Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[maryhysong]

Now y'all got me curious about some muscovy's.... Hm

So.. no quack? So they're quiet? Or do they honk or something..

They don't honk, but they do hiss, especially the drakes. The girls squeak; they sound so funny, especially when they are broody and you bother them. They are very large and the males are heavy; can be hard to catch up and hold onto when you need to check them over. And not easy to pluck, but then neither are my Welsh Harlequins; I guess I just don't have my duck plucking technique down as well as I do chicken

 

[maryhysong]

Ducks are hard to pluck anyway. If they broke their knife it must have been pretty dull. There are some parts of the US who dont allow you to have Muscovys unless you are raising them for meat. Something about being an invasive species.... I read that a very long time ago.

deb

A few years ago Fish & Game put them on a list of migratory waterfowl and illegal to own. Most hatcherys got rid of their brood stock. Due to a mass uprising of Muscovy owners writing and calling,ect.; they were able to get the ruling changed because they are NOT migratory and many of those found on local lakes and ponds in much of the US are domestic birds that have been dumped by their owners which of course then began to breed. So now perfectly legal but very hard to find sometimes. Most hatcheries are still not offering them.

 

[ozexpat]

CocoBeach Poultry is now officially Coco Poultry Farm.

Our business name was denied as for some reason you cannot have the word beach associated with a business that is not a resort. The rationale is to prevent deceptive practices.

I am glad we had not printed any marketing materials

 

[ramirezframing]

Congrats to Ging Ging on the baby, sorry about the name change Oz.

 

[ozexpat]

Its OK. The name had a good ring but the new name is a good one.

 

[vehve]

Quote:
While us westerners panic and call an ambulance when the water breaks. Congratulations to Ging Ging and Dominic, have they picked out a name already? *Edit* Ah, apparently they have. I missed that it was Dominic Jr.

 

[piglett]

Now y'all got me curious about some muscovy's.... Hm

So.. no quack? So they're quiet? Or do they honk or something..

they make almost no noise at all

so you can have them where you couldn't have chickens

(hens make a bunch of noise when laying)

 

[Tomtommom]

Aw sorry for the name change. It makes sense ofcourse, but still, cocobeach had a good ring to it.

Birth is such a no nonsense thing in most parts of the world. I was born at home, midwife came by to check on my mom around noon. Casual as can be. Labor got more intense. Around 5 my mom and dad had dinner and a cup of coffee, sent my older brother to the neighbors... called the midwife back and poof, there I was. She loved to tell me she barely made it up the stairs. Water broke at the bottom, I was on my way out by the time she made it to the top.

It makes me sad that American women are made to believe they're weak and clueless and need epidurals and inductions and all that jazz. In Europe it's perfectly normal to let a woman go 42 weeks without interfering... In the US, one day past 40 weeks and they're talking induction. A real shame. But, enough soap box. Back to birds!

Getting really excited about the muscovy prospect. I had no idea these guys had such fine qualities. I knew a lot of people just love them, but I didn't know why. Now I just have to have some! Wonder if I could clip their wings.. from what I gather they're quite the flyers. I have a very large fenced yard filled with weeds, they could live there perfectly. I can split the area in half (I've got two beagles living in there now) Must get my hands on one to try first. It would be silly to raise something we don't enjoy eating.

 

[perchie.girl]

Aw sorry for the name change. It makes sense ofcourse, but still, cocobeach had a good ring to it.

Birth is such a no nonsense thing in most parts of the world. I was born at home, midwife came by to check on my mom around noon. Casual as can be. Labor got more intense. Around 5 my mom and dad had dinner and a cup of coffee, sent my older brother to the neighbors... called the midwife back and poof, there I was. She loved to tell me she barely made it up the stairs. Water broke at the bottom, I was on my way out by the time she made it to the top.

It makes me sad that American women are made to believe they're weak and clueless and need epidurals and inductions and all that jazz. In Europe it's perfectly normal to let a woman go 42 weeks without interfering... In the US, one day past 40 weeks and they're talking induction. A real shame. But, enough soap box. Back to birds!

Getting really excited about the muscovy prospect. I had no idea these guys had such fine qualities. I knew a lot of people just love them, but I didn't know why. Now I just have to have some! Wonder if I could clip their wings.. from what I gather they're quite the flyers. I have a very large fenced yard filled with weeds, they could live there perfectly. I can split the area in half (I've got two beagles living in there now) Must get my hands on one to try first. It would be silly to raise something we don't enjoy eating.

I raised mine up to adults in my back yard..... I believe I started out with four. They NEVER offered to fly.... But when I took them to my boarding stable to live they flew pretty good. My boarding stable was along the San Diego River bed. Dry most years with just a trickle of water and lots of duck weed. The flock increased to about twenty and we would walk behind them to herd them to the river for snacks and bathing. At dinner time they would fly back home.... Usually skimming the ground and running...

deb

 

[piglett]

I raised mine up to adults in my back yard..... I believe I started out with four. They NEVER offered to fly.... But when I took them to my boarding stable to live they flew pretty good. My boarding stable was along the San Diego River bed. Dry most years with just a trickle of water and lots of duck weed. The flock increased to about twenty and we would walk behind them to herd them to the river for snacks and bathing. At dinner time they would fly back home.... Usually skimming the ground and running...

deb

so the females went broody on you?