Muscovy General Questions

[goosedragon]

Quote:
if you have trouble with frost bitten feet try placing some roosting bars inside like you would for chickens. Muscovy are tree ducks in the wild some still maintain the roosting instinct,some don't. if you can get their feet out of the wet litter and up on roosts there is seldom a frozen foot problem. they will roost and bring their body down resting on their feet and they stay warm.

 

[LittleSquidgenHome]

So I have a few more questions.
How long to keep new birds penned or flight restricted after bringing adults home? I had a lovely time "encouraging" our new scovies back into the pasture and then into their night pen today after all but one decided to go for a little trip off property.
Is there any way to keep bird where I want them without havign a pen cover or clipping flight feathers? I LOVE that they fly, but do not have the resources to cover the pen and I don't want to clip feathers, though I am pretty sure that is my option, any ideas?

 

[Heather J]

The first year my muscovy hens were really awful setters, even this spring the one girl only stayed on her next for a couple of weeks, but this fall they stayed on much longer and were very determined. Unfortunately I don't have a muscovy drake and the hens had been in with the chickens, so not even near a different breed of drake so eventually I stole all of their eggs, stuck the chicken eggs in the bator and tossed the duck eggs. I've hatched several of the chicken eggs since so apparently they were doing a decent job of keeping them warm.

My muscovies sometimes choose to sleep in the coop with the hens--I let them if they want to, but they have a separate shelter available if they prefer, or they can sleep out in the snow of the enclosed run...they seem to know when they need to go inside, but it's rare.