Help! My muscovies keep flying away!!!

[Miss Cheep]

Hello all, my muscoives keep flying away!!!! All my females and 2 young males. I assume the young females that are 6 months old followed their mother.... I'm worried about the males because they jumped the fence and I'm not sure they will figure out how to get back. Our neighbors have a pond for their cows and I couldn't find them today so I looked over the fence and they were playing in the neighbors pond!!!!!!! How can I keep them from flying away without clipping their wings?! Please help!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

You would have to clip their wings or keep them contained in a covered run. They are good climbers and the females can fly well enough.

 

[Miss Cheep]

Good climbers? I didn't know muscoives could climb. Maybe thats how the males got over the 4 pasture fences that are in between their area and the neighbors place.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Muscovy are a type of tree duck. Their claws are sharp for climbing. Mine climbed more when they were younger.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Muscovy_Duck/overview

• Equipped with strong claws, Muscovy Ducks spend a lot of time perching in tall trees. They make their nests in large cavities of mature trees, but will also use artificial nest boxes. The first recorded wild nest in the United States was found in 1984, in a nest box built for Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks near Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park.
• The male Muscovy Duck is the largest duck in North America, but the female is only half his size. After laying 8–15 eggs, she does all of the nest defense and raises the ducklings (which have sharp claws and hooked bills to climb out of the nest). She may also raise additional eggs laid in her nest by sneaky Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

https://dearjuneberry.com/livestock/why-muscovies/muscovy-madness/

Muscovies can fly… and climb. This isn’t as big of an issue if you’have no fear of clipping a few of their primary flight feathers. Males are usually too big and fat to get off the ground, but females can fly and roost in trees if you let them! In fact, in the wild, these ducks will sleep in the trees rather than bed down in the reeds. They also have claws on their feet that mallard ducks lack, and they’re sharp enough to cut if you’re not careful.

 

[Miss Cheep]

https://dearjuneberry.com/livestock/why-muscovies/muscovy-madness/

Muscovies can fly… and climb. This isn’t as big of an issue if you’have no fear of clipping a few of their primary flight feathers. Males are usually too big and fat to get off the ground, but females can fly and roost in trees if you let them! In fact, in the wild, these ducks will sleep in the trees rather than bed down in the reeds. They also have claws on their feet that mallard ducks lack, and they’re sharp enough to cut if you’re not careful.

Thank you! I will look at those links.

 

[Miss Cheep]

Alright, if I build a pond will that help? I built a 2 foot deep pond about 20 feet across with some liner and borders, I didn't actually dig in the ground. 4 of my ducks didn't leave. 2 males, and a female with angel wing. My muscovy Penguin chooses to be here, because she can fly. I am so thankful for Penguin!

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Hello all, my muscoives keep flying away!!!! All my females and 2 young males. I assume the young females that are 6 months old followed their mother.... I'm worried about the males because they jumped the fence and I'm not sure they will figure out how to get back. Our neighbors have a pond for their cows and I couldn't find them today so I looked over the fence and they were playing in the neighbors pond!!!!!!! How can I keep them from flying away without clipping their wings?! Please help!

You could put them in a netted covered pen. That’s what I did with mine.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Aright, if I build a pond will that help? I built a 2 foot deep pond about 20 feet across with some liner and borders, I didn't actually dig in the ground. 4 of my ducks didn't leave. 2 males, and a female with angel wing. My muscovy Penguin chooses to be here, because she can fly. I am so thankful for Penguin!

I'm not really sure. My muscovies aren't as interested in swimming as my runners are.

 

[Miss Cheep]

I'm not really sure. My muscovies aren't as interested in swimming as my runners are.

Hopefully it works. I hope the muscovies that stayed here like it and tell their siblings about it, so they stay here also.