mine will only eat some veggies and lettuce and would never touch bread or table scraps as I like for them to eat duck food for my good eggs.

It may had sound like i feed "crap" to my ducks, but that isn't the case. I bake my bread myself with good ingredients, all my bread contains at least sunflower kernels and bulgur. Kitchen scraps are for example the white walls of the peppers and parts of the veggies we don't like (i.e. the peel from the butternut squashes); nothing spoiled or moldy.
Table-scraps: Never stand between Blanca Duck and french fries! That's no-man's land!
And yes, the french fries are home-made, not that refrigerated card-board box-stuff.
We eat good and the ducks also eat good.

How do you store eggs for the winter?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Quackless ducks make sense; trilling and hissing sure isn't quacking!

My wife refused to have chickens because they are so noisy…
So we got ducks, because her parents had ducks and they were cute and quiet.
What a surprise when our ducks began to QUAAAAACK!
Turned out her parents had Muscovy ducks…

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Update on Milka Duck:
Despite having bathed twice, and being sprayed with blue-kote her wound still smells like rotten meat. I glad that no maggots or other nasty stuff got in there. She doesn't like to bathe, she hasn't been able to preen feathers, so she gets soaking wet and shivers after the bath, despite having hand-warm water in the tub:

​

Today i was confident enough to force a doxycycline tabled down her throat. We managd not to rip open her wound again, despite heavy wrangling. Her health is definitely improving, but still some times during the day she sits down, her bill is hot to the touch and she is panting - assume fever.
This night she wants to sleep in the straw on the patio, where Chaos and Mayhem have their food and water. She also met them, but it didn't end well. Mayhem immediately wanted to cuddle with her (big round duck and young drakeling…) but she wasn't having it and lashed out.
At least Milka was seduced to some duck-soup with mealworms, tomatoes and cat food and some fresh water.
Time will tell. Her wound still looks terrible, she will loose some skin and feathers in her neck, i can only hope that there won't be a bald spot during the winter.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Update on Chaos and Mayhem; No words, just a picture:

 

[Luv Ducks]

I will have some 'scovies in the future, once i have more time, money, skills and material to build a poultry-palace where ducks, muscovies, chickens, geese and maybe some other birds can sleep comfortable, warm and protected from ghastly predators. I have only heart good things about muscovy ducks so far. In the end it all depends on the individual bird and how it was raised.

My first two were 3 days old and my last hen I got was 3 months old. My other flock of them were full grown years ago that I had, one male and two females. She laid eggs in a dog house and had seven babies that stayed together until they could fly. Then after a couple of years I rehomed them. They were all very sweet ducks too. Good luck with getting some in the future Frank. I have never had a mean one.

 

[Luv Ducks]

It may had sound like i feed "crap" to my ducks, but that isn't the case. I bake my bread myself with good ingredients, all my bread contains at least sunflower kernels and bulgur. Kitchen scraps are for example the white walls of the peppers and parts of the veggies we don't like (i.e. the peel from the butternut squashes); nothing spoiled or moldy.
Table-scraps: Never stand between Blanca Duck and french fries! That's no-man's land!
And yes, the french fries are home-made, not that refrigerated card-board box-stuff.
We eat good and the ducks also eat good.

How do you store eggs for the winter?

I am putting in the refrigerator unwashed. They claim they will last up to 6 months that way. I water glassed some last year and didn't end up needing all of them but they were still good and I will eat them around December when I am off work just in case I get ill, lol. What a chancer I am. I am not going to let my family eat them but I will as I am the Guinea pig here when it comes to food. lol