Muscovy duck questions

[Ilovemychicks08]

I may be able to get muscovy ducks this year or very early next year. So i have a few questions.
I have a nuture right 360 incubator, if i were to hatch muscovy eggs would the egg turner still work or would i have to turn them by hand?

What age can you tell hen or drake?
I plan to keep them with my chickens so i wont own drakes.

Im going to be making my coop walk in, can the ducks and chickens stay in the same coop? Or should i keep them in a seperate coop?

Do Muscovies need anything specific in their diet?
I plan on feeding a duckling starter/grower with added nutritional yeast until they are old enough i can put them on a all flock. Would this be ok?


I already asked about the pool. This year with the rain we are getting i can keep a pool in there full time. I plan on getting some rock and artificial grass to go under the pool to stop a huge mess.

Thanks!

 

[KathiQuacks]

I have a nuture right 360 incubator, if i were to hatch muscovy eggs would the egg turner still work or would i have to turn them by hand?

Possibly. Not Muscovy, but I’ve hatched some eggs from a couple of my mallard-derived breeds, and most have fit in the auto turner. I’d do some test-turns with the eggs when you start / every now and then and make sure the eggs are indeed turning properly.

@Miss Lydia @ruthhope

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have never used an incubator. Having Muscovy you really don't need one. But My Muscovy eggs aren't any larger than my Buff Orpington ducks eggs maybe a tad smaller so you should be able to use the egg turner if it was size you are concerned about.
This might help
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubating-and-hatching-muscovy-eggs.63532/
as for sexing it usually only takes around 5-6 weeks to tell duck from a drake by size the females slow down in growing the drakes keep going.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-sex-muscovy-ducks.77916/
I have had many Muscovy drakes over the years and have never had one go after any of my chicken hens, Keep 4 and up females and he will be a happy boy.

 

[Sosalty]

Muscovy eggs are similar in size to chicken jumbo eggs. Duck starter with niacin is good, later all flock pellets (check niacin). Snacks such as peas and mealworms are rich in niacin. Had a hen same size as her brother and at 7 weeks figured out, she was a Lu-roy, not a Leroy.

 

[StinkyAcres]

My female Muscovies and chickens don't get along great because they were raised separately. I'd say if you want to keep them in the same coop, I'd make sure to raise them together or at least very close to each other.

But the problem I see with raising ducklings in a chicken coop is the food and water situation. Ducklings need access to food and water at night and they make a big mess of their food and water. And ducks must have water near their food or they could choke. Just something to think about.

I feed my adult Muscovies NatureWise All Flock because it contains 125 ppm niacin.

Another thing I wasn't aware of when I first got Muscovies is the fact that they are pretty much always broody during breeding season whether they have eggs to sit on or not. I get pecked and bitten every time I gather eggs now. Not a big deal, but it can be a bit annoying.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

A good eye can tell the difference between male and female muscovy ducklings. Depending on where you get them from, if they breed for certain colors (like chocolate), they can be sexed at hatch via color.
Once feathered, you can definitely tell by body shape and head shape.

As for raising ducks with chickens, it's doable. Ducks are bossy no matter what breed you have. My runners are actually bossier than my muscovy. I keep my ducks and chickens in separate coops and sections of the run due to their needs and what I started with. But, they could pen up together.

Muscovy aren't as messy as other ducks with water. They like it when it's first fresh, but won't hang out in it or drill in the dirt and mud as much. The most mess comes from food mixed with water.

An all flock will work for a mixed flock. I add nutritional yeast for the 1st 6 months no matter what feed. Then, I only add nutritional yeast if I see one limping. They probably don't need the extra, just makes me feel like I'm doing something. Ducks tend to twist an ankle once in awhile - usually rest is all that's needed.

I've never incubated any eggs. But, my muscovy hatched some chicken eggs for me once. She wasn't the best chicken mom, so the 2 that survived had to go to a brooder. They are very broody, so I don't think you need an incubator. I'm always breaking their broodiness.

 

[StinkyAcres]

but won't hang out in it or drill in the dirt and mud as much.

Yes, maybe not as much as a Mallard-derived duck, but if there is any mud in your run they will still drill and expand that muddy spot significantly. I think of them as living concrete screeds - their drilling and flat feet bring the water up to the surface. They do best in a grassy pasture.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Yes, maybe not as much as a Mallard-derived duck, but if there is any mud in your run they will still drill and expand that muddy spot significantly. I think of them as living concrete screeds - their drilling and flat feet bring the water up to the surface. They do best in a grassy pasture.

Mine must be special or maybe just because they are older and I don't remember them doing it as much as my runners. My runners drill a hole every chance they get. My runners make the mud so that they can drill more holes! My muscovy happily snap at bugs though. They will also stand by while I dig a hole and wait for treats.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Mine must be special or maybe just because they are older and I don't remember them doing it as much as my runners. My runners drill a hole every chance they get. My runners make the mud so that they can drill more holes! My muscovy happily snap at bugs though. They will also stand by while I dig a hole and wait for treats.

Oh, I just love it when they "help" me in the garden. I just planted more fruit trees in the orchard mine are in and they came over to see what was going on and look for a snack. They are so adorable!

 

[ruthhope]

My muscovy drakes do not create a muddy mess. Their wading pool has to be emptied every 4 days and scrubbed to stop mosquito larvae hatching, but its not muddy. I fish leaves out of the water every evening and it would be usable for more than 4 days if it were not for mosquitoes. But I only have one "clean boy" who bathes very splashy splashy every day. The other three do not get in the wading pool from one month to the next. They stand on the side, dip their heads in the water and "dab wash" doing all the splashy splashy movements of their clean compatriot but without getting into the water.

I feed my muscovy boys in the duck house and have deep water tubs for them to drink out of. They don't make a mess in the duck house. Their occasional drake squabbles occasionally knock over the water tubs, but the water disappears into the deep layer of pine shavings and oak leaves. They sometimes kick over their food bowl too, but the pellets also disappear down into their bedding. Meanwhile, my pekin drake drinks from his water tub all night and his pine shaving bedding in his dog crate is saturated by morning. All my pekins have been "compulsive drinkers" and end up with wet bedding. Muscovy just don't to that. Plus, as already said they are stinkers, often don't bathe from one month to another, and so don't mess their wading pool.

On duck feed, my son uses organic layer feed for his girls [and one drake] and cannot find organic duck layer feed. So, he uses organic chicken layer feed and adds brewer's yeast to their feed. I don't use organic food for my muscovy drakes. I previously used Purina duck pellets, but my TSC has had a supply problem all year. They only get 2 or 3 sacks at a time -- not a pallet-ful, and 3 sacks on the run were moldy at the beginning of the year. So, I don't buy Purina duck pellets anymore. I am using DuMor all flock 17% protein. All seems to be well after 6 months using it and it is not a dusty as the Purina Ducks pellets were. I would not use this for laying female ducks. I would definitely use layer feed with extra niacin as brewer's yeast or nutritional yeast