Duck Breed Focus - Muscovy

[JanetMarie]

So pretty. Well what ever happened this time round please write it down so we can all use it.

I want ducklings so much but I can't bring myself to let my girls hatch because of getting more drakes, I love them but as we all know it just causes havoc and re homing is so hard.

That is why I keep taking their eggs away. I would like one or two more females, but the extra drake problem.

 

[Turk Raphael]

I absolutely love Muscovys...especially the white meat-bred ones.

A story to tell...My dad (Hellbender) once shot a very large Canadian goose for several reasons but one was to try their meat. He retrieved the bird and proceeded to try many ways to de-feather the thing but was having very little luck. He got so frustrated, he finally tried to give it to an old man who came around for eggs once in a while but no takers. The old man told him what my dad had already begun to figure out...they had VERY LITTLE MEAT on that body, only two miserable little breast pieces and the legs were skinny as a storks, according to dad.

I guess dad flung the thing in the river to feed the vermin down stream but he never shot another one of them...He did curse them 'til he changed alternately from blue to red in the face but the geese didn't seem to care.

You'd have to know him or to have talked to him to fully understand just how funny it was to watch him get so frustrated that he began to curse a blue streak and stammer as if he were speaking in tongues.

 

[JanetMarie]

@Turk Raphael So glad it didn't work out for him. If you've ever known a Canada goose personally, you see all of them differently than before.

 

[Turk Raphael]

@Turk Raphael So glad it didn't work out for him. If you've ever known a Canada goose personally, you see all of them differently than before.

I can tell you this, he didn't hurt the population at all. The WV DNR provides Brother, and my dad before him copious amounts of those 12 gauge whiz-bang shells that make a lot of noise and it really does scare hell out of the geese and for that matter, anyone else that's not expecting it. Better than shooting or a worse prospect that dad once considered.

Since dad is now gone I can tell that he once considered lacing lots of 'goose- goodies' with a horse wormer called Diclorvos. It is a very effective horse and dog wormer but must be used with caution. If one worms dogs or hogs etc with this product, every fly that lands on it will die almost immediately but is is truly the most effective de-wormer I have ever seen...even more effective though not a bit safer than a product called DNP which I think has long been discontinues. Dad used it on hogs because he had the area 'chicken-safe but I fear the possibility of accidentally killing my chickens and after two years, I managed to get dad to stop using either of these products.

Dichlorvos is still available but as I said, It's very difficult to get DNP now for ANY reason but I suspect it might actually be used in conjunction with other nasty stuff in nerve gas for war fighting.

I'm sorry for taking this off track...I'll try not to do it again...just wanted folks to know how dangerous this stuff can be, even when used legally. I recommend it ALL to be banned.


https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=595&tid=11


http://www.sleddogcentral.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3822&whichpage=2

 

[Doodlemom]

my hen decided to hatch out some kids about 5 weeks ago. Had no clue she was even sitting until I got a picture from my husband of the proud new mom and the just hatched babies. She waited all day for someone to come home so she could show them off.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Adorable kids Congrats!!!

 

[northernlivie]

Hi there!
I am new to muscovies. I have hand raised welsh harlequins, rouens, black swedish and cayuga ducks.
I took in a rescued chocolate muscovy duckling at 5 days old after snow killed the rest of the hatch and the owner did not have time. Do you find your muscovies have different personality traits than other ducks? Penelope is amazing. Very bright, curious and very different from any other breed I have raised.
Thank you!
Picture for cuteness factor!

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Muscovy drake especially is like a puppy he knows his name wags his tail and loves dog food My girls are friendly will eat out of my hand and are obsessed with brooding. Welcome to the wonderful world of Muscovy ducks.

 

[Genipher]

Looks like it's been awhile since folks have been chatting about Muscovies... I had a question though, if anyone is here to answer.

First off, my plan is to get some Muscovies this spring, if not sooner. I'm looking at getting a drake and 2-3 females. I am in town with a large backyard and 6' tall fences (well, except for one part of the fence that is about 3' tall - that particular section is on the top tier of our 2-tiered yard and the way it's built is a bit strange...) . Our property butts up against a small forest.

I've read through this thread and wondered how many of y'all trim your Muscovies' flight feathers? I plan on putting the ducks in a secured shelter at night so they should be safe from the raccoons, etc that hang out in the woods. Should I trim the feathers so the birds don't escape to the forest? Or can they be trusted to stay in the yard?

 

[Miss Lydia]

They love to fly so just to be on the safe side I’d trim.