Can muscovy's be kept in pairs?

[pringle]

So I have run into a problem.I have 2 muscovy's one is Jim and the the other is Nibbles (Jim's son).I would love for both of them to have a female as a mate because first of all,I love fresh duck eggs and second of all it would make them happier.The problem is,is that feed is getting expensive here and I can really only do with 2 more ducks.I am ordering 4 chickens from Ideal anyways and can easily put them in the order.Two questions,can muscovy's only have one duck as a mate (and I only want to hear from people with experience) and also would cayugas be an ok choice for them. Thanks

 

[Caprice_Acres]

They might be OK. I wouldn't do it if they were confined, as fighting will occur when the males compete for the females. I would worry that the hens will be harried, too. Perhaps an alternative is to keep just one of the drakes and get hens for that one?

Also, they won't produce fertile offspring. The offspring are called mules and are sterile.

 

[elizabethbinary]

Muscovies CAN have one duck as a mate, but I'd keep the pairs separate because they might fight over who gets which hens yaddayadda.. but if each drake has only one hen, there doesn't seem to be too much of an issue. I have two hens for my drake but he was perfectly peachy to have his one lady and now the new hen HATES him anyway so he still only has one lady he can get his groove on with.

 

[Goat_Walker]

No. No. No No No No.

DANGER SIGN! Sorry if this comes out wrong but NO. BAD Idea.

Muscovy drakes are usually between 12 - 18 lbs. Cayuga female? 4-6 lbs. Plus one Muscovy drake can easily take care of up to 10 females. Easily. You might be ablt to get away with pairs of mallard derived breeds but definantly not with muscovies. Ive had problems with Muscovy drakes mounting my smal lhens ( including cayugas ) and injuring them or terrifying them. From my past experience with having up to 60 birds at a time, all free rangin together with everything from magpies, cayugas, runners, mallards and muscovies - Its not a good idea to pair a muscovy up with anything bt a scovie. But thats just me. Now - if you dont want scovies my suggestion would be going with something larger than a slim cayuga like a pekin or rouen. They at least are heavier. iknow some people have no problem with small muscovy hens and large muscovy drakes - but those are muscovy hens, even if they are on the tiny side.


I dont mean to offend anyone with this but thats my experience for the safety, happiness, and health of mybirds.

 

[pringle]

Thanks so much for the input everyone!There run is at least 300 sq ft so I can divide it up into two and just attach another small coop.I really wanted the cayugas for there color and foraging ability but since my boys might hurt them I think I will get 2 pekins instead.I am going to a couple swap meets in the coming weeks and if I can find any scovie hens or ducklings then I will be sure to buy them!

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
Oh sorry I should mention my pairs are scovie/scovie not interbred. I would not put a light duck withe a scovie.

Heck, on a particularly randy day even -I- am afraid to bend over in front of my duck. He's a biiiiiiiiiig boy.

 

[pringle]

Yeah today Nibbles tried humping my boot while I was cleaning there coop.But shouldnt pekins be ok to have with them?I mean a pekin is even bigger then a scovie hen,I am pretty sure they weigh around 8-9 lbs.