Mule Ducks

[Bleenie]

I Incubated & hatched a batch of Mule eggs (Khaki drake/Muscovy Hens) early this year. They were crazy cute and most all were solid chocolate with the exception of 1 little black pied fuzzy cuteness. I eventually sold them all so i am unsure of their laying abilities but they were fairly friendly. not nearly as friendly as pure Muscovies but not as spooky as the Khakis i have raised in the past either.

They all had Muscovy bills and short butts. The adult Mules that i have adopted in the past never quacked and also had Muscovy bills, no Caruncles & shorter tails. They've all been VERY pretty, especially Muscovy/Pekins!

 

[spectrumranch]

Quote:
Muscovies don't get a drake curl. I used to have a mule drake that was a few years old, and he did not get the red face. He would show some interest in breeding but not very aggressive about it.

 

[Dances with Ducks]

Oh WOW!! Another reason to love Muscovies!!

Quote:
Holderread says males from heavy laying strains or breeds will improve the laying capacities that their daughters would have otherwise. Hopefully that holds true for this cross as well if you started with a Khaki drake, also ducks from mixed breeds tend to lay a bit better as well, so add that to the mix. But since you are starting with a very seasonal layer who knows what the actual outcome would be? I would love to know myself.

That duck in the last photo was so striking that I did a search for more photos of muscovy/mallard crosses and found this:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/hybridbirds/discuss/72157602472617276/

 

[gofasterstripe]

Quote:
Muscovies don't get a drake curl. I used to have a mule drake that was a few years old, and he did not get the red face. He would show some interest in breeding but not very aggressive about it.

Thank You...you learn something new every day.

 

[Omniskies]

That's what I was wondering, Dances. You're mixing a breed that produces 300+ eggs with one that lays 30-50~ in a single season. I've been wanting to raise moulards for a while now, since we do raise a few muscovies each year for meat. It'd be great if the females could be kept as fantastic mothers (could they be broody at any time of the year? Could a moulard hen hatch anything at any time just as effectively as a Muscovy?).

Argh. Apparently I'll be keeping a random flock of hens in with my Muscovy drakes to see what sort of babies come out of the mix. Now I'm beyond curious.

 

[MysticalMom]

Can the mule ducks fly?

 

[RAREROO]

spectrumranch I have a few questions for you since I have recently became interested in raising ducks for meat and I actually bought a big scovie drake to try for thanksgiving today and am thinking about raising either pure scovies or mules for meat but I have a few questions if you could try to answer them.

1) Will domestics and scovies readily cross breed or is it hard to get them to breed and if they do is there low fertility and high death rates as young birds like other hybrids sometimes have ?

2) How many days does it take a mule to hatch ?

3) Are the mules quiet like Scovies or loud like Domestics ?

4) Is there any hybrid vigor that comes into play that would make mules grow faster and/or larger than Scovies?


I think thats it for now. Thanks

 

[spectrumranch]

Mules can fly very well.

Quote:
THey do not readily cross breed. We have raised Muscovies & other domestic ducks together for years without them crossing. I raised 3 Rouen drakes with a bunch of Muscovies babies, the Muscovy mothers raised the group. So the Rouens grew up thinking they were Muscovies. Those drakes still stay with the Muscovies and do not pay any attention to the other Rouens or domestic ducks.

35 days to hatch, because we have Muscovy hens producing the eggs. I have never tried breeding mules the other way around (muscovy male on rouen hen), but I would quess those would take 28 days.

Are mules are quiet like muscovies.

They have not been larger than our Muscovies, but are larger than rouens. They do grow a little faster than muscovies.

 

[Bleenie]

Muscovy/Pekin Mule Hen.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

I have some mules. Rouen drake/scovie duck. They are very pretty and the drakes are large although not as large as the huge scovie drakes. The ducks are small and lay banty size eggs. I have a duck that is super at setting and brooding ducklings. Usually the ducks all will lay eggs into one nest, so when she starts to set, I take her small eggs out and she raises the pure scovie eggs, She only lays in the spring, summer like the scovies do,

The drakes have all of the urges that any drake has. They will pair off with a scovie duck also and when they do, they stay very committed to her. The drakes make a sound more like a muscovy, but different. The same for the ducks. I thought that the ducks sounded like a regular duck until I got a couple of runner ducks. Oh my, what a horrible noise those two can make!! So, the ducks are more like a regular duck, but different, not as loud and obnoxious.

i like the muscovies even more now. They are quiet!!!!

Both the ducks and drakes fly VERY well. I have 5 drakes and one duck now. They have paired off - two drakes with white neck bands hang out with the younger geese, two drakes have taken up residency in the chicken house, and one drake has paired with a scovy duck and they also hang out with the younger geese, but stay by themselves at night. The duck is still with her duckling. It will be interesting to see where she ends up at when the duckling is on its own. All of the ducks and geese free range part of the day and the mules go into their chosen housing on their own at bed time.

No drake tail, no red on their faces. A couple of the drakes had just a smudge of red, but no caruncling (sp).