Considering getting a muscovy

geese need other geese to be truly happy, so you will need two,and they NEED water and it needs to be cleaned regularly to keep them healthy. They wont guard anything against a predator, and they shouldnt be housed with your chickens.

scovy need another scovy to be happy and as already stated not what you are really looking for.
 
My Scovy drake was a complete sweetheart. The only reason I rehomed him was because he need more ducks to mate than I could provide at the time.
 
Hi! I have over 300 Muscovies which I let out with my 40 something chickens. They all get along quite well unless there is a a small dispute over a bug which ends quickly when one just gobbles it up and walks away. The only problem I've had is when it is mating time for the ducks, they don't like the chickens jumping into their nest boxes, so I just make sure to have lots of nest boxes so no one has anything to fight over. The chickens will sip water from the ducks water buckets but no one has ever fallen in. It is true that Muscovies are pretty quiet. Mine are all fantastically well behaved and have kept my chickens safe from hawks and owls. I would recommend a drake and a hen. if you don't want ducklings, then you just collect her eggs as she lays them, they are great for baking! I did have a fox murder one duck that had a clipped wing because she couldn't escape. Since then all of my ducks have all of their flight feathers and they all stay close to home. They know where their boundaries are. Mine will not go any further than the neighbors mailbox, or beyond the fence to the hay field. You just have to let them know where they are allowed to be and they'll pretty much stay to that area. At least that is the case with my ducks. The chickens on the other hand are a whole different story....they're outside the bathroom window....patroling the neighbors yard....checking under the car for bugs....eatting the blueberries I forgot to pick the day before in the garden....laying an egg in the tool shed because someone shut the barn door...basically the chickens are just all over the place but staying within sight of the ducks. It is hilarious to watch sometimes! i would definately recommend Muscovies to anyone. I love them all dearly! I couldn't imagine my life without them! The do need a safe place to sleep at night that can be closed up tightly so nothing can get in. Mine walk themselves in when it starts to get dark, all I have to do is close and lock the door.
 
I have geese, ducks, turkeys and chickens all together. All get along famously. Ducks + confinement do not mix. Ducks need other duck friends. You would know what I mean if you had two together, though I did have just a muscovy with my chicken flock for a long time. Once I got two khaki campbells for her to hang out with, she did.

If a duck is raised with chickens from the time it is a day old, there is no reason why you would have issues (make sure it is NOT a drake - that is a no-no). I have a rooster who thinks he's a duck, so why would a lone duck be an issue around chickens?

Muscovies do not like water as some other breeds do. They do like it, but not as much. They are not on the water 24/7 like my calls are.

I also have geese that should be almost 100% pasture fed. They do eat the chicken feed (grower, not layer) but they don't need it.

Geese

Most purveyors of this delightful fall product purchase day-old goslings from a reputable hatchery and raise them to market size some 14 weeks later. Goslings are brooded in the same manner as ducklings described above. Brooding time is about two weeks under the same conditions. Feed should be a 20-22% non-medicated broiler mash with lots of fresh water. After two weeks or so, the birds can be moved on range. Good grass pasture can support 20 to 40 geese per acre. Grass is the normal diet of geese. Geese raised on range will be much leaner than their confined cousins. Geese lend themselves well to herding and can therefore be given a fenced-in range. Your supervision will be required to make sure they don't get into mischief or subject themselves to danger. The growing birds will need a range shelter for protection from adverse weather and predators. A 16% grower ration can be fed every other day to increase growth rates. Plenty of clean, fresh water is a must. Geese are marketed at age 14 to 16 weeks. They play well with fall and holiday meal themes. The Emden, Pilgrim, Toulouse and African are the better meat breeds. From my personal experience, I found the Emden and Toulouse to be a bit quieter and less aggressive than some of the other breeds. Pilgrims are also a fine, gentle bird, but tend to finish out a bit smaller than the others. The White Chinese goose can be aggressive but at the same time, makes a good "watch dog" with its incessant honking at anything out of the ordinary. Study a poultry book to determine the breed that best suits your needs.

Difficu
Whatever you do, don't put water inside the coop. Ducks will do awful things with water in the coop.
 

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