Muscovy Ducks And Chickens Do Not Mix

[3eaglesranch]

Sorry that you lost so many chickens! I can only imagine how shocking it was to find them.

I have about the same number of muscovies and chickens (about 50), and have never had this happen. However, I have seen several Banty hens attack Muscovy ducklings and almost peck them into unconsciousness before I got to them. The most the Muscovy hens do is hiss. The Muscovy drakes are very laid back and observe their pecking order.

I hope you get to the bottom of this. Perhaps it was a raccoon or weasels. The only way the Muscovies would fly into a pen around here (western WA) would be to escape a predator. Unfortunately, there are tons of those this year!

 

[drkimba]

I recently added 3 Muscovies to my chicken pen. I only had two full grown bantams a rooster and a hen. She was rather small. Unfortunately, the muscovies , I think the drake in an attempt to mate with her killed her squished the poor thing flat . The rooster is now alone with the muscovies and although they will argue about food a little I've seen no injuries. I did see the drake had some damage on his back which I think was from the rooster which is much smaller than the drake but has attitude. The Muscovies will try to push him away from food but he will demand it and they give in. I have pullets and chicks growing now but have kept them separate and will move the Muscovies away from the pen before including the smaller bantams I have. I like the Muscovies but I think simply due to size difference they can damage the chickens unfortunately. Unless the chickens are big I wouldn't do it. Maybe if they were raised together it would work. But when I put my pullets in a fenced area within the pen the Muscovies seem fascinated and treat them almost as food like little mice! Scares me. I think once they are grown they might be okay with the female Muscovies but I think the drake (the Muscovies are young about 4 or 5 months) will try to mount anything he can catch and is heavy.

 

[Kadam]

We've had lots of free range chickens. We brought home a pair of young muscovies and once they started maturing they started attacking our hens and trying to separate them from their chicks. I figured they just wanted some babies of their own. The ducks have pretty much run the chickens out of the area. I've had to pull the drake off a chicken a few times. The drake has been attacking a chicken sitting on the nest recently. I've had to pull him away and block his access to her. Today, he killed two chicks. I'm interested in a good orange sauce recipe.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Yikes, yeah my muscovies don't get along with my chickens either. I keep them separate at all times, but if I allow them together the ducks attack the chickens.
Drakes (all kinds) will kill ducklings as well. Is there a way to separate them or keep the drake locked up?
I am sure there are plenty of orange sauce recipes out there on the net.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've always kept my duck mamas and their ducklings and my bantam/LF mamas and their chicks separate from the rest of the flock just so this doesn't happen. It's a lot of work but thankfully I haven't lost any babies by doing this. Especially this time of year when hormones are so high drakes or gander [ I have geese too] cannot be trusted around small ones. But I have to say my Muscovy's over all do fine around my chickens I also have OEGB very tiny ones and they don't mess with them either. But the chickens have learned to give the ducks and geese a lot of room too.

 

[drkimba]

I recently added 3 Muscovies to my chicken pen. I only had two full grown bantams a rooster and a hen. She was rather small. Unfortunately, the muscovies , I think the drake in an attempt to mate with her killed her squished the poor thing flat . The rooster is now alone with the muscovies and although they will argue about food a little I've seen no injuries. I did see the drake had some damage on his back which I think was from the rooster which is much smaller than the drake but has attitude. The Muscovies will try to push him away from food but he will demand it and they give in. I have pullets and chicks growing now but have kept them separate and will move the Muscovies away from the pen before including the smaller bantams I have. I like the Muscovies but I think simply due to size difference they can damage the chickens unfortunately. Unless the chickens are big I wouldn't do it. Maybe if they were raised together it would work. But when I put my pullets in a fenced area within the pen the Muscovies seem fascinated and treat them almost as food like little mice! Scares me. I think once they are grown they might be okay with the female Muscovies but I think the drake (the Muscovies are young about 4 or 5 months) will try to mount anything he can catch and is heavy.

Update: Today went outside and luckily saw my bantam standing on top of something and jumping on drake! Drake grabbed him and literally started to swing him around by his tail feathers. I yelled and they stopped. Lucky the drake didn't snap the bantam rooster's neck. Now keeping rooster separate and two sets of hatches separate from each other and the Muscovies. I may need to make a whole new pen for the ducks or break out the orange sauce myself. The Muscovies are cute but yet to lay one egg and have huge appetites. The girls seem okay but I'm weary of keeping any small chickens around them .

 

[Lil Drake40]

Update: Today went outside and luckily saw my bantam standing on top of something and jumping on drake! Drake grabbed him and literally started to swing him around by his tail feathers. I yelled and they stopped. Lucky the drake didn't snap the bantam rooster's neck. Now keeping rooster separate and two sets of hatches separate from each other and the Muscovies. I may need to make a whole new pen for the ducks or break out the orange sauce myself. The Muscovies are cute but yet to lay one egg and have huge appetites. The girls seem okay but I'm weary of keeping any small chickens around them .

 

[Lil Drake40]

All of my female a Muscovy have been slow to mature usually between 8-9 months old befor breeding and laying . They are great foragers too . Broody ducks can be ornery and hormonal drakes can be ornery. If you really like your scovys it might be best if they have their own run and house .

 

[chickens really]

Miss Lydia and Lil Drake make similar and great points...
...

 

[Lil Drake40]

Maybe that’s because we’re kin