Muscovy ducks murdering each other.

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
Nipping at each other (even to the death) isn't the same as what you described earlier of having the "brains eaten". Sounds like a predator on your hands.

 

[foxhomechickens]

? Come on now what predator is going to say hmmm i dont want to eat any of these pullets or this juicy rooster or any of these runner ducks ill only eat mucovys they have much leaner meat.

 

[Caprice_Acres]

This is my feed mix that I'm currently using, apparently... I guess I should've called when Dad said they lost our mix card, because it used to have more oats and way less corn before. He doesn't do the feed planning, so he likely just did the best he could. I'm going to have to have them change it again - thank goodness I went to look at it for you! I may lower the corn and add millet instead, that'll lower the protein some as well, and offer variety.

615 lbs Corn
240 lbs Soy Bean Meal
100 lbs Oats
25 lbs Pac 9 (dairy mineral)
25 lbs Alfalfa Meal
1 gallon cocosoya
2.5 lbs nutrasound (vitamin mix perhaps?)

It's all ground uniformly. This time it was a little more expensive due to the cost of corn going up, and it was 162.35 for a half ton (1000 lbs, or 20 fifty pound bags equivalent). That puts it at 8.12 per 50lbs. Still much better than every other 'higher protein' feed I've used.

 

[Mom 2em All]

Quote:
Are they penned seperately? Because I dont think any "killer" ducks would scrutinize and only kill their own kind either. Its possible that the muscovy pen is easier to get into- if it is a predator, or that the muscovy are easier targets because they are quieter, slower, and lower to the ground than roosting chickens. I say this because my brother in law had a rat problem and the chickens that had high roosts didnt get hurt, but the ones that roosted on the ground, the silkies and the ducks, they got thier legs bit up.

Which ever and what ever is happening, I hope you can get it resolved with no further injury or death.

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
To my understanding, the brain is very fatty...what predator wouldn't want to eat the brain? We have red wolves here...they attacked and killed barn cats over attempting to get at our chickens. Our runs and coops are NOT locked down/predator proof. Where you've lost me is the "brains" thing. What duck eats the brains of another duck? Malnutrition could be a culprit (if it was the duck)...I say to my kids, "you'd eat sandal leather if you were starving". However, look at various threads....there have been multitudes of attacks on flocks of poultry and waterfowl where NOTHING was eaten, or "parts" were missing. A duck can kill another duck. But to eat the brains...sorry, don't think it was your duck. And sure enough, if it WAS this cannibalistic muscovy duck eating the brains/flesh of his flock mates...he'd be a goner!

 

[foxhomechickens]

Well the white mucovy duckling i posted a pic of caught and ate a tweety bird he at the whole thing not long after the pic was taken. So please don't tell me they can't be vicious. The woman that i bought the first five said she had problems with drakes scrapping. the guy i bought the rest from i asked him what he fed his ducks he told me corn,grit and oyster shells. Thats why I fed them those things. He does raise for meat though and we only wanted them as companions for the older hen who's been through a lot. At this time i buy 600 pounds of feed a month and it goes up every month as i expected. I will for sure be buying either a good mix for the ducks or some factory bagged food as obviously i dont want them doing what they have been

 

[foxhomechickens]

They are all living together except for a few of the older hen who live out in a dog kennel.

 

[katharinad]

Corn is the fastest and cheapest way to fatten up a duck. Grit is only needed when they do not free range or in winter. The rest of the year they can simply scoop up sand/dirt while out there. That is what my ducks do. No need to spend extra money on something they find out there. It's a different story once the soil is frozen or snow covered. I hope that the feed change is changing their behavior. My ducks will kill mice and they are still trying to catch that chip monk running around. They do watch birds, but have not tried to catch one. I do have Saxonies, and they don't have such strong nature drive as muscovies have.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Are you sure it is ducks? Sure they will pull Tail feathers but I never heard of a duck eating a brain, they just aren't equipped for it.

 

[tlb796]

This is the most obsurd thing i've heard!

how the hell do you think these vicious ducks are ripping open the skulls of the other ducks to eat their brains?????
I have had muskovies for years!!!!! never never let me say never!!!! have i had a problem such as you describe!!!! I don't know but maybe fed only corn
the bones of the victim would be so brittle that the other malnutritioned ducks only need to mouth open the skull!!!! You have a PREDITOR!

of the unducky kind!!!
But you don't want to hear this!!! You also likely have malnourished ducks!!! and I don't think you want to hear this either!!!

please!!! sell your ducks or butcher them....