How well can muscovy ducks fly?

[FoodFreedomNow]

My brahmas have just started hatching today so the bator will be free soon and I'm going to get my first scovie eggs next week, one thing I've read and am concerned about is that if you imprint on them when they hatch and the drakes grow up thinking you are one of them they will be aggressive towards you to compete for the females is that correct? I only plan to keep 1 drake and a pair of girls or possibly 2 drakes and 4 girls if I have enough room

That hasn't been my experience...I've hatched quite a few and, when the time comes, they seem to figure out who an appropriate object is for their affections. None of my drakes are aggressive toward me, but there are also plenty of ducks in my flock. 1 drake to 3+ ducks would be a better ratio to ensure that the girls don't get too much attention.

There's a very helpful resource on incubating Muscovy eggs here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubating-and-hatching-muscovy-eggs. I recommend that anyone planning to incubate Muscovy eggs familiarize themselves with it, and that they do the misting and cooling. Muscovy eggs have a reputation for being more challenging than other duck breeds to incubate successfully, but with proper knowledge and understanding of the potential challenges (like extra tough shells), it can be done.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Sire12]

Yep I've read through that thread a few times now when I first read it I thought its way too complex and I'd mess it up but I feel more confident now I've had my first batch of chicks, that's great to hear that you drakes weren't aggressive, yeah il keep a 1 drake and 3 ducks then to keep them happy I'm still a little concerned of just how well the girls can fly I've seen a video of them flying quite well over a flat area but would they be able to clear a 6 foot fence vertically even when wing clipped is what id be worried about, although saying that I don't clip my hens anymore and they could probably get over the 4 foot fence if they really wanted to but they seem to know now that they are safe and fed in the yard, not sure if ducks would be the same though or if they have more of a nomadic nature

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yep I've read through that thread a few times now

when I first read it I thought its way too complex and I'd mess it up but I feel more confident now I've had my first batch of chicks, that's great to hear that you drakes weren't aggressive, yeah il keep a 1 drake and 3 ducks then to keep them happy

I'm still a little concerned of just how well the girls can fly I've seen a video of them flying quite well over a flat area but would they be able to clear a 6 foot fence vertically even when wing clipped is what id be worried about, although saying that I don't clip my hens anymore and they could probably get over the 4 foot fence if they really wanted to but they seem to know now that they are safe and fed in the yard, not sure if ducks would be the same though or if they have more of a nomadic nature

• yoopergirl1211
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• Location: Erie PA
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These two girls are laying eggs across the road in a beaver dam!

I've been having a hard time getting them in the coop at night and this morning I got up early to check on them and they were flying back. So I went and checked and there were 4 eggs. Hmmm I don't really want to clip wings but I am afraid of the stupid road now. I wish they were like the other ducks and just floated down to the beaver dam.
Edited by yoopergirl1211 - Today at 9:02 am



I believe this is probably over 6' Muscovy's especially the females are excellent flyers.

 

[Sire12]

Wow! Hmm that could be a problem right enough there's also a river opposite my house about 100 feet away they might instinctively fly there.. Would they still be able to clear a 6 foot fence with their wings clipped? Orherwise I could just get 1 drake and no girls and let him flock with my hens? Or would he be lonely without any other scovies?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wow! Hmm that could be a problem right enough

there's also a river opposite my house about 100 feet away they might instinctively fly there.. Would they still be able to clear a 6 foot fence with their wings clipped? Orherwise I could just get 1 drake and no girls and let him flock with my hens? Or would he be lonely without any other scovies?

Don't keep a drake with hens he will want to breed and it can be a death sentence for a chicken.

Clip their wings they cannot get over a 6' fence if you clip right. A drake with out his girls would be a lonely drake.

I have a mountain river down below our home and I clip all my scovy's wings but my drake he would never leave his girls.He was hatched here and has no competition from any other scovy drake.

 

[purslanegarden]

I'll throw in my 2 cents also.

My female muscovy discovered her flying tendency earlier than my male did. She took weeks of short flights, not more than 3-4 feet off the ground, a few feet at a time, so I let her keep practicing. It wasn't until I saw her on the roof of my house that I realized she was now able to get higher than 4 feet. Not only that, but from the roof, she flew to another perching area that was over 50 feet away. This was the longest flight she made that I knew about.

So I managed to get her eventually once she came back to the ground, and clipped both of her wings right then and there.

The male took longer to start flying but he was definitely able to clear 3-4 feet eventually, before I also clipped his wings.

Once they both had their wings clipped, I didn't see them practicing flying again until months later when their wings grew back out. So at least from my experience, after clipping the wings, they were fairly well-grounded.

Now that's not to say, that they can't flap/climb out of the caged area. I saw my male do that one time when I put him a temporary pen that he didn't like. It was temporary so I didn't have a cover on it, but it was made of chicken coop wiring (1" holes). His toes were able to dig in and he basically half climbed/pumped his wings and made it over the 3-foot height, so 4-ft might be possible too.

 

[Sire12]

Ah ok that sounds doable then actually do their wings grow back that fast though? I only clip my hens after their molt, also another thing I keep hearing of is the smell of ducks.. I've never owned any before but my uncle keeps telling me to give it a miss because ducks are smelly and messy and since we have neighbours on either side it might be an issue, the yard is about 40x80 feet or so and I already have 10 medium - large sized hens, the pool area I had planned for them is located right beside a drain and a fosset so I'd be able to give them fresh swimming water every morning, so based on that does anyone know just how smelly / messy they'd be?

 

[Louise Waffles]

I have 11 ducks, with a couple of pools that get dumped and refilled daily. There's no bad smell here. I really don't think you'll have a problem. I think an odor problem occurs if you don't have enough space for them or don't clean their housing or pool on a regular basis.
It sounds like you have a good setup for them, I wouldn't worry at all.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ah ok that sounds doable then actually

do their wings grow back that fast though? I only clip my hens after their molt, also another thing I keep hearing of is the smell of ducks.. I've never owned any before but my uncle keeps telling me to give it a miss because ducks are smelly and messy and since we have neighbours on either side it might be an issue, the yard is about 40x80 feet or so and I already have 10 medium - large sized hens, the pool area I had planned for them is located right beside a drain and a fosset so I'd be able to give them fresh swimming water every morning, so based on that does anyone know just how smelly / messy they'd be?

You only have to clip after molt each year.

I clean everyday their inside house and the outside areas to me keeping it up is much better than waiting a week then doing it. I have never done that though so can't say for sure. But ducks are messy and will drill holes where there is water and make mud and before long there won't be much grass But of course if you already have chickens then you probably don't have any grass anyway. lol Around their water buckets pools I put down river rocks with landscaping fabric under the rocks it really does help[Lowes has the round river rocks like pebbles] so won't cut feet.

 

[tomm3001]

one of my female Muscovys managed to fly over a 6ft fence and we couldn't find her for a week. a week later a neighbor a block away contacted me and said they thought it was my duck that had been swimming in his pool for the week. I went over and sure it was her. luckily she let me pick her up and bring her home without flying away. I made sure i clipped her wings so she wouldn't fly away again. she must of had an exciting week