Muscovy ducks

[rhmcdowell]

I’m trying to establish a free range flick of Muscovy ducks here on my farm in central Ky. I have a clean two acre pond about 400 yards from my house. Probably 50/50 trees and open space. Bought 4 adults and one left immediately and the other three were lost to predators over the next month. I have a smaller pond near the house. I started with seven and am down to one drake and one hen. They have shelter in a large pet carrier connected to a 4x4 cattle panel enclosure. I let them out every day to forage and they are good to come back to their home every night. Thoughts on how to get them established as free range and self sufficient on either pond?

 

[Shadrach]

The first thing one needs to know is what killed the ducks. Goshawk was the main problem for me.
As it seems you've found out, the females can fly. Usually they don't fly much further than half a mile or so.
The males aren't very good at flying.
They roost in trees in the wild so they are roosting birds and having roost bars in a large coop can help.
I've had males kill one another in fights.

The free range flock bit. With poultry in general the skill in free ranging is to let the hens sit, hatch and replenish the losses. If you free range any bird there are going to be injuries and losses. This takes time.

For now I would bring them closer to the house. It won't stop a determined predator but it does help.
They don't need a large pond; it's nice if they have one but a smaller pond in a safer area is best.
This is what we used.
Having other creatures the ducks can mingle with also helps. Ours got on well with the sheep, the chickens and the donkies and tended to share space with them when out and about.

 

[DukesDucks]

By self-sufficient do you mean that you don't plan to provide any food. I think one way to help keep them around is to provide their main source of food. Hopefully they would be less likely to leave if they don't need to forage for everything.
Do you have a secure coop for them at night. Even a large pet carrier seems a small space for these large birds. What did you do when you had more than the remaining two.
A field camera would also help determine what predator, when, and how.

 

[Shadrach]

We fed them twice a day. They got the same mash the chickens got. I should have mentioned this in the first post. So, yes you are correct, feeding them, supplying clean water and a dry secure coop encourages them to stay.

We had seven at one point. They tend to make pairs. Some people say they mate for life. The coop in the picture had three sections, one coop closest to you in the picture and the other divided into two

 

[DukesDucks]

I was wondering if the OP was feeding their ducks since they used the term "self-sufficient".

 

[Shadrach]

I should also have pointed out the significance of the mating for life. We and others found that if they were not paired one to one the females would fly off presumably to find there own mate.

 

[Shadrach]

I was wondering if the OP was feeding their ducks since they used the term "self-sufficient".

Yeah, I didn't pick that one up. You may well be right.

 

[CoriM]

If you just leave them free ranging they're going to continue to get picked off. Some locations are just not suited to free-ranging and it's cruel to continue on hoping that something will change - the ducks are defenseless. I think that most people have to take precautions in order to ensure their ducks aren't taken by predators.

 

[bhaugh]

Buying adults is risky because they don’t know you and have no ties to you. Confine them for at least a month so they get to know you and see you as their food source. Or raise ducklings. Although Muscovy have a better chance to escape because they can fly, it not a free pass to not do your part and protect them from predators. None of my Muscovy have ever mated for life so not sure where that came from.

 

[DukesDucks]

None of my Muscovy have ever mated for life so not sure where that came from.

Maybe mating for life could include keeping it in the family. Mothers with sons, fathers with daughters, brothers and sisters, cousins, etc.