Magnificent Marvelous Muscovies!

[LaFemmeKatia]

My ten Muscovy ducks!
(For once I’ve got all my ducks in a row!)

My one-year-olds.

The New Kids (born in May)

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

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My ten Muscovy ducks!
(For once I’ve got all my ducks in a row!)


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My one-year-olds.

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The New Kids (born in May)

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Oh they are beautiful!!!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I love all those colors. The only ones we ever saw at fair were a white gal and a black male. I always get excited when I see them in the check in line

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

Oh they are beautiful!!!

Thank you. We love them.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Thank you. We love them.

Your welcome!

 

[Gelan]

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the thread where we can talk all things Muscovy! You can talk about what your Muscovies did today, what colors of Muscovies you have, how many you have, and so on! You can post pictures, too! I would love to hear about your Muscovies and see pics of them!

I have been raising Muscovy ducks since May 2014 and I think that they are the most wonderful birds ever! Right now I have 9 Muscovies, 3 drakes and 6 hens.
Today I got my first duck egg of the year. I had been waiting for it for such a long time, I was so happy that I couldn't help but jump up and down and thank God!
I can't wait until the hens go broody and hatch ducklings! Ducklings are the cutest little things, you just can't help but love them sooo much!
One thing I really enjoy about my Muscovies is that whenever I call them, they come running! I love the way they come wagging their tails and hissing! It is so adorable!
All of my Muscovies have Hebrew names, too.
I love my magnificent marvelous Muscovies! Tell me about yours!

Hi
I am a new duck owner as of April 2020. We purchased 16 muscovies and now down to three. Each day one is missing makes me so sad! We have an 18 acre lake so I thought they would be pretty safe, wrong!
So I put up trail camera and caught pictures of a bobcat and coyote.
We built a pen for them to come in at dusk. Last night the male wouldn’t come in and he is missing today.
I absolutely loved them but not sure what to do next.
Also have one female sitting on eggs. Thought it was too late In year for ducklings. I’m in Macon. Ga

 

[CindyinSD]

Hi
I am a new duck owner as of April 2020. We purchased 16 muscovies and now down to three. Each day one is missing makes me so sad! We have an 18 acre lake so I thought they would be pretty safe, wrong!
So I put up trail camera and caught pictures of a bobcat and coyote.
We built a pen for them to come in at dusk. Last night the male wouldn’t come in and he is missing today.
I absolutely loved them but not sure what to do next.
Also have one female sitting on eggs. Thought it was too late In year for ducklings. I’m in Macon. Ga

Muscovies are a different species of duck from other domestic ducks, but I did have that same experience with my ducks. (I want to get some Muscovies but haven't yet found anyone nearby to buy from.)

You have to get ducks (preferably when young) into the habit of returning to a safe indoor spot at night. My experience with my Mallard-derived ducks has been that once they discover the POND, there's no convincing them to come home to bed, or supper, either. Mine did finally agree to return at night but not until two thirds of them had fallen victim to predators. Muscovies (or so I've read) don't share QUITE the addiction to water, but I do not know that this is true.

It doesn't make it any easier on you that they're SO adorable.

We finally fenced our entire 12.5 acres with 4' field fence (not suspecting this would stop the duckpocalypse—but it did). I've since been informed that coyotes will jump this as though it wasn't even there but they haven't done yet. Hope they won't. You might consider fencing an area including your pond (but think about using the taller option). Get the OK brand or similar. The Chinese crap at Menards is close to the same price & not nearly as stout. We just cut manageable-sized panels and attached them together over our existing barbed wire fence, splicing lengths by hand (as we have no fencing equipment and our land is very hilly and irregular).

We have also trapped weasels & skunks and I interrupted an owl in the act of attempting to take down one of my turkey hens, so while coyotes are a big problem, they're far from being the only problem. It's really imperative that you get ALL your poultry inside a safe structure at night.

For me, I had to train my ducks to be herded in. If you're building for them, think about ways to herd them into a corner where the easiest way to go is in—such as a door that opens out and in so doing, funnels them into their coop. Once you and the waterfowl have a routine (round the coop to the left; open door as you follow them around; next time round the front, they run up against the door and waddle inside; g'night, duckies, see you in the morning!)... once you do that (or whatever works), stick with it. They will expect it every night. If you deviate, the whole thing kind of falls apart. They HAVE to go in, though.

And "in" HAS to be safe. Once anything bad happens where they expected safety, it'll be hard to get them back in there—so make SURE no baddies can breach the sanctuary.

About brooding... I had turkey hens & one chicken trying to brood clear up to our first 4° Fahrenheit night in Sept. (Don't ask what I think about global warming.) In GA you may well see this all year round.

Hopefully someone who knows more abt Muscovies will jump in here and give you some better advice than I'm able to, but I really think the best advice is to absolutely lock them in at night if at all possible.

 

[Gelan]

Muscovies are a different species of duck from other domestic ducks, but I did have that same experience with my ducks. (I want to get some Muscovies but haven't yet found anyone nearby to buy from.)

You have to get ducks (preferably when young) into the habit of returning to a safe indoor spot at night. My experience with my Mallard-derived ducks has been that once they discover the POND, there's no convincing them to come home to bed, or supper, either. Mine did finally agree to return at night but not until two thirds of them had fallen victim to predators. Muscovies (or so I've read) don't share QUITE the addiction to water, but I do not know that this is true.

It doesn't make it any easier on you that they're SO adorable.

We finally fenced our entire 12.5 acres with 4' field fence (not suspecting this would stop the duckpocalypse—but it did). I've since been informed that coyotes will jump this as though it wasn't even there but they haven't done yet. Hope they won't. You might consider fencing an area including your pond (but think about using the taller option). Get the OK brand or similar. The Chinese crap at Menards is close to the same price & not nearly as stout. We just cut manageable-sized panels and attached them together over our existing barbed wire fence, splicing lengths by hand (as we have no fencing equipment and our land is very hilly and irregular).

We have also trapped weasels & skunks and I interrupted an owl in the act of attempting to take down one of my turkey hens, so while coyotes are a big problem, they're far from being the only problem. It's really imperative that you get ALL your poultry inside a safe structure at night.

For me, I had to train my ducks to be herded in. If you're building for them, think about ways to herd them into a corner where the easiest way to go is in—such as a door that opens out and in so doing, funnels them into their coop. Once you and the waterfowl have a routine (round the coop to the left; open door as you follow them around; next time round the front, they run up against the door and waddle inside; g'night, duckies, see you in the morning!)... once you do that (or whatever works), stick with it. They will expect it every night. If you deviate, the whole thing kind of falls apart. They HAVE to go in, though.

And "in" HAS to be safe. Once anything bad happens where they expected safety, it'll be hard to get them back in there—so make SURE no baddies can breach the sanctuary.

About brooding... I had turkey hens & one chicken trying to brood clear up to our first 4° Fahrenheit night in Sept. (Don't ask what I think about global warming.) In GA you may well see this all year round.

Hopefully someone who knows more abt Muscovies will jump in here and give you some better advice than I'm able to, but I really think the best advice is to absolutely lock them in at night if at all possible.

Thank you