Ducks for fly control: Muscovy vs Khaki Campbell

[rainplace]

Quote:
FOUR per cow? Wow! The farm up North has 200 cattle. I'm trying to imagine it with 800 muscovies!

I love my muscovies, I think they're the sweetest of all the ducks. Except for when the males get excited around animals that aren't ducks.

We only have about 50 head... 200 muscovy... heck yeah... I can see that

 

[elizabethbinary]

Oh man I'm still not hearing the end of just bringing 10 muscovies up there! I can't imagine if I brought another 790 more. hahaha. But now I know how to threaten Father if he complains about the geese.

 

[Nicophorus]

This is an old thread I know,but I figured i'd bump it instead of making a new one.

Flys are back this year, and despite hanging fly traps and the use of fly predators (tiny wasps), there seems to be too much, which got me thinknig of muscovys again.

Does anyone have anymore opinions on ducks and fly control? Will they really run around and catch flys to eat? Do people notice a serious difference in amount of flys after introduceing some ducks (muscovy is best for this?).

I'd hate to get some ducks just for fly control, and then be disapointed.

Currently have chickens/geese/guinea fowl and none of them do anything about the flys... will ducks~

 

[Going Quackers]

This is an old thread I know,but I figured i'd bump it instead of making a new one.

Flys are back this year, and despite hanging fly traps and the use of fly predators (tiny wasps), there seems to be too much, which got me thinknig of muscovys again.

Does anyone have anymore opinions on ducks and fly control? Will they really run around and catch flys to eat? Do people notice a serious difference in amount of flys after introduceing some ducks (muscovy is best for this?).

I'd hate to get some ducks just for fly control, and then be disapointed.

Currently have chickens/geese/guinea fowl and none of them do anything about the flys... will ducks~

My muscovy are here for this purpose, we keep horses so their well appreciated for their ability to clean them up... many of my ducks have been raised by mama's and ducklings as young as a day old are already catching flies.

A university here did a study on them and their ability to decrease fly population...

"
Muscovy ducks as an adjunct for the control of the house fly (Diptera: Muscidae).

Glofcheskie BD, Surgeoner GA.
Source

Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract

In laboratory trials, Muscovy ducks, Cairina moschata L., removed adult house flies, Musca domestica L., at least 30 times faster than commercial bait cards, coiled fly paper rolls, fly sheets, or fly traps. The LT90 for ducks in 0.24-m3 cages with 100 flies was 0.6 h compared to 15.3 h for the most effective commercial device. Ducks survived for at least 12 wk in pens with calves, without injury or feed supplement. Ducks ingested a mean of 25 house flies per 15-min observation period when populations were low to moderate. The economics and advantages of Muscovy ducks as part of a management program for house fly control are discussed."

I'll see if i can find more, anyways super popular breed in the horsey world for this, as a matter of fact my farrier was just remarking how many she knows who are getting into keeping them.

There good with ants(we had A LOT ) slugs, snails and on and on........