Muscovy

i am the proud owner of two muscovies, one male and one juvenile female... i am hoping to get more soon. the female is the most tame animal i have ever met. she will eat out of your hand, and sit in your lap. she makes a wide variety of quiet, sweet noises. my drake, cyclone, is very sweet and will stand in my lap, without food or treats to bribe him. he will 'talk' to me, huffing when i bring him treats. i think that muscovies are overall great birds and a great pet! (the drake was free as a gift. i don't remember how much the duck was, but she was well worth it!)

I've had my three Muscovy hens (Poopy, Soupy and Peanut) for 5 years now and adore their silly antics. It's awesome to see them take flight and do a cruiset over the valley coming in for a landing on the pond.
I'm not fond of the drakes and have re-homed the 2 that I've had. They were both mean to my dog who is a gentle soul and protects my flock of ducks and chickens.
My ducks have been healthy, heat & cold tolerant and great foragers. Soupy somehow injured her eye when she was young and is blind in that eye but gets along fine and has even learned to fly again.
They get along well with the chickens and respect my boss hen. They are messy drinkers, but I change out the 2 big buckets of water daily and keep the water in the covered pen where the ground dries quickly, rather than in the coop.
They make me laugh on a regular basis, particularly when they do the "duckie dance" which involves walking in a circle facing each other and squawking with lots of head bobbing and tail wagging. Cracks me up every time. I once saw them "whispering" to each other before circling my dog until she got up and moved. All three threw their heads back and opened & shut their beaks like a "belly laugh" over their own mischief.

We love our Muscovy drake but he is very very randy. He will try to mate with any bird he can get his beak on, which made for an awkward situation with the neighbors. He would fly out of his pen and go visit the neighboring flock. The silkies were not impressed - at a quarter of his size, he was just too rough! I had to cut off the flight feathers on one side to keep him penned in.

He's a big, ugly guy, but harmless enough to us people. You probably don't want to get him to guard any hens (he's happy to let them get eaten and just fly off -- chivalry is not a strong suit) He's let 2 different mates get gobbled up. When his Muscovy mate was around, she laid nice eggs.

I would not say he is friendly, but he is not unfriendly either. He's done fine with just a little pool of water, so he would be okay if you do not have a pond. He doesn't want to be held or pet.

Every time he molts more feathers come in white. When he was a chick, he was entirely a beautiful green. Now he is quite a weird looking guy.

People are always shocked when they see him and want know what is wrong with him. If you want to have a conversation piece, go for a Muscovy.

I love all my Muscovy baby's, they hatch out allot of new baby's and keep bugs down. They eat grass, bugs and scraps. With all the ducks I love they are my fav. Every one gets scared of my big Drake bc he hisses but that is not bc he is being bad that's just his way of talking. They are big birds but so sweet.

I wanted a pair of Large ducks, partly for novelty value, to learn a bit about them but i also wanted a large breed that could be a table bird. A friend of mine gave me a pair of white muscovys. They are the most unfriendly bird i have ever come across, every time they see me, the drake hisses at me and both of them run away, their tails wagging. I picked up the drake to clip his wing like i do with the chickens and boy did he fight, and those claws are SHARP. Admittedly the drake was an adult before i got him and the duck was lust under a year so their life before me may have coloured their view of humans. The duck just started laying and is already hiding the eggs in the undergrowth at the end of the garden, so hopefully when she has a few there she will decide to sit.... only time will tell how long that drake escapes the pot though.

I bought my first pair of young muscovies last spring as babies. I had always thought they were ugly but wanted to try them. The only other ducks I have right now are runners and compared with them my muscovies are the best. They get along with but don't really mingle with my other fowl. They may think they are cats, they eat with the cats and spend a lot of time on the porch with them. I can't get over how friendly they are. The female wags her tail and greets me every time I leave the house, her "man" keeps a good eye on her and although very protective of her is also friendly. I don't need any more animals and have more eggs than I can use so am not really concerned about her nesting abilities, but for a friendly bird to have around these are my first choice.

I raised my trio of chocolate muscovy from day olds thinking they would be really tame but they're not. I wanted them because they're quiet and don't need a pool, although they love playing in water when it's warm. My drake has injured my chicken hens with his claws trying to mate with them and one hen actually died. For this reason, I'm trying to rehome them. Also, didn't realize they aren't layer ducks, only lay when it's breeding season. I liked my mallards, rouens and saxony MUCH better but I needed something quiet. I've heard that they're good to eat but that's not why I got them. Most people really like their muscovy, so maybe I just got a bad batch???

this breed has served it purpose well. they are nice when observed from afar but iof a pet duck is desired a pekin is the good solution

I have Four Muscovies they are my babies and if you are thinking of getting them do it they will be the best thing that has ever happened you may not like them but i do they mine do fly alot but i love to watch them fly

I love my 11 muscovies. We have chocolates, blacks, blues, whites, and a lilac. They are super calm and friendly. They like to forage and can fend for themself better than other duck breeds. My favorite duck breed.

We have had Muscovies for several years, and have had a very good experience. While the males do "hiss", it's the Muscovy equivalent of a "quack". They are very quiet ducks and very laid back. Ours are friendly, and will follow us around, Most eat out of my hand and one female trills to me whenever I'm around. They are good around other breeds - ours share a pasture with chickens and Welsh Harlequins and there are never squabbles (at least, not with the ducks!).

They are good foragers, and will "clean" up a yard of bugs, slugs and snails. They eat mosquitoes too. They eat a variety or weeds and can easily forage for most of their food in the spring/summer/fall months, requiring supplemental food only in winter (easy, cheap keepers). I do bring them "treats in the afternoons, to keep them friendly! They require little housing, even here in Washington state, they prefer to be outdoors most of the time. We do not shut ours in at night, we let them choose where they go. They are very cold hardy.

Babies can be tamed very easily. I hand tame babies in the spring to sell as pets. After they hatch, they are brought into the house for a few days for "taming". They are taken for walks outside, to show them "food" and "bugs". The babies come when called and will accept other pets (like rabbits, dogs and cats) as buddies.

They lay lots of eggs, and make good mommas, sometimes even sharing duties with each other. I don't clip wings, and even though capable of flight, ours never bother leaving. When one "accidentally" gets out of the pasture, it tries really hard to get back "in".

They also are fast growers, and produce big meaty birds in a few months. The meat is very lean and exceptionally tasty. Some people compare it to lean veal or ham, although I thinks it's much richer flavoured. We never have a problem selling our meat birds, or our baby "pet" birds (all our babies are called Henry).

We have a steady customer base, and we have a freezer full of meat. This is our first choice for a duck breed (The Welsh Harlequin is our second choice).

Our birds sell as follows
hand tamed babies - 1 week old $10
females - 4-6 months $15/20
Males - 4-6 months $25/35

I had a muscovy, I did not like him at all, He was huge and had very sharp nails, muscovy's hiss which can get quite annoying! I also thought he looked a little ugly with their red faces, They also flip out when in a cage, small space, or just caught. They are not good for a pet, I dont think, because, kids think of ducks quaking and having them follow you, being able to touch them, and the muscovy doesn't do any of those, they can also fly a little ways, which can be bad! This is just my opinion, and I may have had a bad experience, but I dont think they are a very good breed!

I have a lilac pied muscovy hen. She is shy, as she was never handled before we brought her home. I find her very quiet and gets along wonderfully with my chickens. She does not go in water like my mallad x runner. I would have liked a friendlier girl, but she is very cute