Considering some ducks

[tomingreeneco]

I have both ducks and chicken (plus guinea) and they all get along fine. They are kept in there own coops and only play outside together. The ducks are tops in the pecking order and pretty much keep to themselves not really hanging out with the ducks or guinea. They will go in the other coops to steal food, but the chicken and guinea do the same thing. I would recommend Pekin ducks, but only because I have them. They can be loud so may not be the best for you.

 

[aaajjss1]

I think you might do well with a pair of ducks, If you just have females they will lay lots of eggs and are less prone to fighting with chickens. A small sized kiddie pool would be plenty big enough and you can move it to a different spot each day. and a dog crate would keep them safe at night, a chain link kennel covered with chicken wire makes a good enclosure for them when you dont want them free ranging. You can use a stick to herd them in or a handful of scratch.The water from the kiddie pool makes your garden grow awesome, This is how I started out and it works very nicely, for me any way.Just dont get too many and you should be alright!

let us know how it goes for you.

 

[LaynaDon95]

I have had chickens for a year now. I had some muscovies, and lots of people RAVE about them, but mine really weren't all that great. I got them as adults and they never did settle in well. It's a long story and I'll spare you the boring details, but ultimately the drake started attacking me and my rooster, to the point I was afraid he might kill him, and off they went. 2 days later I was duck free. They are happily living on a close friend's pond, away from other animals they might dispute with and they LOVE it there. Well, 1 hen went to live with another friend, to keep her lonely pekin hen company. She laid an egg the very next day and has been laying since, so she apparently like it there.


Even though my muscovy experience was less than perfect, I really fell in love with ducks while I had them. Their little slappy feet and funny waddle is just so adorable! I'm planning on ordering a khaki campbell pullet and a magpie pullet in the spring. The khaki for laying, and the magpie because I think they are beautiful! Maybe if I raise them from babies they will like me and this home more.

I used a kiddie pool for my scovies, which worked fine, but I'm hoping to get a small pond built by the time my next girls are big enough to use it. I want it near the garden so I can use the water when I drain it. Harvest the power of duck poo! Anyways, those are my plans. =P

 

[Going Quackers]

I have had chickens for a year now. I had some muscovies, and lots of people RAVE about them, but mine really weren't all that great. I got them as adults and they never did settle in well. It's a long story and I'll spare you the boring details, but ultimately the drake started attacking me and my rooster, to the point I was afraid he might kill him, and off they went. 2 days later I was duck free. They are happily living on a close friend's pond, away from other animals they might dispute with and they LOVE it there. Well, 1 hen went to live with another friend, to keep her lonely pekin hen company. She laid an egg the very next day and has been laying since, so she apparently like it there.

I actually think this is a duck experience vs a breed one. I have had A LOT of Muscovy drakes(into the teens) and only had one that went wonky, i still keep two. Sadly, some drakes are aggressive, it just happens and because you got these birds as adults it's hard to say how the bird was raised.

It really is to bad you had a negative experience as Muscovy are a decent duck.

 

[LaynaDon95]

I actually think this is a duck experience vs a breed one. I have had A LOT of Muscovy drakes(into the teens) and only had one that went wonky, i still keep two. Sadly, some drakes are aggressive, it just happens and because you got these birds as adults it's hard to say how the bird was raised.

It really is to bad you had a negative experience as Muscovy are a decent duck.

Well, it was a bit of both, actually.

The drake never mated the girls that I saw. I mean, I'm not up there 24-7 or anything, but I'm up there A LOT and I never saw him even attempt to mate them, except once, and he failed.
1 hen hatched out a clutch, but she had a ton of difficulties. She chose a bad nesting spot, so the hens harassed her, causing eggs to roll out from under her all the time. When it was finally hatch time fire ants got into her nest so I took the eggs and finished them in the incubator where they would be safe. (I tried to move her, but that was a total flop. Also my flock had pox at the time and I was afraid the babies would get it.) So I gave her a lonely Wyandotte chick (who's brother had recently died, so he was all alone) so she was satisfied that she had a baby, and I moved her to a tractor. When the ducklings hatched I slipped them underneath her. She refused to sit on them and keep them warm because she was devoted to Thor (the chick) who was more active, so she followed him around instead of watching her duck babies. I put her in a tote and made her sit on them over night. By the next morning she was watching her babies carefully and became a devoted mother to both ducklings and Thor.
As the ducklings got older, only some got bigger. 4 ended up not growing correctly and dying with weird symptoms. One had vet confirmed Aspergillos (or however you say/spell that), but she also had a heart defect. They all died the same weird death. First losing strength, then coordination, flopping over backwards (It wasn't that duck disease that makes them fall over backwards. I forget what it it's called. But this was different. I don't know how to explain it.) and not able to get up up, eventually spasming, curling their neck back, and dying.
The remaining 3 grew into healthy, beautiful girls.
But overall the problems I had were, they weren't producing anything for us. They were supposed to be meat birds, but they weren't really producing and what they were producing was dying! They did a good job of keeping the flies down for a while, but even that slacked off. They ate way too much to not be producing anything for us. I was willing to wait until the weather warmed up to see if they would do better producing next year until the drake started attacking everything.
After ALL that I guess I was just fed up. They are happier where they are at, and I'm happier without the stress of worrying if the drake will hurt my chickens, or if they are actually going to produce for us, etc.
A couple laying girls will be a good fit for us, though, I think.

