My muscovies were hatched in may/ june--should they be laying soon, or will they wait till next spring. If they will be laying soon, how do I prepare an area for them. They hang out in the barn during the day, or under the deck. Also, they go out to the pond at night--will they stop that when the colder weatehr comes, or do I have to lock them in the barn at night. Thanks!!
I think maybe you should start training them to come back from the pond at night so they don't get taken by predators. In fact if you can't get them back at night it might be safest to keep them penned up until you get them trained. If you only feed them in their pen at night they will go there looking for their food. One person wrote on here how she brings the food in a can which she shakes so the noise gets their attention. This is helpful for when they are on the pond, they will hear the noise and follow you back to the pen.
Yeah, I'm not so concerned about predators, as the pond is surrounded by electric fence. My question was about eggs, and the only reason I want them in the barn at night in the winter is to protect them from the elements.
In the Michigan Upper Peninsula my muscovies begin laying around late April - early May. This year they stopped in mid September. You may want to bring them in at night because their caruncles and webbed feet may be prone to frostbite. Personally, this year my muscovies have three options. First they can stay in the enclosed barn with a small access door. Second, and so the most popular, they can stay in the three sided shelter that butts up to the barn. Third, they can stay under cover in the bam. I pull them off the pond at night because it is not fenced off, and my livestock guardian dog therefore can not protect them. I now have enough muscovies that they are beginning to fight each other over territory. I used to lock them up at night but the fighting got pretty bad. Last night I had to treat a six week old muscovy duckling that was scalped by another duck. My new strategy is to give them more options, and more places to run and hide.
Thanks for your reply. I wasn't sure whether they would "know " to come to the barn when it starts freezing at night. I have a place where I can enclose them for now. My barn is open for the horses, but I can modify it just to train the ducks.