Crested Muscovies?

[WhiteSilver]

Hi all. A few weeks ago, I became the owner of three ducklings. They have extremely prominent poofs on their heads which I assume are crests, and unfortunately my parents (who bought them as a surprise for me at an Amish auction) were not given any info about them or their breed. It wasn’t until recently that I accidentally stumbled upon info about “crested” ducks and all the issues they have, and realized that my ducklings are probably crested (either that, or they have the most magnificent hairdos in the neighborhood).

Currently, I have no idea what breed they are and would love to know. I’m fairly familiar with Muscovies, and my ducklings’ colors and patterns seem to fit, but I cannot find a single picture or story online of Muscovy ducks with these puff ball crests. So are mine an unlikely crossbreed between a non-crested Muscovy and a crested Pekin? Are they a different breed altogether? All three of ours have extremely prominent crests; there were two other siblings as well that were sold to someone else at the auction but I don’t know if they had crests as well (I’ll try to see if my parents remember).

On a related note, if they are indeed crested, is there a recommended way of caring for them to reduce the chance of neurological issues? I currently have only one duck, a Pekin female (my parents got these ducklings so my current one wouldn’t be alone) who lives in one of those large outdoor dog pens. I know about making sure crested females don’t get mounted by drakes because it can harm their heads, but is there anything else I should be worried about?

I attached a pic of them from today (the one with wood shavings) and a picture taken of them about a week ago so you can see their color patterns and the growth of their crests.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They do not look like muscovy. The head shape remind me of runner ducks, so maybe a cross of those.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’ve never seen a crested muscovy. But your ducks are beautiful. Do they act healthy? Eat good?

 

[WhiteSilver]

They do not look like muscovy. The head shape remind me of runner ducks, so maybe a cross of those.

I would be so happy if they turned out to be runners. Those are my absolute favorite!

 

[WhiteSilver]

I’ve never seen a crested muscovy. But your ducks are beautiful. Do they act healthy? Eat good?

Thank you. And yes, very healthy appetites. The only issue I’ve noticed so far is that the smaller one (who has the most yellow on it) has what I think are minor seizures when over-stressed (and that’s how I found out via Google about crested ducks and their neurological issues).The first time I picked each of them up to bring them outside for swim time, it kept flipping over onto it’s back and flailing its legs. I’m trying to get them used to people so that hopefully it doesn’t happen again.

 

[RainValleyFarm]

Thank you. And yes, very healthy appetites. The only issue I’ve noticed so far is that the smaller one (who has the most yellow on it) has what I think are minor seizures when over-stressed (and that’s how I found out via Google about crested ducks and their neurological issues).The first time I picked each of them up to bring them outside for swim time, it kept flipping over onto it’s back and flailing its legs. I’m trying to get them used to people so that hopefully it doesn’t happen again.

Do you have any updates on the one that would have the seizures? I have a Crested duck that is neurological. Occasionally I feel like she is having a seizure. It’s been very difficult to manage especially as she seems to have growth spurts I think it is worse

 

[learycow]

Muscovy are the one breed that cannot be crested.
Yours appear to be mixed breed (possible swedish or pekin in the mix but hard to know for sure unless you know the parents). And they are all crested.

Crested ducks do not always have the health issues you likely read about. They can even be successfully bred (despite what some may tell you). Current research has shown that there are crested strains that do not have the open skull so less chance of neurological problems.

One thing you can do is make sure you don't have too many males. Males will tend to grab the crest when they go to breed the female, and it can result in pinching or too much shaking. So if you have a drake, be sure you have LOTS of females to keep him busy!

 

[Halloweengirl13]

Closest thing I have to a crested muscovy is a crested muscovy mix, which was a big surprise but she's very pretty...she's from my crested mallard and a muscovy drake...

 

[SolarDuck]

Hi all. A few weeks ago, I became the owner of three ducklings. They have extremely prominent poofs on their heads which I assume are crests, and unfortunately my parents (who bought them as a surprise for me at an Amish auction) were not given any info about them or their breed. It wasn’t until recently that I accidentally stumbled upon info about “crested” ducks and all the issues they have, and realized that my ducklings are probably crested (either that, or they have the most magnificent hairdos in the neighborhood).

Currently, I have no idea what breed they are and would love to know. I’m fairly familiar with Muscovies, and my ducklings’ colors and patterns seem to fit, but I cannot find a single picture or story online of Muscovy ducks with these puff ball crests. So are mine an unlikely crossbreed between a non-crested Muscovy and a crested Pekin? Are they a different breed altogether? All three of ours have extremely prominent crests; there were two other siblings as well that were sold to someone else at the auction but I don’t know if they had crests as well (I’ll try to see if my parents remember).

On a related note, if they are indeed crested, is there a recommended way of caring for them to reduce the chance of neurological issues? I currently have only one duck, a Pekin female (my parents got these ducklings so my current one wouldn’t be alone) who lives in one of those large outdoor dog pens. I know about making sure crested females don’t get mounted by drakes because it can harm their heads, but is there anything else I should be worried about?

I attached a pic of them from today (the one with wood shavings) and a picture taken of them about a week ago so you can see their color patterns and the growth of their crests.

How did the ducks turn out looking?