Couple questions! Best brooding ducks/chickens?? And best ducks for laying AND meat?

[DaltonJones4]

Okay, so first: does anyone know which types of hens (ducks and/or chickens) are best for brooding fertile eggs? And second, is there a type of duck that is a good meat duck and a good layer? And, separately, which ducks are best for meat and which ducks are the best layers? And is it okay to keep different types of ducks together? Any type of input would be appreciated very much!!! Thanks a lot!!!



Dalton

 

[Mashallaharabia]

Best ducks for brooding and raising young, by far, are Muscovies. They are also far and away the best for eating, being a tropical tree duck unrelated to other domestic ducks (all of which are descended frim Mallards) and having a texture very like fine beef without the greasiness of other breeds of duck. Ours are excellent layers, from around April 1st to the last of October, giving us 7 or 8 eggs every day, eagerly hatching their own young if we quit taking all the eggs, and they are excellent mothers. We clip the wings to keep them from flying, and they are great foragers and insect eaters. They even keep down the fly population among the horses. In the garden they managed 90% bug control. We also have two Pekins, and the only reason we still have them is because the female Pekin gives us one egg a day all year, even in winter. The Pekin drake is a noisy thug, the male Muscovies are gentle with the hens and ducklings. I'm sold on these striking and very useful birds. By the way, they will not usually interbreed if they have a partner of their own kind. If you do cross Muscovies and mallard-descended ducks, i.e., all other domestic ducks) the offspring will be sterile, as is a mule ( horse/*** hybrid).

 

[DaltonJones4]

Best ducks for brooding and raising young, by far, are Muscovies.  They are also far and away the best for eating, being a tropical tree duck unrelated to other domestic ducks (all of which are descended frim Mallards) and having a texture very like fine beef without the greasiness of other breeds of duck.  Ours are excellent layers, from around April 1st to the last of October, giving us 7 or 8 eggs every day, eagerly hatching their own young if we quit taking all the eggs, and they are excellent mothers.  We clip the wings to keep them from flying, and they are great foragers and insect eaters.  They even keep down the fly population among the horses.  In the garden they managed 90% bug control.  We also have two Pekins, and the only reason we still have them is because the female Pekin gives us one egg a day all year, even in winter.  The  Pekin drake is a noisy thug, the male Muscovies are gentle with the hens and ducklings.  I'm sold on these striking and very useful birds.  By the way, they will not usually interbreed if they have a partner of their own kind.  If you do cross Muscovies and mallard-descended ducks, i.e., all other domestic ducks) the offspring will be sterile, as is a mule ( horse/*** hybrid).

Ahh, I didn't realize how useful the Muscovies were! Ill definitely look more into them! Thank you!

 

[Onlyducks]

I now have Muscovies and Pekins. I cannot attest to the meat at this point, but the Pekins were very good laying ducks. They do not seem to go broody--or at least mine never did (some even took a while to lay in a nest--they just laid eggs wherever they standing at the time). Either duck is edible. The Mucovies I have are laying, but they have just started. The one thing the Muscovies as really good about is being quiet. My hubbie likes the fact they don't make much noise (males hiss) versus the loud Pekins. I, too, clipped their wings. I will note they can climb--one climbed my chicken wire to get to the others when we had separated her due to an injured foot. We found her on top of the duck house when we went out to feed!