clipping wings??

[tink0602]

I am going to have 8 Muscovies in a few weeks. (Day 21 in the incubator) I would like to let them free range and fly during the day (especially so they can help protect themselves from predators, if need be), but should I worry about them flying away? or not coming home at night? We are planning to coop them at night to protect them from the raccoons. I didn't even think about clipping their wings until I read something about it in a book on ducks.

 

[La Mike]

If you want them to fly dont clip the wings. That kinda stops that

I can tell you that I have a bunch of them and they do fly around but never flew away.
How old are they ?

 

[tink0602]

They will be hatching in about 2 weeks, and will imprint on us right away - so I was hoping they would just know this is home and we could let them free range during the day without worrying too much about them taking off. Do yours have supervised free range time or do you let them roam around freely until night time? We are on 1 1/4 acre, and we have wild Muscovies that frequent our yard daily.

 

[La Mike]

Lol Mine run around like they own the place

If you are hatching them I would bet they dont leave

 

[tink0602]

Thanks...I can imagine ours are going to think they own the place, too...LOL
Do you raise yours for fun? or food? Now that I am getting into this, I am wondering how many ducks we will end up with in the long run. Will they just keep reproducing and reproducing? I know this is a weird question, but since they are brothers and sisters - wouldn't it be bizarre for them to mate with each other? and if we keep letting the wild ducks in our yard (whom I love and am tempted to adopt, as well) won't they mate with them, too? I am reading "Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks" right now, but I'm only done with chapter 2 so far.

How many do you have?

 

[La Mike]

I add new blood each year but haven't really had any issues with them breeding amongst themselves. The wilds probably will breed them also as they are kinda like turkey (they ain't choosy) lol
I have oh about 15 or so. Would have to count them

But they are like any other fowl they will reproduce until they are to old to. Muscovy can breed 8-10 years though and have heard of longer.
I have mine because I like them. Their temperament and willingness to tolerate you are awesome. I hand feed most of mine. They are excellent on the table though. If you eat duck they are top of the line

 

[tink0602]

oh my goodness...I can't imagine eating them.

Every time I look with my kids for info online, we accidentally run into Muscovy duck recipes, and we're like..ahhhhhh!!!!

Ours are purely going to be for fun...one of the wild ones has been eating out of my hand. He is just a big baby. I think he is only a year old, and had the same mama as the ducks currently in my incubator. Mama got attacked and killed by a raccoon in front of the nest. I am getting freaked out reading online about all of the difficulty people have had hatching Muscovies! We live in South Florida, so humidity here is never a problem.

I have been adding water every couple of days, and it looks like the air sacs are growing. I candled them about a week ago, and could see them moving around in there. I tried to candle them tonight, but couldn't see much. Air sacs, veins, and a lot of darkness. I think I saw movement in one of them, but didn't want to have them out of the incubator too long while I was messing around. Maybe they are just getting bigger, so its harder to tell what is going on in there?

 

[La Mike]

They arent much different than other duck eggs. Just a little less tolerance for changes

You will do fine. Mother nature decides those answers.
They are very friendly.

 

[tink0602]

Thank you for the encouragement. I needed that.