I'd like some advice on our muscovies behaviour

[ggowan]

Hi there

We bought home 3 muscovy ducks about 3 weeks ago. One male and 2 females. We got them from a friend who has about 25 now, free ranging on her property. We work at our friends property and while we were there, we picked out 1 female and 1 male, they were very tame and would come into the outdoor kitchen for food and to check out what's going on. Fine being handled and eating from our hands. The other female, we selected just before we left for home with no handling other than bringing her home. So 2 of the ducks know each other and might even be from the same clutch, the other hung out in a bit of a different area most of the time.

Once here, they were kept in a 1.5m cage overnight and then let out into bigger area in the morning (about 10x3m). Since they arrived, the male has been picking on the un-handled female. No blood but he prevents her from eating sometimes, and just when he looks at her she will get nervous and get out of the way. Quite often he chases her till she submits then he has a go at her feathers, sometimes pulling them out. He never mates with her but has with the other. Sometimes him and the handled female will both pick on her.

We do have the option of exchanging the female being bullied with another but I was thinking one more female might balance out the dynamics a bit and give the bullied one a companion.

Also, at our friends place, the ducks seemed to eat a lot. You could give handfuls of grain and they seemed happy to eat it all, but since they have been here they seem to eat a lot less. We have wheat (what our friend was feeding all the ducks) and a bag of mixed grain, they don't eat much of either but will eat small amounts. They don't seem to want to eat from our hands much anymore or enjoy being handled. They will eat greens a bit and they look healthy, they are pretty keen on worms. They aren't too keen to leave their area even with the gate left open. If we carry them out into the garden they will check things out a bit but then the drake leads them straight back home.

Any advice on if this behavior is abnormal or not would be great. I would really like to lessen the bullying but I understand that ducks can be mean.

Thanks!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

How old? Juveniles will pick on each other and even adult muscovy will pick on one another. They might not have been together much before due to coming from a large flock and are getting to know one another. Also, in my instance my male picks one female to "bond" with the others he mates, but isn't interested in hanging out. Are you planning on breeding? If not, I'd suggest adding another female to your trio so that he has at least 3 females. Plus the 2 that aren't his favorite might form their own bond as mine did.
I'd make sure that if they aren't free ranging they get a complete food not wheat and grains. But a complete poultry feed. They won't eat as much when they first move until they get settled. It's a whole new situation and ducks do not like change. But, really they should have at least 4oz each per day. I would just leave unlimited food out so they can free feed.
Currently my ducks aren't eating as much as normal - so it's also seasonal as to how much they eat. Are they getting any other "treats" as that will affect how much they eat.
Once they get used to their new digs, they will be more adventurous.

 

[sowNreap]

They don't seem to want to eat from our hands much anymore or enjoy being handled.

I'm a Muscovy & duck newbie but maybe because everything is so new to them they're still trying to get used to their surroundings and are just a little out of sorts so to speak. Maybe they'll come back around to enjoy being handled. Mine never did.

If they're getting into their "teenage" years maybe they're acting like human teens, "oh Mom don't hug me in front of my friends". lol

Mine will eat out of my hands but they NEVER wanted me to pick them up or pet them. I still try to get a quick stroke in with couple but they do that neck shaking thing so I don't attempt it much anymore. I'm not sure if that shaking means they're stressing out or trying to hold back their aggression. I did have to punish a couple for trying to nip at me when my hand got too close. They don't do that anymore but maybe they're trying so hard to hold back temptation to nip for fear of being punished. Sort of like human trying to keep from crying but the lips quiver.

They aren't too keen to leave their area even with the gate left open. If we carry them out into the garden they will check things out a bit but then the drake leads them straight back home

When I first brought mine home they didn't wander around much unless I was with them. So I starting walking with them around the property hoping to make them feel safe. Then I started shuffling my feet while we walked stirring up crickets. They really loved that. lol I think they now equate some area's with pleasant things like eating crickets. Sadly no crickets now because we both really enjoyed that.

Now we go worm hunting. lol They know when I grab my little yellow mini rake it's worm time & they come running. It's lot more work for me than just walking & stirring up crickets but oh they love it so much. The worms are too deep for them to get on their own.

Now they go to area's by themselves they wouldn't go before, like the front yard where the fenced in barking dogs across the street scared them. The ducks didn't know the dogs were fenced in & couldn't get them. But that's where we found a lot of crickets & now they know it's safe so venture up there on their own and they associate it with finding crickets. Actually they now they wander all over the property without me. I think they just need to learn and feel it's safe for them. I've had mine about 3 months now.

