Muscovy Duckling advice

[2Ducklingmama]

Hey! I have recently adopted 2 muscovy ducklings who are a few days old and I had a few questions;

1. how do I know if they like me or not?
2. Whenever I pic one of them up they vibrate every so often, what does this mean?
3. Where do they like to be petted if they like being petted at all?
4. they rest on my stomach when I’m watching tv and sometimes they make this popping sound, what does this mean?

thanks so much!!

 

[DukesDucks]

I have 10 Muscovy ducks. I believe that, compared to other breeds, they are not cuddly. Mine hate being picked up. When they were young I used to have them eat from my hand but as they got older, bigger, and hormones kicked in I stopped. They can be aggressive and, trust me, their bite hurts. I had to take steps to re-establish that I was top of the pecking order, and now we have a mutually respective relationship.

 

[Quatie]

@Miss Lydia, @Crazy Maizie and @SolarDuck have raised Muscovy over the years. From what I understand, Muscovy can be rather social when hand raised. With any young duckling, it is going to take a few days for them to get use to you.

I got mine older, at 9 weeks of age. Mine are rather social and have always been gentle to me and my husband. They will have out near us whenever we are outside. When they go broody is ironically when we can handle them more. They let us pick them up off the nest and take eggs. We use to have a drake and got rid of him because he was mean to our other ducks, but he was never aggressive towards us. But I know others do not have experiences like this.

Do you have some pictures of the new cuties? I would love to see them.

 

[DukesDucks]

I admit that drake aggression problem was my fault. Experienced drake vs first time duck owner. Things started out fine until spring hormones kicked in. The first time he pecked me hard, I ran. Big mistake. Problem solved by getting advice from BYC on how to be TopDuck.

My ducks are happy to see me, wagging their fat butts, and making funny noises. No problems taking the eggs. Last week caught and checked/trimmed their claws as needed.

So we live happily together but I don't expect to be able to carry one around.

 

[2Ducklingmama]

@Miss Lydia, @Crazy Maizie and @SolarDuck have raised Muscovy over the years. From what I understand, Muscovy can be rather social when hand raised. With any young duckling, it is going to take a few days for them to get use to you.

I got mine older, at 9 weeks of age. Mine are rather social and have always been gentle to me and my husband. They will have out near us whenever we are outside. When they go broody is ironically when we can handle them more. They let us pick them up off the nest and take eggs. We use to have a drake and got rid of him because he was mean to our other ducks, but he was never aggressive towards us. But I know others do not have experiences like this.

Do you have some pictures of the new cuties? I would love to see them.

thanks for the advice! Your ducks sound lovely, here are some pics of mine;

 

[Quatie]

thanks for the advice! Your ducks sound lovely, here are some pics of mine;

They are adorable!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Your ducklings are precious. I've had Muscovy since 2004, The ones I have now are 13,10,9 yrs old The only one i can pick up and cuddle is my drake [he was raised inside by me and my dh.] my females will eat out of my hand but don't want to be picked up or petted. I respect their choice. i just enjoy being with them. When it isn't frigid out. lol

 

[2Ducklingmama]

They are adorable!

IKR! Especially when they play in water

 

[2Ducklingmama]

Your ducklings are precious. I've had Muscovy since 2004, The ones I have now are 13,10,9 yrs old The only one i can pick up and cuddle is my drake [he was raised inside by me and my dh.] my females will eat out of my hand but don't want to be picked up or petted. I respect their choice. i just enjoy being with them. When it isn't frigid out. lol

Wow thats a long time i love how they have such long lifespans!! Your ducks sound like cuties i can’t wait to find out the genders of mine!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Keep the pictures coming we love watching them grow too.