How do you train Muscovy to go into house for the night?

[Muscovy-palooza]

Love your tree branch perches! I am gonna be brutally honest, i find Muscovy awful at going in, i have owned dozens.. the only time they willingly came in was when they had nests or babies... after that? especially if the weather was good fat chance lol.

Try food.. they love food, total piggies...

Mine have housing, but i do not put them in.. they choose to either go in or not... unless it's beyond awful they just lay about on the ground, all nestled in with their heads into their wings... my females when i had them roosted up.

Thank you, the perches were just part of it when we purchased the place 21 years ago. Our home was built in the late 1800's so I imagine that the chicken house is very old as well.
Yesterday evening 8 of our 10 ducks came in to eat so I took the opportunity to shut them in. One of the two that did not voluntarily go in is one of the two males. I wonder if they should be in there together anyway. I caught them fighting this morning.
I discovered that our female, the momma, was in our barn stall down front. A distance away from the Coop. The barn the place where she hatched her two clutches last summer. In spite of being fed and housed in the Coop she apparently is still drawn to the barn. Do you think that there is any hope of her laying in the Coop or will she a!ways go back to the barn? When and if I discover eggs should I take them and if I do will she abandon the nest and relocate or is it possible that she will just continue to lay in that spot? I took her eggs from a nest in our barn loft. When I discovered the nest I took a few eggs at a time until it was empty. After all, how did she expect to get the babies down from the top of 5 square bales high in the barn loft? Not knowing which eggs were the freshest I didn't keep any. She did not return to that nest. Is it possible to relocate her nest with success? I am hoping to get some eggs for eating eventually. We don't need anymore ducks so really don't need any surprises in a month or so. Maybe the younger females will lay in the Coop if I can keep them coming in to eat. Honestly, they really aren't eating their crumbles much but sure enjoy black oil SF seeds and cracked corn. Not sure why they aren't eating their crumbles. They do forage the entire day both in and around our pond and pastures. Maybe they are getting most of what they need on their own

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’d make the barn area as uninhabitable as possible take the eggs also when you find some put them in the coop where they can see them but still have a little privacy. Your doing great by the way to have 10 going in now.

 

[Muscovy-palooza]

I’d make the barn area as uninhabitable as possible take the eggs also when you find some put them in the coop where they can see them but still have a little privacy. Your doing great by the way to have 10 going in now.

Thank you. The barn has all kinds of places that she can enter. I have thought about trying to somehow pluck her pretty little nest that she made in the hayloft and put it in the Coop to see if she will be drawn to her own scent. Any ideas on that?
Unfortunately the ducks did not express an interest at all in eating this evening so I could not get them to pay any attention to me. Do you think that I should put a dog house or something of the sort near the pond, where they like to hang out? The unfortunate thing is that if I were to do that they may never go to the Coop where they can be warm and safe and have a buffet available anytime and winter ain't done with us yet. Oh dear! Critters can be so complicated. Just learning as we go.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If they go inside a building that isn’t secure they are at a big risk of being trapped with no way to escape. I’d keep working on getting them inside their coop. Try moving what ever she made her best out of into the coop and see if it makes a difference. Be sure to give the very special treat at the end of the day when time to be put up. Something they love you can put into a can and shake then give a signal like a whistle or words that you’ll use every time you call them. It takes time just be consistent.

 

[Muscovy-palooza]

If they go inside a building that isn’t secure they are at a big risk of being trapped with no way to escape. I’d keep working on getting them inside their coop. Try moving what ever she made her best out of into the coop and see if it makes a difference. Be sure to give the very special treat at the end of the day when time to be put up. Something they love you can put into a can and shake then give a signal like a whistle or words that you’ll use every time you call them. It takes time just be consistent.

Thank you, I'll keep working by on it. In do have some of her eggs that I took from her nest a few weeks ago. Should I put a couple of those in the coop? They have just been sitting on the counter.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Sure wouldn’t hurt to try. Just switch them out every 3-4 days.