Is it so hard to find muscovy hens because the breed is harder to tell

[Going Quackers]

Genders to begin with?

I still need more hens.. i finally sucked it up and got rid of one of my drakes(

) but my guy left only has two hens.. and well two other birds but i think there drakes to(13/14wks) It is next to impossible to find hen Muscovy, my first go round, i did a straight run and i guess fared pretty good at the results of 50/50 and then my second go with buying 3/4weekers well, pretty sure that is a fail.

'Cause their looking an awful lot likes drakes.

So can i try another breed? Muscovy any gender are tough to find where i live, probably why i had my drake sold in less than 48hrs! My drake that is still here is BIG but my hens are really petite.. however i believe because of the size of him i must be careful with other breeds.. but i can more readily locate hens that are other breeds.. so what do i do? I'm not doing any breeding... and i know if the Muscovy do mate with another it'll result in mules.. i'm just frustrated and trying to get the flock 'right'.. iykwim?

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Wow! Its funny, its illegal to selll scovies here, but I see them on craigslist ALL the time. There are hen for sale now. I wish you lived closer here.

You could always try to get some other from a hatchery? Theres a hatchery in mississippi that sellls st. run muscovys, do you want a link?

 

[Going Quackers]

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Thanks, i'm not in the US. I don't really want to try a straight run again.. winter is coming soon.. i guess around here there just not common, most have pekin, or rouen.. i've seen the odd runner but pekin rule these parts lol

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Aaawww... I see. I have welsh harlequins, khakis and rouens, I am planning on selling my khaki trio to a BYCer next spring, and maybe the rouens. Then I want anconas! I have fallen in LOVE with them! I have a friend that is willing to send me eggs, so I cant wait! I am trying to help perserve rare breeds and I chose anconas, and welsh harlequins. It all depends on what you like. And are interested in. (sorry if I went over board!)

Is there no other muscovys at all? Gosh this must be hard huh? I hope you can find some hens!!!

 

[learycow]

Too bad you are in Canada. I live in Maine and have two 4 month old muscovy hens for sale. I ended up with WAY too many this year, and my hen is on another clutch due to hatch next week. I am trying to downsize so I don't have 100 of them running around this winter!

 

[Oregon Blues]

If you must have females, purchase adults. Once Muscovy are grown, it is very easy to tell the boys from the girls. If you purchase ducklings, you are taking your chances on what you are going to end up with.

Buy and discard more than a couple of ducklings and it becomes cheaper to just pay more for adults and to get exactly what you want. Adult ducks usually sell for less than what it cost to feed them to adulthood, anyway. So they are usually quite a bargain.

 

[Going Quackers]

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Oh yes, quite true but finding an adult is just as bad lol I feel like i'm chasing unicorns.

 

[Going Quackers]

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I hear it's lovely there! I wish i was closer.. that would be the perfect age my other hens and drake are just 5mths.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Oh boy I literally have about 30 females I could sell u. Once they get about 3 months u see a great size difference. That's the only way I can tell. Good Luck*