WILD AFRICAN MUSCOVY DUCK

[zuluchicken]

Hi Folks

I thought of sharing the following photos and story with you.

We are living on a grain farm in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Often wild birds would make their nests in the grain fields but unfortunately this leaves them vunrable come harvest time. About two weeks ago whilst we were harvesting we exposed a Wild African Muscovy Duck's nest in the middle of the grain field. There were 8 eggs. Obviously the mother would not retun to the nest because we have now cut away all the protection against the sun and wind so I decided to "rescue" eggs and placed them in my incubator.

Late last night and early this morning (15 October 2015) the eggs started to hatch and by sunrise we had 7 baby ducks. I am going to keep them with my chickens once they are independant but if they want to return to the wild we will not prevent them.

I also have 48 Guinea Fowl eggs in the incubator that I have rescued the same way. They are due to hatch from about 27 october.

 

[zuluchicken]

We knew that this day had to come, sooner than later. We noticed their unwillingness to go into their night shelter in the evenings. When inside the cage they impatiently patrolled the fence up and down and could not wait to get out in the mornings. ( I had to protect them against predators during the night). Freedom in the early mornings were celebrated with mock runs, flapping of their wings and the occasional short flight. They were roaming further away from the house and they consumed less and less of the food that we gave them.

This morning we open the gate of their night shelter as usual As if being pre-arranged and planned they came out and immediately flew off into the distant horizon. They made a turn and landed in the pastures far behind the house, totally out of sight. My wife could not keep the tears back and we both new that this would probably be the last time that we saw them.

A few hours later I went outside to clean up their night shelter. I was still busy working when I heard them behind me. I looked up and there they were. They flew off, discovered real freedom and they returned home. I took this photo - probably this last one

I rescued them as eggs when their nest was destroyed by the harvester during harvest time. I placed the eggs in my incubator with little hope of any success. We watched them haphazardly trying to get to their feet after hatching. We gave them their first food using a syringe and watched them take their first plunge into the water. We were privileged to share their lives from the first day until today when they took to the sky for the first time.

We don't know for how long will they return home but we always said that we will ensure that there are food and water available for them should they decide to come home.

It was a privilege to take this journey with them. They hatched on 15 October 2015 and took their first flight today, 06 February 2016 - just over 3 months. As I am typing here they are visiting all their familiar places in our yard. They love to take a nap in my garage and I will leave the door open for them for as long as they come back home. If they don't, I pray that GOD will keep them safe from poachers and other dangers and they will always have a safe place to rest.
06 February 2016.

 

[zuluchicken]

Buck Oakes.

Do you know the wild African Muscovy Duck?

We also have Egyptian Geese breeding on the farm but to date we did not destroyed any of their nests.

 

[tmorgan46]

You and your wife are fantastic people!! And to come back is a sure sign they have a sense of gratitude from what you gave them. And I'm sure this won't be the last time you both rescue a few eggs and begin the cycle all over again. Bitter sweet I'm sure. My hat's off to you and your wife.
Very cool.

Troy and Tina

 

[Buck Oakes]

Are u sure it wasn't a spur winged goose? The babies don't look Muscovy

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...d=0CCEQMygFMAVqFQoTCPz5jPr-xMgCFQGPDQodLMsDDQ

 

[blkjak]

Congratulations!

 

[Orca5094]

Wow, they are beautiful! Good for you for saving them!

But I do agree, they look like Spur-winged Goslings, not Muscovies. Which I think makes them even more interesting! The adults definitely look similar to Muscovies, especially if you saw the mother from a distance.

 

[tmorgan46]

Zuluchicken,
My hat is off to you. What a great thing to do!!! Congrats on the successful hatching, looks like a great bunch of ducklings!! (or goslings if that turns out to be the case)

Best of Luck!!

Troy and Tina

 

[Buck Oakes]

Buck Oakes.

Do you know the wild African Muscovy Duck?

We also have Egyptian Geese breeding on the farm but to date we did not destroyed any of their nests.

@zuluchicken
i know that muscovies aren't native to africa, and there for can't be wild, but feral so saying that there is an African muscovy duck, doesn't actually make since not being mean or anything just saying that its probably not a muscovy, but a spur winged goose

 

[Buck Oakes]

This is a spur winged gosling, which is exactly what u have, so there are no Wild african Muscovy ducks, you have spur winged goslings