Best meat duck? I can't decide... Muscovy Questions

[kuntrygirl]

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You are absolutely correct about batches. My girls are on their 3rd batch for the year. They are excellent layers, excellent hatchers and excellent mothers. I have a waiting list of people who want to buy my muscovy ducks for meat. I hear their meat is the best. I wouldn't know because I have never eaten my own ducks. They are so quiet. No quacking at all. I had a total of 60 muscovy ducklings at one time the first round between 3 hens. And the laying and hatching continues. It doesn't look like they plan on stopping, so I let them lay and hatch.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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You're correct about thinking that something getting one of your hens. Kinda happened to me. When I would do head count, I noticed that the count was always missing 1 hen on certain days and time and I couldn't figure it out because I have so many ducks. Then one day, I drove up in the driveway from work and I see my hen with 20 babies at the gate of the chicken yard waiting to get in. I finally figured out where her nest was. Can you believe that she was in a bush in my front yard about 20 feet from my bedroom window and I had no idea? I accidentally saw her creeping back over to the bush and looking over her back to see if anyone was watching her. I hide and watched her and she snuck into the bush like a thief in the night. She has been laying her eggs in the bush. Who knew.

 

[me&thegals]

What a great thread! I have a chance to get ducks soon, and I'm wondering about this same question. Not only do I want meat, but I want ducks that are great broodies, mothers and foragers. I want them working in my huge gardens cleaning up weed seeds and bugs. Are Muscovies good for this also?

Not to hijack (and please direct me to another thread if appropriate), but how are Rouens for all of the above? The ducks I have a chance at are full-grown Rouens... Also, is there a good all-around place for duck info? Like, do they need water? What feed? Overwintering? etc...

Thanks in advance

me&thegals

 

[jellybean]

I've raised Rouens for several years. They are big, and IMO taste good, especially when smoked! Had one ornery old drake that became crippled at about 3 yrs. and we smoked him. He tasted very good, not even tough. Mine have always been pretty good layers, my only female right now started laying in March I think? Still snowy and 0 degrees at that time! They are great mothers and sitters. I had one duck that would hatch about 15+ babies every year. Mine will sit on any eggs you give her. Pretty gentle birds, they do like to forage and eat everything. I only let the young ones in my garden, the adults root up everything. Although my baby loves the onions and leeks, LOVES them. He'll also eat every strawberry and rasberry he can jump up to reach. So they can damage a garden pretty heavily, mostly just by rooting in the dirt. The do wander around the property some, but not as much as I'd like. We do have 20 acres, and they don't cover more than a corner section, maybe 3 acres.

I have a Rouen male I hatched and raised, he thinks I'm his mother. Follows me around, cuddles on the couch, very sweet duck. But he's learning now the pond is more fun, and he likes being an actual duck. We'll see how this works when he hits puberty......

If you do a search on here, you'll find lots of threads about everything you could want to know.

 

[me&thegals]

Thanks so much, jellybean!

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
You're correct about thinking that something getting one of your hens. Kinda happened to me. When I would do head count, I noticed that the count was always missing 1 hen on certain days and time and I couldn't figure it out because I have so many ducks. Then one day, I drove up in the driveway from work and I see my hen with 20 babies at the gate of the chicken yard waiting to get in. I finally figured out where her nest was. Can you believe that she was in a bush in my front yard about 20 feet from my bedroom window and I had no idea? I accidentally saw her creeping back over to the bush and looking over her back to see if anyone was watching her. I hide and watched her and she snuck into the bush like a thief in the night. She has been laying her eggs in the bush. Who knew.

I must disagree muscovies make great layers if you learn to manage them. Once they start to lay use nest eggs to keep up her interest. If you clean up her nest every day like you would a chicken they are smart enough to try else where and they can be champs at hiding. Instead leave one of her own eggs or a fake egg in the nest. The next day she will come back to her nest check to see that the egg is there and lay another one. The secret is that most ducks can't count(I have had some old hens that I had to leave 2 eggs to keep her interest) Since they like to brood huge numbers(15-20)is fairly typical they keep trying to fill that nest. Sooner or later her hormones will get the best of her and she will go broody on just 2 eggs. That is when you have to get mean and throw her in a broody breaker cage, a wire cage with a wire bottom and no bedding materials. Once her broody bottom has cooled down by the air flow in the box usually three days,she can be allowed to pick a new nest and she will go back to laying again. About the only problem is during cold weather where she will set the nest all day to protect the eggs from freezing, then you have to be sneaky enough to steal the eggs while she is off the nest