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

[TomNY]

Quote:
When I read the various links, I read that TEN comments were received. Not very many for a country with a population of nearly 309 million! That's .003% of the population. Now while I would not expect a large percentage of comments, I would expect considerably more than that (even if we are talking 14 instead of 10).

I believe some comments overlapped. It was 10 topics from 14 comments.

In our conversation Dr. Allen told me he had only received fourteen comments so I have been using that number. Tom

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I re-read and you are correct Ten types of comments, with three people making hte same comment (birth control, lol). I'm working on a post that copies the gest of each of the comments as well as the prescribed procedure for making comments. Seems like rebutting some of the comments as well as the particulars in the regulation are very appropriate. For instance, the summary report that included the comments received says that there are no Takings, and that that is therefore not an issue. Since there are many private muscovy owners, many of whom breed and sell, it IS a taking. Also, it says there are no Federalism issues or judicial impact. Not positive, but I believe that would include constitutional issues, and if the rules go into effect I can certainly see it being taking to court. Can we say class-action?

 

[keeperofthehearth]

I am thankful that Dr. Allen and the powers that be are willing to stop, listen, & hopefully act positivly on our concerns. I can only hope that this mess would cause those that are in charge of making these rulings to do some simple research before hand when it comes to writing out & enacting national regulations/laws.

That said......
An hour or so with a Google search on Muscovy/Domestic Muscovy etc. might have made FWS aware that there was need for wider publishing of the proposed Reg. changes back in 2008 and notification for comment to groups who WOULDN'T think that they needed to look over FWS Reg. proposals, EPA or whatnot affecting their beloved DOMESTIC show, pet, livestock ducks. Comment was open for only 2 months to a nation who didn't know there was a Reg. proposal out there that needed commenting on.

 

[muscovychef]

Exactly thats why so many judges and breeders are angry and believe this new regulation was slipped past them. Its been news to about 99.9 % of the population What 2 1/2 weeks ago no one knew of it. I still see the sell of ducklings from hatcheries as a win . We could have easily lost that and not had any resource except under ground. That would have put a big hurt on muscovy producers. I understand what the regulations say but lets not go extreme . As things are going we have a light and im sure we will see a light baby steps here. Whats that song put one foot in front of the other ,

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Hmmmm, I wonder what the combined sale of muscovy ducklings is from ALL hatcheries and breeders? Could it meet the $100 million that required extra steps for making the rule change?

If we can show that the rule change did not follow proper procedure (based upon inaccurate data), wouldn't that prevent it from going into effect--kick it back to step one?

 

[MDC]

I encourage everyone who owns Muscovy to contact Mr. Allen & tell him about YOUR feelings on the matter, how this regulation will effect you, etc. I have received an Email and have read at least one other post from individuals who state that there will be a push to 'rescue' standard-bred Muscovy from this regulation. One such post on the Poultry Connection states:

This law could work in the standard bred muscovy's favour if handled properly by the APA and law enforcement people. It could also be used to strengthen the importance of the Standard of Perfection for fanciers.

Simply make the law exempt for Standard Bred birds. Most backyard birds do not reflect the standard and therefore would not qualify for the exemption.

How to prove that they are standard bred? Well, coop cards from sanctioned shows can work pretty well. They can get you exempted from an avian flu cull order up here.

Also, weight can be a good indicator. If a flock cannot produce birds of Standard weight, then the flock wouldn't qualify as standard bred.

Average backyarder that doesn't show? Well if a receipt can be produced showing that the birds were purchased from a recognized Standard bred flock, that would work.

I personally see this as an opportunity to "cull the herd" and increase the value of muscovy.

The lobbyist for the IWBA and the APA WILL go to bat for the standard bred bird because that is their bread and butter. There is no 'single voice' who is going to advocate for the utility Muscovy.

There are MILLIONS of Americans who own perfectly good DOMESTIC Muscovy that just happen to be utility and it would be a travesty for them to be left out because a few of the elite feel that they're inferior to their type of Muscovy and as a result see this as their opportunity to knock out the competition, so to speak, for their own personal financial gain.

Maybe we need to create a utility Muscovy organization that recognizes the practical attributes that the Muscovy possesses because there is absolutely no reason in the world that the millions who own your common utility Muscovy should not have a voice in this matter as they will be equally affected by this regulation.​

 

[muscovychef]

I am sure it is also im getting emails on muscovy duck meat exports. Also you have the muscovy X now that are replaceing geese in liver production . The powers that be did not look very far or hard on this. I have emails that i cant copy that have alot on export and some countries are not happy about it. That could have had some motivation.

 

[muscovychef]

Thats insane , Because were going into strains even show people have diffrent strains. And muscovy take time to mature 1 year old hen may be light enough to fly year n a 1/2 to heavy. What they are trying to do is corner a market . I have both show and the lighter birds you can breed for any thing you like thats the hobby. how nuts is that instead of banding together were out for our own pocket saw that in hatcheries and dont balme them . But I called APA waiting for a call back.

 

[Parrotchick]

Local jurisdictions with "muscovy problems" brought their concerns to the FWS, thus when regulations were considered and comments requested, those interests knew to make their opinions known. Because FWS does not typically deal with "domestic" animals, they really didn't know about "our side" of things. (My understanding is that true wild, “native” muscovies are very different from the ones that we are used to seeing).

I know this is true from personal experience. My old friend who works for FWS is a biologist in the Migratory Birds division. I always joke that she's a “Doctor of Ducks” because of her PhD in wildlife management, specializing in waterfowl. Last fall I asked for her help understanding the behavior of my psycho drake and for sexing young ‘uns. Because she deals with wild ducks, she was only able to help me on the issues of biology and not “flock management.” Indeed she asked why I even had pet ducks. She’s been on plenty of farms, but I guess not ones that had ducks as pets or for meat and eggs. So while possession and use of muscovies seems obvious to us, it’s not obvious to everyone. You don’t know what you don’t know. The fact that FWS has been responsive to us tells me that they weren’t intentionally excluding us.

My friend and Dr. Allen told me that issues with mallards are a far bigger problem for FWS than muscovies. Hybridization of the wild populations are a problem from a biological standpoint, yet different kinds of mallards are regularly “released” where they shouldn’t be. That’s where FWS is in an uphill battle with powerful political interests; people who would spend a lot of money to have a variety of birds to hunt in a designated area, but nobody told the birds that if they don’t get shot they need to stay in the designated area and only breed with their own kind. So all things considered, the muscovy issue is relatively simple and it sounds like there is a solution to more or less satisfy everyone. We can have our ducks, and local jurisdictions can decide for themselves how to handle “problem” ducks. For those who don’t want to see the friendly ducks in the local parks “eliminated” or killed, they can work with said jurisdictions to see about “adoption” programs or oiling/shaking eggs to minimize the number of future generations, and other humane options.

 

[muscovychef]

The poultry connection post is absurd, breeding is everything you can take the best stock in the world and distroy it in a few generations. and you can take the common birds and breed up. Its what you know and breed for. What about show culls that are under weight . It would mean paper work and banding or tattoo records .


they want to stop the dumping. And get rid of their own mess they created by feeding and protecting thus they raised and bred their own muscovy .