Muscovies in US - REGULATION CHANGES OPEN FOR COMMENTS - 10/1 update

[thkosan]

I just received a very positive reply from Dr. Allen:

Thanks, Tobi:

I've told people that the comment period on the muscovy duck regulations
was a sort of "Catch-22." I'm used to working with wildlife
organizations, and didn't know about muscovy show ducks or that so many
muscovies are kept for food and eggs. I didn't know of an organization to
contact when the regs came out, and no doubt that's part of the reason
that I got few comments. To be fair, though, I had one recent caller tell
me that she'd told other folks interested in muscovy ducks that they
should comment on the proposed rule, but they didn't.

I did not intend to disrupt your lives - I just didn't know that so many
people keep muscovies. In the regulations, I did provide for the one
clear case that I knew about - selling muscovy ducks for food.

I expect the revised regulations to allow continued ownership and
propagation of muscovy ducks without a permit, though they will require
marking as other ducks are marked. No exemption for show ducks will be
needed, because I expect that we'll continue to allow both show duck
owners and people like you to keep and propagate muscovies.

Unlike other species of ducks that we regulate, the muscovy is an "exotic"
species in most of the U.S., so my main concern is release to the wild,
which will continue to be prohibited. I appreciate your advising people
that they must not release muscovy ducks to the wild, and that the ducks
must be returned to you if there are problems.

At least some animal welfare groups wish us to disallow release of
muscovies to the wild in most of the U.S. because they consider doing so
to be cruel. State wildlife agencies don't want muscovy ducks in the wild
because of hybridization and perhaps increased difficulty in managing
hunting harvest, though I don't know that this is a very serious problem.
Further, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies have extensive
programs for dealing with exotic and invasive species, and I don't want to
create an exception for muscovy ducks - which are exotic everywhere but
southern Texas. If we revise the regulations to allow continued
possession and propagation of muscovies and have problems with muscovies
in the wild in the future, we might have to tighten the regulations.

I expect that the regulations revision will be for 50 CFR 21.14 (permit
exceptions for captive-bred migratory waterfowl other than mallard ducks)
and 21.25 (waterfowl sale and disposal permits). I do not plan to change
the control order for muscovy ducks at 50 CFR 21.54.

You can view the regulations by linking from
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...0&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title50/50cfr21_main_02.tpl.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

George
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I am very pleased with this response, but am still concerned about the control order.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

So they are still going to require marking of all Scovy before 6wks of age.

Even if you keep them on your property until processing at 12-14wks. Bother.

Reg. 21.13b for marking states that if its a metal band it has to be "seamless." What's up with that? How does that work?

 

[thkosan]

No idea, but Very good questions that FWS needs to address.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Seamless bands are put on at an age when they can be slipped over the foot, but won't readily fall off. As the bird grows the band cannot easily be removed--would require metal cutting tools.

 

[Danaus29]

The problem with bands is that 'scovies don't hit their growth spurt until 8 weeks of age. Any band put on the leg at 6 weeks will either readily fall off or cut into the leg when they are full grown. I have tried to band young birds. I use zip ties for young ones because they can easily be removed when the bird outgrows the band.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

I expect the revised regulations to allow continued ownership and
propagation of muscovy ducks without a permit, though they will require
marking as other ducks are marked.

I addressed this issue in my letter to Dr. Allen. Never did get a response.

So they will require that I band every Scovy on my property "with a seamless band" (zip ties are not seamless & seamless bands are #'d so they can be tracked) by the time they are six weeks old so that I can process them ON MY PROPERTY at 12-14wks old.

I don't think I can bring myself to pinion them or take off their back toe.

I sure can't afford to have them "tatooed". Do you think the large meat growers/processers band them all? So it's going to be band them all or mutilate them. Yesh! Do you think Dr. Allen, at the very least, would change that fm seamless band to just plain "band"?​

 

[thkosan]

I think that Dr. Allen does not understand all of these issues. He's been very forthcoming about that and seems to honestly want to address all of the issues in the best way possible based on the correspondence that I have had with him. These are excellent points to bring up with him -- I'd send him an e-mail if I were you to point these things out to him. He seems very willing to listen to all of our concerns.

 

[TomNY]

In my conversation with Dr.Allen I brought up the similarities between wild type Muscovy vs. domestic Muscovy and wild type Mallard vs. domestic mallard derivatives. I am hopeful that the new regulations will make a distinction and only require the wild type to be treated as migratory waterfowl. The IWBA and APA have done their part and I hope they have more input as the new regulations are worded. Tom

 

[thkosan]

In my conversation with Dr.Allen I brought up the similarities between wild type Muscovy vs. domestic Muscovy and wild type Mallard vs. domestic mallard derivatives. I am hopeful that the new regulations will make a distinction and only require the wild type to be treated as migratory waterfowl. The IWBA and APA have done their part and I hope they have more input as the new regulations are worded. Tom

Tom, unfortunately according to Dr. Allen that won't happen. Here's his response:

"Our treaties with Canada and Mexico require that we protect any migratory bird species that the treaty says we must list. Because all anatidae are listed, the muscovy is a "migratory bird" whether domesticated or not."

However, on 4/6/2009 the Farm-to-consumer legal defense fund put out a Action Alert to fight this issue by asking farmers to contact the Fish and Wildlife Service and other government officials to make their views known:

"Now is the time to make your views on this issue known to the Fish and Wildlife Service and other government officials... Even though these feral muscovy ducks bear little physical resemblance to the muscovy duck in its native range…” they make no distinction between wild Muscovy ducks and domestic Muscovy ducks. Muscovy ducks have been domesticated since the 1500s. Numerous hatcheries in the US sell domestic Muscovy ducks, many bred from Muscovies from France. Turkeys and Muscovies were both domesticated in the Americas and both are now raised as domestic livestock around the world. (A ‘Documentation of the Long History of the Domestication of the Muscovy Duck ‘ is attached below.) The FWS has failed to recognize this long history of the domestic Muscovy as livestock. Domestic Muscovy ducks are livestock, and as such should not be subject to U S Fish and Wildlife regulations."

So, all I can say is, KEEP CALLING AND WRITING.​

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
The APA/IWBA are very involved in the process. Dr Allen's office told me so some weeks ago. The APA is allowing the IWBA to head this up. Better to have one contact than many. Dr Allen knows the number of breeders that IWBA is representing. The final regulation may not be pleasing to everyone, but it will be one we can live with. The American Bantam Association has offered metal seamless leg bands for years. Many breeders use these. These type bands may be best. If we sell a banded bird as a pet, then the pet is released to become a feral, the FWS can return the duck to the breeder and find the person who illegly dumped the bird. Dr Allen has heard us and is making the effort to revise these regulations. There will be a small window to make comments before they are finalized.