From a new duck owner

[Ytka]

About a month ago a Muscovy duck was waddling down our street. We caught her, and she's become a great pet for our family. Today I bought a few little friends for her:



They're "Ukrainian ducks." If you look at this page, there's the intro photo, then the white Peking, and then this kind. I haven't found anything about this breed in English.

I have a few questions:
1. What do you know about this breed of ducks?
2. Once they grow up a bit, should they be okay living with the full-grown Muscovy?
3. Should I clip the Muscovy's wings? (If so, HOW?) She is very tame and seems to love us, but we keep her in a closed, roofed pen, and I'm afraid that she would fly, if she got out. It would be fun to let her out in our yard, if she wouldn't fly.
4. Weird question: how would I hold this full-grown duck? She lets us pet her, but I really haven't had to grab hold of her for anything yet.
5. We'd like to have these ducks lay eggs for us. Anything special we need to do to get them laying? So far, the Muscovy is perfectly happy just sitting all the time on a kind of shelf in the pen, watching us through the window. Does she need a box or something for a nest?

I'll probably have more questions for you all, as we figure this out. Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

 

[Ytka]

I already thought of another question.
6. How much does an adult Muscovy eat? Ours always wants more! Every morning I give her about half a cup of grain, with kitchen leftovers. When we're outside, she gets worms and other treats that my children find. Does she need more?

 

[creaturelife]

she is eating fine she sound healthy

 

[Finny]

It looks like you have a pekin, a black or blue swedish and maybe an ancona. They will be fine living with your muscovy if they are introduced properly. I introduce new ducks by making a smaller pen inside the large one and put the new ducks inside the small pen so they all get used to eachother. This way they can see eachother, but not touch eachother. For feeding, I give my males game bird feed and females can have that too but you should leave a separte bucket of oyster shells for the females so they can get the extra protien they need to lay eggs. I feed mine a cup of food per duck per day during the warmer seasons and two cups per duck per day during the colder seasons. Hope this helped . If you have time I would love to see a pic of your girl.

 

[Ytka]

Yes, that definitely helps. Thank you! If you give 1-2 cups of food a day, maybe my Muskovy needs a little more. (She sure thinks that she does!) So far we have the little ones in a small cage, inside her big pen during the day, so we were already unconsciously following your method of introducing them.

The babies are all one breed. I can translate the little bit from the site I linked to, but this is all I know about them:
Ukrainian ducks are not as popular as Pekins, and they are not as good as them in some aspects. However, in color they are much more varied. There are three main colors of Ukrainian ducks: white, grey, and clay, but the white are most common.

Their main characteristics are like Pekins. The size of the adutls is 3.6-4.1 kgs for drakes and 2.9-3.6 for hens. They lay more eggs than Pekins, 140-200 eggs a year.

Oh, and for a pic of the Muscovy? She's my avatar.

 

[Finny]

Wow I have never heard of Ukrainian ducks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes, that definitely helps. Thank you! If you give 1-2 cups of food a day, maybe my Muskovy needs a little more. (She sure thinks that she does!) So far we have the little ones in a small cage, inside her big pen during the day, so we were already unconsciously following your method of introducing them.

The babies are all one breed. I can translate the little bit from the site I linked to, but this is all I know about them:
Ukrainian ducks are not as popular as Pekins, and they are not as good as them in some aspects. However, in color they are much more varied. There are three main colors of Ukrainian ducks: white, grey, and clay, but the white are most common.

Their main characteristics are like Pekins. The size of the adutls is 3.6-4.1 kgs for drakes and 2.9-3.6 for hens. They lay more eggs than Pekins, 140-200 eggs a year.

Oh, and for a pic of the Muscovy? She's my avatar.

Your Scovy is beautiful, if you don't want her to fly clip one wing there are links {metzers} on line that will show you how to do it. I have Muscovy's and they do like to fly so I keep one wing clipped. Ducks that are laying should have food all the time, mine have food out during the daylight hours always, I take all food up at night. Plus they need plenty of fresh water and a bucket of water deep enough to wash their faces in. Very important that they can clean their eyes and nares out. I do keep my feed bowls and water buckets a piece apart or they make a mess of their feed. If it's still cold where you are your ducklings need some heat to keep them from getting chilled and sick. Your Ukrainian ducks will lay more eggs than your scovy , Muscovy's are seasonal layers which means they start laying in spring or late winter and stop in fall. but having your other ducks will make up for the lack of eggs you'll not get from your Scovy.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711