 

[ggowan]

How old? Juveniles will pick on each other and even adult muscovy will pick on one another. They might not have been together much before due to coming from a large flock and are getting to know one another. Also, in my instance my male picks one female to "bond" with the others he mates, but isn't interested in hanging out. Are you planning on breeding? If not, I'd suggest adding another female to your trio so that he has at least 3 females. Plus the 2 that aren't his favorite might form their own bond as mine did.
I'd make sure that if they aren't free ranging they get a complete food not wheat and grains. But a complete poultry feed. They won't eat as much when they first move until they get settled. It's a whole new situation and ducks do not like change. But, really they should have at least 4oz each per day. I would just leave unlimited food out so they can free feed.
Currently my ducks aren't eating as much as normal - so it's also seasonal as to how much they eat. Are they getting any other "treats" as that will affect how much they eat.
Once they get used to their new digs, they will be more adventurous.

They hatched around March or April so 8 months roughly. It seems the male has chosen his female like you said. After your experience it seems like adding another female could be a good solution. They only get the grain, greens and a few worms when we dig around the worm farms for them. They will forage in grass and under their little house for bugs. We spread grain around the grass to help encourage them to forage. We'll check out complete poultry food next time we're in town. Thanks!

 

[ggowan]

I'm a Muscovy & duck newbie but maybe because everything is so new to them they're still trying to get used to their surroundings and are just a little out of sorts so to speak. Maybe they'll come back around to enjoy being handled. Mine never did.

If they're getting into their "teenage" years maybe they're acting like human teens, "oh Mom don't hug me in front of my friends". lol

Mine will eat out of my hands but they NEVER wanted me to pick them up or pet them. I still try to get a quick stroke in with couple but they do that neck shaking thing so I don't attempt it much anymore. I'm not sure if that shaking means they're stressing out or trying to hold back their aggression. I did have to punish a couple for trying to nip at me when my hand got too close. They don't do that anymore but maybe they're trying so hard to hold back temptation to nip for fear of being punished. Sort of like human trying to keep from crying but the lips quiver.



When I first brought mine home they didn't wander around much unless I was with them. So I starting walking with them around the property hoping to make them feel safe. Then I started shuffling my feet while we walked stirring up crickets. They really loved that. lol I think they now equate some area's with pleasant things like eating crickets. Sadly no crickets now because we both really enjoyed that.

Now we go worm hunting. lol They know when I grab my little yellow mini rake it's worm time & they come running. It's lot more work for me than just walking & stirring up crickets but oh they love it so much. The worms are too deep for them to get on their own.

Now they go to area's by themselves they wouldn't go before, like the front yard where the fenced in barking dogs across the street scared them. The ducks didn't know the dogs were fenced in & couldn't get them. But that's where we found a lot of crickets & now they know it's safe so venture up there on their own and they associate it with finding crickets. Actually they now they wander all over the property without me. I think they just need to learn and feel it's safe for them. I've had mine about 3 months now.

I can't say if they ever wanted to be picked up but they never resisted much or ran away if we tried, now they won't let us get too close usually.

Luckily we never had any agression towards humans even at our friends property. We had lived there for an entire year and I never had the hint that muscovies could be aggressive, maybe any aggressive ones previous ended up in the freezer...

It is good to hear how their behavior developed over the time you had them. Roughly how old are they?

 

[DukesDucks]

My Muscovy flock has never liked being picked up despite the fact that 4 of the 10 were hatched here. I stopped hand feeding after my first drake became very pushy. Started with pecking and ended with bruises. Now we have a mutually respectful relationship. Muscovy drakes, especially during mating season, can be very aggressive.
I would leave the gate open but let them decide when they want to adventure out on their own.
I think getting another female would be a very good idea. I have 10 ducks but they are definitely self-divided into two groups. Sometimes there is some chasing and bullying but I have learned to let them work out their pecking order.

 

[Knighstar679]

if you want them to continue to be hand tamed, you can offer hand fed special treats to them. Meal worms, worms, peas and the like are most often favorites. Just spend some time with them daily with these treats it should help. They will spend weeks likely getting to know the area and if it is safe. When I moved my ducks to a new part of the property it took them three weeks to follow me up to my back door for meal worms. Now 10 months later the backyard is their worm and bug field.

 

[sowNreap]

It is good to hear how their behavior developed over the time you had them. Roughly how old are they?

Mine are approximately 5-6 months old. I've had them at my place since August 1st. But I have an all male flock of 6.

I have 10 ducks but they are definitely self-divided into two groups. Sometimes there is some chasing and bullying but I have learned to let them work out their pecking order.

My 6 drakes are kind of self-dividing into 2 groups of 3. They still all go foraging together and usually cuddle up to sleep together at night but sometimes during the day they'll separate with just 3 together & the other 3 very short distance away. They have their squabbles & bullying but like you I'm letting them work it out. I've never really been able to tell which one is flock leader.