I raised chocolate Muscovies for years many years ago and one drake could cover 20 hens and each hen hatched out about 20+ ducklings at a time (up to 28). I also made balut for customers and butchered meat drakes. I kept the best hens and traded out the drake once a year but it got too hard to find nice drakes without the pied white that is nearly impossible to breed out. If I could find some nice solid colored Muscovies again I might go back to raising meat ducks but right now we are raising the Australian Spotted ducks that my daughter wanted to conserve.I love Scovie hens as pets and egg provoders and they are awesome setters and protectors of their young ! Most people do not realize there is 2 type of ducks in the world, one is the muscovy type...in which the male herds ALL the hens to him and will fight for the rest.........and the other type is the Mallard type duck, which is one male & one female pair off, mate & raise a brood. Muscovies can be a handful, especially mean spring males. But I love the hens...such awesome birds !
She put herself between me & my camera and those babies...awesome mommie !
