Muscovies will not go into coop at night

[DStewart PDX]

Update! At the ripe old age of ten weeks, the muscovies are getting themselves to bed! Happy, happy, happy!

 

[nikkers390]

 

[Miss Lydia]

Update! At the ripe old age of ten weeks, the muscovies are getting themselves to bed! Happy, happy, happy!

X2

 

[Wyanbrahma]

Did it stay that way. Mine prefer to perch on the 8ft fence all night. One can't fly well and if it does over shoots the fence and gets stuck outside. I worry about predators to I chase that one down every night and leave the others out. It really just wants to be with its friends. Chickens are bad roommates I guess

 

[GranderTheGander]

Chickens sleep when it gets dark and are active during the day, like songbirds. Ducks and geese are naturally nappers day and night. Obviously, some domestic ducks can be trained to be locked up all night long. Withholding food during the day and feeding at night does sound like a good way to make them obey! But it's not natural for waterfowl to be inactive all night long, like chickens.

The wild ones, as well as any free domestics, are quite active in the water at night, swimming here and there, searching for food in the water, quacking, honking . . . although they are not as loudly communitive with each other after dark . . . except for warning quacking or honking . . . or honking when a goose is trying to find another goose or its flock. Since Muscovy ducks are not derived from mallards, however, maybe they are different at night, since they can perch on fences, rooftops, etc.

 

[Tinabuglaw]

So your muscovies won't go in the pen without bribery! It sounds like they are not like chickens that will reliably return to the coop once they figure out that is where they are supposed to be. Sigh! I prefer my birds to be more independent to make them easy for the neighbor to look after when I travel. Sounds like these guys may never get there.

Yeah. That's my experience too. My geese and chickens line up and match into the coop at night. All I have to say is, ALL DUCKS GO TO BED! over and over again. Like an army! I sing to the muscovies, I herd them. Nothing works.

 

[Sosalty]

"

Yeah. That's my experience too. My geese and chickens line up and match into the coop at night. All I have to say is, ALL DUCKS GO TO BED! over and over again. Like an army! I sing to the muscovies, I herd them. Nothing works.

I've almost given up on my 3 Muscovy hens going into their pen at nite several times. I search these threads regularly trying to understand what's happening. Not certain, but at this point my guess is they have a strong attraction to their natural pond, they've all been zapped by the electric fencing around their pen but won't learn to not test it, plus they love their island they sleep on. Yet after experimenting with a number of nesting places they prefer their nests to be in the straw of their pen. Lately 1 or 2 of the 3 get trapped evenings in the pen by the auto door and spend the nite, but never all 3. Sunsets are our catwalk time and the cats don't care to go around the evil geese (ducks), so though I can bribe 'em in for over a week, I need to pull back and spend evenings with the felines. I'm amazed at the muscovy survival. There's numerous 'coon, a fox drops by nightly, and a coyote hunts right up to about 40 yds from the pond (he's learned I'm after him with foothold traps and a rifle and has a boundary he won't cross ) I've seen an owl swoop at 'em in the dusk.

Many have the attitude of that the Muscovy are trainable and true for many circumstances. But, now and then, reasonable sounding folks let drop a remark that they've hit snafoos in doing so.

I'm in the process of rebuilding the pen and think they eventually will adapt to a safer place to spend their nites. [It's been put off as we were hit by tornadoes. Oh, their tarp covered pen held up when the 100mph+ winds went thru, yes, has special build features for strength and worst wind must've danced around it.] I've yet to discover their preferred characteristics so to meet those. It may take another year or so and will share results.

Experimenting what gets these intriguing birds into safety at nite is an worthwhile endeavor.