Muscovy duck feathers

[Soon2BChixMom]

Vero Beach Florida

Ah. Were you able to find a rescue?

 

[Lisa Dancisin]

Not yet.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Might be hard in Florida giving their laws on Muscovies but I know there is a Muscovy rescue some where around Miami I think.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Any updates?

 

[Lisa Dancisin]

Yes, today I found “Irma” a home. I won’t be taking her until after the babies hatch, which will be a while because she is still laying. The place is called Epic Missions. They have several ponds with plenty of cattails and reeds to keep her from predators. They are not a rescue but they have plenty of room and they are willing to take her and her babies.
Hopefully, I will be able to get her caged and transported when the time comes. But I will take pictures and keep everyone updated.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me, I appreciate it so much.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That's awesome congrats!!

How many eggs has she laid so far?

 

[Lisa Dancisin]

Funny you ask, so, when she first started laying I decided to take them because I thought it would make her leave my yard and go somewhere else to hatch her eggs. It didn’t take long to find out that that is not true. She just moved to another shrub in the yard. So her first nest had 5 eggs (which I took and still have, trying to get the nerve to eat). Her new nest has 9 eggs.
But another strange thing is, this morning I woke up to find her gone. So I called the lady who’s really her “owner” and she said she was over there mating with one of the drakes. Now this duck has been over here every day since before Hurricane Irma and every day she would stay here all day and leave at night. That is until about 3-4 days ago when I noticed her feathers.
After research I surmised that she was molting. Plus she stayed in the pool or right beside it every night. So that had to be the reason right? Nope!
Apparently she can leave. So go figure. But I’m still going to relocate her and her babies and possibly a drake from her “other home” because the golf course where she usually lives is overrun with Muscovy ducks.
So the saga continues....

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe what we're seeing is from breeding those drakes can rough up their feathers pretty good plus they usually don't lay when molting. I looked up the Epic Missions on line it sounds like an awesome place for them. Glad your also going to take the drake, most likely if Muscovies are over run at the golf course won't be long till they will be culling them since they are considered an invasive species. Hopefully she'll settle down soon and get to brooding so you can get this saga to a nice conclusion. Once she starts brooding you can take away some of her eggs to make the hatch more controllable the ducklings won't begin to grow until she has been sitting full time for 4-5 days. When I let mine brood I let them lay till they get the clutch they want then when they come out to eat and bathe I go in and remove the amount of eggs I don't want her to hatch taking the ones that are the dirtiest. I usually keep mines clutches at 4-6 to keep from getting over whelmed.
Thanks for the updates.

 

[Lisa Dancisin]

She started sitting on them all day on Friday but still leaves them and sits by or in the pool at night. Seems strange to me. Last time she sat almost 24/7.
Yeah the mission is a really nice place with good people, so I’m excited.

 

[Miss Lydia]

May still be getting ready is she still laying? once she starts sitting 24/7 she won't lay any more