Do Male Muscovy have to be separated from new ducklings?

[AlaskaItaly]

I have two nests with about 15 eggs each coming up to being in the nests for 35 days.

Will I have to separate my male from them?

I notice the 'girls' get real fussy when he is close to their nests - and he pecks under them. Will he hurt the babies?

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
probally, drakes usually are not good parents and Moscovies about the worst partly because the duck is smaller than the drake and it is hard for her to protect young from him. they can and will kill ducklings!

 

[keeperofthehearth]

He shouldn't be fussing with the nests.

They can hurt the ducklings. Your best bet if you are unsure of your drake being around the little ones is to separate them for about 2 wks. It does allow the momma Scovy to take care of herbabies without dealing w/a roudy drake wanting to breed her and possibly squishing a few babies. After two weeks the ducklings are big enough to get out of the way of the drake. You can also try some supervised visiting so you can gage the "daddyness" of your drake and how he reacts to the ducklings. I usually leave my drake w/hens and ducklings BUT I do supervise carefully for awhile till I'm sure the drake is going to behave and be a dad not a cad. I also run my drake off if he tries to breed the momma Scovies until the ducklings are at least two weeks - 1mo. old. IF your drake breaks the Scovy moms broodiness too soon by breeding her she will leave her ducklings and not mother & protect them.

 

[ilovemuscovy]

not only should you separate them from the drakes, you should also separate them from other ducks. i've had ducks that have sat on eggs that didn't hatch and got jealous of the other duck's babies.. so they grabbed them by the neck and strangled them to death. beware.

 

[AlaskaItaly]

Oh NO!

 

[Jessica Wilson]

Our muscovies free range with lots of space and options for where to nest, sleep, drink water, etc. The female has options to keep her ducklings away from the drake, however they all hang out together most of the day, and he even sleeps with them. We haven't had any issues, he does a great job at helping to protect her and the ducklings. She definitely doesn't want to mate him right now and after a few unsuccessful attempts he seems to have stopped trying for now.

 

[Duckspoopeverywhere]

Not all Drakes can be trusted. We have seen one repeatedly granting multiple other drakes access to the nesting mother-to-be. So we created faux barrier with plants to keep the drakes away and the mother will start her warning when they get within a foot or so of these potted plants. We also observed the drakes will eat the nonfirterlized eggs, this can cause damage to the fertilized eggs. We hope our shared experience helps with others who may be searchinh this topic.