Bleenie and Muscovy specialists...

[allanimals21]

Ok so first time muscovy mom here. (me not the hen) Anyways she came out of the nest with her 5 little ones today. They kept getting confused and following everything else including my rooster. Which he thought they may taste good. The drakes kept tryin to mount her. Is that supposed to happen? lol I know this may all sound dumb. Anyways I seperated her into the top half of the chicken tractor with the ducklings. Will I be able to let them free range? Is any of this stuff normal? What else should I expect.

 

[chickboss]

Bump!

 

[satay]

From personal experiences I would keep the mum and babies seperate. I had one instance where one of my drakes killed some of the babies. I would keep them seperate until at least they are all feathered.

 

[Goat_Walker]

Seperate mom and babies if you can! The drakes WILL try to kill the ducklings. They want to mount mom since she has been off limits for so long. I am fortunate to have one drake and four hens, so instead of trying to kill the babies he was a good daddy and guarded the brooder house from all my other ducks, lol.

It sounds like normal behavior, my ducklings all follow anything with feet - except me. They hate me right now. My other hends will turn around and swat them or give them a good peck .

 

[Bleenie]

He will try to mount her and he could hurt the babies in the process. It would be best to seperate them until they're at least a couple weeks old, then theyre big enough to get away fast and arent so fragile. the drake is just excited to see his girl again, since she's been on the nest for so long!

One of my drakes sits in the house with all the broody girls all the time..you'd think he was the most lonely duck in the world, even with all the other girls out in the yard, lol.

 

[reveriereptile]

Yes, definitely separate them. It will also help to keep her from losing track of her babies if they are running off. You can raise the babies in the brooder if you have to.