Muscovy? Duck ID

[avidFFa]

The ducklings we rescued a month ago are growing up fast. Its now appearent that they are not mallards or mottled ducks from what i can tell. Im thinking possibly Muscovy. They were from the street so difinitley a wild or feral breed here in the gulf(manatee county FL)

Heres a pic of the one i thought originally was male due to his more abundant color
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/P05-07-12_10-121.jpg
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/P05-07-12_10-122.jpg

The other one has solid black body with a more brownish head.
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/P05-07-12_10-09.jpg

They are around 2-3 months old possibly.
They are on the large scale imo. My teacher is dead set that they are Muscovy, however, the head shape just seems wrong. Im not used to ducks though. We are feeding them on a chick starter and what ever insects they happen to catch. Working on a duck pen right now. Need a good design to keep the hawks and foxes out. Would a hawk take an adult muscovy?

 

[HooverHenHouse]

A hawk may not be able to carry off an adult, large muscovy...but it sure can try! I haven't had much experience with ducks and predators yet, but did catch a hawk scooping down in my chicken coop that is bordered with my house. I plan on taking fishing line to string a "net" that the hawk can't get into the coop. I use dog kennel pannels to create my pen.

 

[avidFFa]

Guess ill be going we shall go with some top cover over the area. We've had a hawk take a few of the new young birds, 1 EE cockrel and 2 orpinton pullets. Someone on a different forum said runner ducks...which is highly unlikley. I mean, unless someone got ducks for easter and they escaped/were released, there is no reason to have found a domestic breed.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Those are Muscovy, typical coloration for feral flocks here in FL too. They aren't old enough yet for the red to be showing on their faces. Also you can not tell gender by color with Scovy. As they get older there will be an apparent size difference between males (larger and thick legs) from any females (thinner legs and smaller body).

 

[Miss Lydia]

The ducklings we rescued a month ago are growing up fast. Its now appearent that they are not mallards or mottled ducks from what i can tell. Im thinking possibly Muscovy. They were from the street so difinitley a wild or feral breed here in the gulf(manatee county FL)

Heres a pic of the one i thought originally was male due to his more abundant color
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/P05-07-12_10-121.jpg
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/P05-07-12_10-122.jpg

The other one has solid black body with a more brownish head.
http://i1096.photobucket.com/albums/g324/loachlover/P05-07-12_10-09.jpg

They are around 2-3 months old possibly.
They are on the large scale imo. My teacher is dead set that they are Muscovy, however, the head shape just seems wrong. Im not used to ducks though. We are feeding them on a chick starter and what ever insects they happen to catch. Working on a duck pen right now. Need a good design to keep the hawks and foxes out. Would a hawk take an adult muscovy?

They are Muscovy and my favorite breed of duck. Good idea about a cover on your run. Hawks could take any of them until the drakes mature and bulk up but the females will always be in danger. Be sure to give them a kiddee pool of some kind they will have a blast in the water.

 

[avidFFa]

Thanks. For now they are in a run in the hen house. They have a large tub. They dont use it much, it has easy access though if they need it. They are really putting on the weight/feathers fast. We will be setting up the new enclosure soon. We just got a new bull today though so its a little pushed back. I dont think we have any plans to let them freerange with the chickens though, our rhodes are a little pecky.

I read a few sites on scovys and many of them said not to use chicken wire? reason why?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks. For now they are in a run in the hen house. They have a large tub. They dont use it much, it has easy access though if they need it. They are really putting on the weight/feathers fast. We will be setting up the new enclosure soon. We just got a new bull today though so its a little pushed back. I dont think we have any plans to let them freerange with the chickens though, our rhodes are a little pecky.

I read a few sites on scovys and many of them said not to use chicken wire? reason why?

Predators mostly. Anything they can stick their arms through and grab is dangerous. use chicken wire then reinforce the bottom half with hardware cloth about 2-3' from ground that way nothing can reach in and grab. Then you'll also want to make sure digging preds can't get in also.

 

[avidFFa]

Thanks, part of the reason i asked was because we planned to bury some chicken wire and burlap around the enclosure to keep the foxes from digging in. Between them and the hawks, those are the only 2 predators we have to contend with.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks, part of the reason i asked was because we planned to bury some chicken wire and burlap around the enclosure to keep the foxes from digging in. Between them and the hawks, those are the only 2 predators we have to contend with

No raccoons? or weasels, or mink or bobcat? coyote? these are just a few of the preds that would est duck. oppossum will even go after them.

 

[avidFFa]

Nopes. Its a little 52 acre farm plot behind the school in a suburban neighborhood. We havnt seen heads or tails of coons or possum, the coyotes live in the woods by my house. The rat snakes and barn cat take care of the mink and rat populations. The rat snakes dont bother the poultry. Just foxes and hawks. Big red foxes at that.