(Sorry this is so long, believe it or not I skipped over a ton.)

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ducks are adorable and WET! they get their bed wet wet and spit water every where. they follow us around and beg for treats I have 2 drakes and 3 hens, They free range with the chickens and geese during the day every one has separate houses at night. Bird are ornery and they all will pick at each other a little, but they seem to work out a pecking order and pretty much work it out. the only ones I keep separated are the silkies because they are so tiny. The ducks are definitely cute cute cute and my females lay about 6 eggs a week each
Here is one of our drakes with a dirty face after playing in the mud
Doohickey

Doohickey is so cute.

 

[Going Quackers]

Well, it was a bit of both, actually.

The drake never mated the girls that I saw. I mean, I'm not up there 24-7 or anything, but I'm up there A LOT and I never saw him even attempt to mate them, except once, and he failed.
1 hen hatched out a clutch, but she had a ton of difficulties. She chose a bad nesting spot, so the hens harassed her, causing eggs to roll out from under her all the time. When it was finally hatch time fire ants got into her nest so I took the eggs and finished them in the incubator where they would be safe. (I tried to move her, but that was a total flop. Also my flock had pox at the time and I was afraid the babies would get it.) So I gave her a lonely Wyandotte chick (who's brother had recently died, so he was all alone) so she was satisfied that she had a baby, and I moved her to a tractor. When the ducklings hatched I slipped them underneath her. She refused to sit on them and keep them warm because she was devoted to Thor (the chick) who was more active, so she followed him around instead of watching her duck babies. I put her in a tote and made her sit on them over night. By the next morning she was watching her babies carefully and became a devoted mother to both ducklings and Thor.
As the ducklings got older, only some got bigger. 4 ended up not growing correctly and dying with weird symptoms. One had vet confirmed Aspergillos (or however you say/spell that), but she also had a heart defect. They all died the same weird death. First losing strength, then coordination, flopping over backwards (It wasn't that duck disease that makes them fall over backwards. I forget what it it's called. But this was different. I don't know how to explain it.) and not able to get up up, eventually spasming, curling their neck back, and dying.
The remaining 3 grew into healthy, beautiful girls.
But overall the problems I had were, they weren't producing anything for us. They were supposed to be meat birds, but they weren't really producing and what they were producing was dying! They did a good job of keeping the flies down for a while, but even that slacked off. They ate way too much to not be producing anything for us. I was willing to wait until the weather warmed up to see if they would do better producing next year until the drake started attacking everything.
After ALL that I guess I was just fed up. They are happier where they are at, and I'm happier without the stress of worrying if the drake will hurt my chickens, or if they are actually going to produce for us, etc.
A couple laying girls will be a good fit for us, though, I think.

(Sorry this is so long, believe it or not I skipped over a ton.)

Whew, you had quite a time but again that sounds like these ducks/situations not the breed itself as your experiences are not typical of Muscovy. The only real issue i had was i mainly got drakes lovely, beautiful boys but i couldn't keep them.

 

[DallasCriftins]

2nd observation during my experiment
I unwittingly put the Shed at the Southern end of my temporary pen.

Result a significant amount of the grass (oops silly me I meant MUD!Is in shade all day.
So as it is winter it is even less likely to dry out and harder for the grass to make any come back so think about that when sitting your Duck house.

Also a kiddie pool may sound great in the summer nice Muddy and pooey water to put on the garden plants etc.but you really don't want to be managing a lot of filthy water in the winter
so a smaller plastic trug would be suitable for a trio.
Some Ducks like Runners allegedly don't need a lot of water
My Runners don't seem to have heard that one though

 

[LaynaDon95]

Whew, you had quite a time but again that sounds like these ducks/situations not the breed itself as your experiences are not typical of Muscovy. The only real issue i had was i mainly got drakes lovely, beautiful boys but i couldn't keep them.

I don't discount muscovies as a breed. I now if they were all like mine then nobody would keep them. I don't know that I'll ever have them again. They were beautiful, and they opened my eyes to the world that is ducks, which I appreciate, but they kinda ruined me to muscovies. I really miss watching them, though. I can't wait to get my girls in the spring. Ducks are so funny and adorable!

 

[satay]

Before i moved to the country and had land i lived on a normal house block. I had 4 muscoveys 2 males and 2 females. Then the neighbour behind was moving and gave me her last bantam cochin. Chooka and my male Fuzzy became inseperatable. she would sleep up on his back at night. I never once saw him or the other male try to mate her. We had been out here for a few years when fuzzy got killed by a fox. Chooka was in mourning for weeks after he passed. She is still going now at the ripe old age of 9. Maybe i was lucky that they got on so well.