Are yourDucks as Confused as Mine?

[kuntrygirl]

Here it is coming on the end of January and my ducks think it's March or April. The mating game is starting, the girls are raising a ruckus well as much as Muscovies can, which is pretty loud when all 8 of them start. Boys are chasing the girls getting in the pool with them and also chasing them down on dry ground[ which isn't to dry we have had alot of rain] I expect to see a duck egg any day now, if i do it will be the first time I have seen one this early in the 8 years i have had Muscovies. It's crazy. And the weather is crazy too. it was 55* today 10above normal. No wonder everyone is acting a little crazy.

Sounds like a party over there Miss Lydia. Unfortunately, my boys are at it 365 days a year. They never stop. Remember I said that my girls had stopped laying eggs? Well I was wrong. They had been laying all along. They moved their hiding place until I busted them. I have 5 girls wanting to go broody but i won't let them. I only allowed 1 girl to set on a few duck eggs because i needed her to hatch some turkey eggs. I have been picking ducks eggs every day. I've been getting about 2 1/2 to 3 dozen eggs a day. The girls are busy.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sounds like a party over there Miss Lydia. Unfortunately, my boys are at it 365 days a year. They never stop. Remember I said that my girls had stopped laying eggs? Well I was wrong. They had been laying all along. They moved their hiding place until I busted them. I have 5 girls wanting to go broody but i won't let them. I only allowed 1 girl to set on a few duck eggs because i needed her to hatch some turkey eggs. I have been picking ducks eggs every day. I've been getting about 2 1/2 to 3 dozen eggs a day. The girls are busy.

Wow Kuntry you better hire you an egg patrol, I hope you get to sell them all. I can't find anyone who wants to buy or be given duck eggs, ewww duck eggs?

So far only my 3 newest girls have been checking out the nest boxes but I really don't know when they will start to lay. But mating is starting to get underway big time so you never know. These Muscovies are a ][sp]rambuckcious group.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Sounds like a party over there Miss Lydia. Unfortunately, my boys are at it 365 days a year. They never stop. Remember I said that my girls had stopped laying eggs? Well I was wrong. They had been laying all along. They moved their hiding place until I busted them. I have 5 girls wanting to go broody but i won't let them. I only allowed 1 girl to set on a few duck eggs because i needed her to hatch some turkey eggs. I have been picking ducks eggs every day. I've been getting about 2 1/2 to 3 dozen eggs a day. The girls are busy.

Wow Kuntry you better hire you an egg patrol, I hope you get to sell them all. I can't find anyone who wants to buy or be given duck eggs, ewww duck eggs?      So far only my 3 newest girls have been checking out the nest boxes but I really don't know when they will start to lay. But mating is starting to get underway big time so you never know. These Muscovies are a ][sp]rambuckcious group.

 

I have been lucky in that a local restaurant wants ALL of my duck eggs from now on. I also have regular customers who want the duck eggs for baking. There are 2 BYC'ers that also wanted eggs, so I have to keep some eggs for them. Anything to get rid of them so that I don't have 150 ducklings again this year.

 

[larkflying]

One of the owners of our local feed store told me that duck eggs can be eaten by people who are allergic to chicken eggs . . . until then I didn't realize that A) people were allergic to chicken eggs and B) duck eggs were that much different. I love the duck eggs -- they don't taste any stronger than my chicken eggs and so we eat them in everything. I have 4 kids so we go through a lot of eggs, but we'll have to see in the spring when the chicken production picks up (hopefully).

After hearing all the stories of mean / confused drakes I am very glad I got rid of my last two backup drakes -- now I have one drake and six hens. I figure if something happens to my last drake then it will be easy enough to find another, even a WH, locally, or sigh, I could be FORCED to order more ducklings . . . my ducks are all under a year and I don't know if any tend to broodiness yet. Does anyone have broody WH's?

We just had 8 inches of snow a week or two ago, but the last few days have been remarkably clear without rain . . . makes me wonder what the spring will be like. Last year we had record rainfalls - this year maybe we'll have a shortage . . .

 

[EmAbTo48]

Been like this since december, the warm weather here has them totally confused! I have gotten eggs since late november from all girls. Wont complain have a lot of people who want them

Its funny though cause one week its crazy here (its warmer weather) to the next nothing no mating no eggs ( its negative out)! The weather sure is what's causing it!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Where is Skagit co. N<S<E< Or W

One of the owners of our local feed store told me that duck eggs can be eaten by people who are allergic to chicken eggs . . . until then I didn't realize that A) people were allergic to chicken eggs and B) duck eggs were that much different. I love the duck eggs -- they don't taste any stronger than my chicken eggs and so we eat them in everything. I have 4 kids so we go through a lot of eggs, but we'll have to see in the spring when the chicken production picks up (hopefully).

After hearing all the stories of mean / confused drakes I am very glad I got rid of my last two backup drakes -- now I have one drake and six hens. I figure if something happens to my last drake then it will be easy enough to find another, even a WH, locally, or sigh, I could be FORCED to order more ducklings . . . my ducks are all under a year and I don't know if any tend to broodiness yet. Does anyone have broody WH's?

We just had 8 inches of snow a week or two ago, but the last few days have been remarkably clear without rain . . . makes me wonder what the spring will be like. Last year we had record rainfalls - this year maybe we'll have a shortage . . .

 

[Miss Lydia]

this morning it was 27* and now it's 48 and they are saying we could have snow flurries tonight with a cold system coming in, I saw one of my newest Muscovy girls coming out of the little coop we have for egg laying haven't looked yet to see if theres an egg, i think they are just checking things out but they are sure flirting with my drake Opie. They are scared of or Old drake...

 

[larkflying]

Oops - Skagit county is in WA State, an hour north of Seattle . . . here it is raining again. I suppose that is better than snow, but I enjoy looking at the snow more . . . probably because we get it once a winter usually.

I didn't realize that the Muscovy's were seasonal layers -- I just assumed that all ducks laid all winter. How do you like them personality wise? I've heard they make good mothers . . .

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oops - Skagit county is in WA State, an hour north of Seattle . . . here it is raining again. I suppose that is better than snow, but I enjoy looking at the snow more . . . probably because we get it once a winter usually.

I didn't realize that the Muscovy's were seasonal layers -- I just assumed that all ducks laid all winter. How do you like them personality wise? I've heard they make good mothers . . .

They have great personalities, but i have never had another breed of duck so have nothing to compare them too, of course they are usually very quiet, they don't quack but make trilling sounds [girls] and the boys talk in a raspy voice and also hiss. kinda like a goose. But for the most part they make great pets and are suppose to be very good taste wise too I haven't eaten any so can only go by what someone else says there. They love to brood and make great mothers. We did have one exception last year, one of our girls wanted to sit so bad that I finally gave in and let her have 3 eggs, she was a wonderful brooder, but the morning the duckling hatched she pushed it out of the nest and pecked his lil head so bad his skin was missing, I tried to put it back under her but she didn't want him and the other egg was pipped and evidently she wouldn't sit on it after it started to hatch and it shrink wrapped in it's egg. The other was a dud. So we ended up with a duckling newly hatched in our house for 3 months. Wouldn't trade the experience for nothing though, and he is still my baby at almost 8 months old. He was intergrated into the flock with out any problems and now lives out with them although he still comes in to visit. Has been mating with our newest girls so he knows hes a duck. Oh and i think you should go for more ducklings!!