Duck Breed Focus - Muscovy

[Alaskan]

I usually incubate Muscovy along with chickens.... Annoying, but doable.

Do you dry hatch?

Not really, I put in water at the last possible minute, about internal pip, and then pull them out as soon as I can since the chicks make a crazy amount of humidity.

It results in the humidity in the incubator shooting up for two to three days, then I take all wet and moist things out so the humidity can drop again.

 

[Alaskan]

When I am running the incubators constantly, and the muscovy are hatching when the incubator is still full of chicken eggs, adding the humidity so late means that I often have to assist the ducklings a bit ...

However, you shouldn't have as much trouble as I had, since your driest eggs (the chickens) are hatching first.

 

[bamadude]

Not really, I put in water at the last possible minute, about internal pip, and then pull them out as soon as I can since the chicks make a crazy amount of humidity.

It results in the humidity in the incubator shooting up for two to three days, then I take all wet and moist things out so the humidity can drop again.

I have been adding water on day 19 for chicks.
Otherwise dry

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Long story short, yesterday evening my husband and I ended up bringing home a male Muscovy. I had never really been a fan of ducks, and especially Muscovies (growing up, my father would always tell me they hissed like cats and were extremely aggressive and mean). I was really hesitant to bring home "Donald" last night, but today has proven me very wrong. He has a very passive personality and is very shy! I honestly did not realize they were supposed to be as large as they are- this boy is as big as a small turkey! I have to admit that I was wrong about Muscovies already- he is a good bird. I'll share pictures later on.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's great, I have never heard they were aggressive, I guess if you never heard about something it isn't true, love to see your pictures, I am currently without a male and my girls are sad.

 

[chickengr]

they become aggressive when they are starving. I put some corn and wheat in water (in a deep dish) so that chickens cannot eat it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Long story short, yesterday evening my husband and I ended up bringing home a male Muscovy. I had never really been a fan of ducks, and especially Muscovies (growing up, my father would always tell me they hissed like cats and were extremely aggressive and mean). I was really hesitant to bring home "Donald" last night, but today has proven me very wrong. He has a very passive personality and is very shy! I honestly did not realize they were supposed to be as large as they are- this boy is as big as a small turkey! I have to admit that I was wrong about Muscovies already- he is a good bird. I'll share pictures later on.

Aren't they lovely ducks? So sweet of you to give him a home. I hope you'll add a couple -3 females for him. That would really make him a happy boy.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@Miss Lydia - That is what I would love to do, once we get our cabin finished. Right now he is with our chickens and just being very reserved, but when we move everyone they will have separate runs. My best friend raised Muscovies at one point, and told me they were very good mothers, so we would love to get him some girls! It may be a few months, but hopefully he will be well adjusted by then. So far he is difficult to catch, but I know it's because of his sudden change, but otherwise he is like a little puppy. I took him some food and water earlier where he is staying in his little corner, and I noticed the hens keep approaching him with curiosity. The rooster is not really pleased, but he is leaving him alone.

@oldhenlikesdogs - I never really knew any better as a child because I never had experience with ducks other than seeing them at the park. When I was told they were mean and hissed like cats, I associated it naturally with a cat hissing when angry. My friend in high school raised Muscovies but I was not really around them then either. So this is new for me, but I'm really happy to be proven wrong in my judgement about the breed.

I will post a photo here in awhile.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Miss Lydia - That is what I would love to do, once we get our cabin finished. Right now he is with our chickens and just being very reserved, but when we move everyone they will have separate runs. My best friend raised Muscovies at one point, and told me they were very good mothers, so we would love to get him some girls! It may be a few months, but hopefully he will be well adjusted by then. So far he is difficult to catch, but I know it's because of his sudden change, but otherwise he is like a little puppy. I took him some food and water earlier where he is staying in his little corner, and I noticed the hens keep approaching him with curiosity. The rooster is not really pleased, but he is leaving him alone.

@oldhenlikesdogs - I never really knew any better as a child because I never had experience with ducks other than seeing them at the park. When I was told they were mean and hissed like cats, I associated it naturally with a cat hissing when angry. My friend in high school raised Muscovies but I was not really around them then either. So this is new for me, but I'm really happy to be proven wrong in my judgement about the breed.

I will post a photo here in awhile.

Just a word of caution watch your chickens they may get aggressive with him especially since he's a newbie I have a few BA's who my Muscovy's stay far from even my big drake is scared of one of them.

Another thing you have to be careful of is drakes can try and will mate with hens which is usually a death sentence for the hen. They are not made to mate with a duck, I have never had a Muscovy drake try this with any of my hens because they have always had plenty of females[ducks] so hopefully before mating season begins your drake will have his own quarters and some girls.
Look forward to seeing some pics.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@Miss Lydia - The rooster was a bit angry in the beginning but they've all went their separate ways now. They stay monitored throughout the day, and we've been making sure he hasn't been picked on. As for him possibly trying to mate with the hens, I understand completely. We are working pretty swiftly on our house so we may go ahead and start working on their new pens too. Thank you for mentioning this.