Is my Muscovy hen a cross breed? How can I tell and does that make her infertile??

[WhistlePig]

She is beautiful! And I think she is indeed full Muscovy.

Cross-breeds will still lay eggs, btw. They just won't be fertile.

Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that. From the feedback I'm getting she may just be young regarding the caruncles. This may mean I have quite some time to wait for her to lay.

Even if she's a cross I am so glad she will lay eggs. That means she may still get broody and I can put other birds' eggs under her.

In your experience do Muscovy hens go broody often?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that. From the feedback I'm getting she may just be young regarding the caruncles. This may mean I have quite some time to wait for her to lay.

Even if she's a cross I am so glad she will lay eggs. That means she may still get broody and I can put other birds' eggs under her.

In your experience do Muscovy hens go broody often?

Ask @The Moonshiner

 

[quackingdom]

She looks like a normal (and very pretty!) 4-month old Muscovy to me! Muscovies develop their caruncles around 5 months and are fully mature and start laying around 6 months of age. I do have some adult Muscovies with very slight caruncling, so it's possible she won't grow much more.

My Muscovies go broody fairly often, although it varies depending on the individual. Some almost never go broody while others go broody on every clutch.

Also, I'm not sure on this, but I think whether a Muscovy cross lays or not depends on what sort of cross it is, a male Muscovy crossed with a female Mallard-derived duck or a male Mallard-derived duck crossed with a female Muscovy. I think one of those would lay and the other wouldn't, although both are infertile.

 

[Canadian Wind]

As quackingdom said, it depends on the individuals, but the three females I started out with all went broody, and pretty much all at the same time! The eggs were unfertile though (the drake shot blanks) so I ended up having to shoo them off their nests after over a month (Muscovy take 35 days to hatch).

 

[WhistlePig]

She looks like a normal (and very pretty!) 4-month old Muscovy to me! Muscovies develop their caruncles around 5 months and are fully mature and start laying around 6 months of age. I do have some adult Muscovies with very slight caruncling, so it's possible she won't grow much more.

My Muscovies go broody fairly often, although it varies depending on the individual. Some almost never go broody while others go broody on every clutch.

Also, I'm not sure on this, but I think whether a Muscovy cross lays or not depends on what sort of cross it is, a male Muscovy crossed with a female Mallard-derived duck or a male Mallard-derived duck crossed with a female Muscovy. I think one of those would lay and the other wouldn't, although both are infertile.

Thanks, that is super informative. Hopefully she's what she looks like (full blooded) but if she's a broody one she can be mama either way I'm impatient to find out if she's going to be broody and to see her first eggs!

 

[WhistlePig]

As quackingdom said, it depends on the individuals, but the three females I started out with all went broody, and pretty much all at the same time! The eggs were unfertile though (the drake shot blanks) so I ended up having to shoo them off their nests after over a month (Muscovy take 35 days to hatch).

Aw, poor mamas. Well they do seem to get over things fast.

I've heard they're wonderful mamas but am wondering if they are really good for hatching chicks versus ducklings. I've seen it a lot on the YouTube but I always think:

The Muscovy hens are so heavy, the chicks are so tiny and delicate, ducklings are always more sturdy/heavy than that. Is it really a good idea? I love weird experiments but don't want to cause death for no reason.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Aw, poor mamas. Well they do seem to get over things fast.

I've heard they're wonderful mamas but am wondering if they are really good for hatching chicks versus ducklings. I've seen it a lot on the YouTube but I always think:

The Muscovy hens are so heavy, the chicks are so tiny and delicate, ducklings are always more sturdy/heavy than that. Is it really a good idea? I love weird experiments but don't want to cause death for no reason.

They might actually crush the chicken eggs.

 

[WhistlePig]

They might actually crush the chicken eggs.

Gotcha. I thought it seemed odd and unlikely to be really successful!

 

[quackingdom]

I had a Muscovy hatch a few chicken eggs once. It worked out okay, but the duck had had real ducklings before and seemed to know that these were different, and she wasn't very motherly with the chicks. They didn't follow her well either.

 

[WhistlePig]

I had a Muscovy hatch a few chicken eggs once. It worked out okay, but the duck had had real ducklings before and seemed to know that these were different, and she wasn't very motherly with the chicks. They didn't follow her well either.

It's funny that they seemed to know! I think I'll play it safe and use chickens for chickens, but I like the idea of chickens hatching ducks it's so cute whenever I've seen it!