Muscovies on the Lam

[Margin]

Hi Everyone,

I have a really dumb problem... I bought 5 adult Muscovys (4 hens, 1 drake) to integrate into my flock of Pekins (2 drakes, 2 hens). It is not going swimmingly. The night I got them I put them in the duck house with the Pekins, and the next day turned everyone out thinking the Muscovies would hang by the house (the Pekins usually do.) All five ran away and I have only been able to re-capture 2 hens. The Pekins don't want anything to do with them and scold any Muscovy who tries to hang out with them. Now I have 3 Muscovies hiding in the woods behind my house, and they've been living out there since yesterday morning. I think they're ok, I've seen the Muscovy drake hanging out by the pond this am. I don't think he would have abandoned his flock. They are so much more agile and athletic than the Pekins, which makes them harder to capture. They can even fly 20-30 yards if they need to. I feel they have a decent chance of survival in the woods, at least for a little while.

Should I put out some food by the pond? Try to lure them into a chicken tractor? Wait it out a few days and hope they follow the Pekins back? Will holding 2 muscovy ducks hostage in the duck house bring the rest back?

 

[SolarDuck]

Since Muscovy are such good fliers, me and a lot of other owners of them choose to clip their wings so we can keep them properly safe. Muscovy are definitely better at surviving in the wild than other breeds, but you will just need to take advantage of whatever opportunity you can to catch them again. I'd try bringing them some mealworms and see if you can get close enough to catch them.

 

[Margin]

Since Muscovy are such good fliers, me and a lot of other owners of them choose to clip their wings so we can keep them properly safe. Muscovy are definitely better at surviving in the wild than other breeds, but you will just need to take advantage of whatever opportunity you can to catch them again. I'd try bringing them some mealworms and see if you can get close enough to catch them.

TBH I think the previous owner did clip wings, but I'm not sure how long ago.

Any tips on getting the Pekins to welcome the 2 Muscovies I did bring back? Right now I'm keeping them in a dog crate inside the duck house, hoping their presence will help lure back the ones on the run.

 

[theycallmechickmagnet]

Hi Everyone,

I have a really dumb problem... I bought 5 adult Muscovys (4 hens, 1 drake) to integrate into my flock of Pekins (2 drakes, 2 hens). It is not going swimmingly. The night I got them I put them in the duck house with the Pekins, and the next day turned everyone out thinking the Muscovies would hang by the house (the Pekins usually do.) All five ran away and I have only been able to re-capture 2 hens. The Pekins don't want anything to do with them and scold any Muscovy who tries to hang out with them. Now I have 3 Muscovies hiding in the woods behind my house, and they've been living out there since yesterday morning. I think they're ok, I've seen the Muscovy drake hanging out by the pond this am. I don't think he would have abandoned his flock. They are so much more agile and athletic than the Pekins, which makes them harder to capture. They can even fly 20-30 yards if they need to. I feel they have a decent chance of survival in the woods, at least for a little while.

Should I put out some food by the pond? Try to lure them into a chicken tractor? Wait it out a few days and hope they follow the Pekins back? Will holding 2 muscovy ducks hostage in the duck house bring the rest back?

I think it would be good to clip their wings if you're keeping them in a enclosed area. When I was newer to keeping ducks, I had a muscovy that flew over the fence when we were sleeping. The next day we found her smashed in the street i don't think it would be possible to keep them around unless they're closed in with clipped wings. Now to catch them idk. I know when they are hungry they're easier to get. When we go to the apartments with snacks, all the muscovies (babies included) jump into our laps

 

[bhaugh]

Muscovies will, if they can, stay to themselves and probably won't mingle too much with the Pekins. If your waiting for that to happen, you might be waiting awhile. It's funny about them, if your not a scovy, your not included. Several other scovy friends say the same thing.

 

[neo71665]

When we were given muscovies they stayed in the woods and would only come up and hang around the mallards during feeding time. Didn't take me long to figure out why they were free and I'll never own another one.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Muscovies technically are not ducks and like other poultry tend to stay with their own. They also are much more independent than ducks in general and love to roost. Clipping the wings as others have suggested will keep them grounded, but 100% integration might not ever fully happen.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have had Muscovy since 2004 started out with some that ended up in our mountain river from people across the river from us decided that was the thing to do. Anyway all but 3 were killed by predators. By the time we got them rescued it was down to 1 drake so I went and got him 3 ladies. In 2016 my muscovy hatched some Runners and Buffs eggs and one of my Muscovy now loves the runners and sleeps with them and hangs out with them during the day. All my ducks are together but the Muscovy do hang together and other than this one Muscovy all the Runners and Buffs hang together. My Muscovy drake has never once offered to mate with anyone besides his female muscovy. One of my Runner drakes loves to run down a muscovy female and stand on her. But all in all they live together peacefully. Right now the Muscovy other than Dolly have their own coop for sleeping because 2 of the muscovy are broody and I don't know if you have experienced this with yours but no one can sleep with broody muscovies they are hateful lol my drake is the only one they allow in their coop.
I do clip their wings [the females] every fall after molt so they cannot fly down to our river. or into the woods surrounding our home.
Muscovy are ducks they just don't come from the Mallard, like all other domestics. They are so unique that is what is so cool about them their independent nature that is why they have been able to naturalize so well in our country, Such a shame people hate them for this and it's the humans fault for letting them fly off or dumping them. Sorry if that ruffles feathers but it is true.

 

[GranderTheGander]

I think so many people hate them because they see them as being ugly, at least the males. Talking of males, if there are female Muscovy ducks around, the males I've known are only interested in them. If there are no females, I have seen them chase after other female ducks, as well as female geese! Particularly geese! The other ducks and the geese don't tend to like them, at least not the males. Females alone are usually tolerated, but some of them are amusingly aggressive towards the other ducks.

 

[Luv Ducks]

As of right now I have 7 Mallard hens, 2 Rouen hens, 2 Rouen/Mallard drakes, and 6 weeks ago I bought two 3 day old Muscovy ducklings. My other ducks have seen the ducklings since they were 2 weeks old but were fenced off by themselves. I let them all out together at the age of 4 weeks and everyone is doing great. I am hoping they are both hens. My drakes are only a couple of months old so no problem there. I will find out in the Spring if I am able to keep them all how they get along then. Good luck finding yours. I pinioned mine as soon as I got them so that hopefully they will not be able to fly away and my pen is covered.