Muscovy help...

[TheMomther]

I got two Muscovy ducklings today, I currently have a flock of chickens and plenty of room in my coop and run (plus the 2.5 acres they free range) to put the ducks and chickens together... However I'm seeing conflicting information on how long the ducklings need to be on duck food before they can transition over to the chick starter the rest of my flock is on. (September is when they will switch to layer feed). I also read a pond is not needed for a pair of Muscovy, is a small kiddie pool sufficient for them?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice it's all welcome. These are my first ducks.

Pictures of my wee ones for tax (the black one is Hades, and the yellow is Persephone)

 

[Miss Lydia]

They sure are cute. You have them in a brooder now with heat? When you decide to put them out with the chickens I’d have them separated so the chickens get used to them. Those chicken beaks are hard and sharp and can make nasty wounds.
I have a mixed flock so I have always used chick start to begin with and add Nutritional yeast mixed in. Never had any problems using this with my ducks geese or chickens. But the ducklings will need the extra niacin that they get from the nutritional yeast and won’t hurt the chickens at all.
I’ve never had a pond and have had waterfowl since 2004 I just use kiddy pools and I also have a 50 gal stock tank. As long as they have water they are happy. My Muscovy are a Joy to have. Only thing you will have to watch out for is if you have a drake if they don’t have females they may want to mate with hens which can be a death sentence. But separating is easy to do.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Your babies will not need any water to swim in until they are fully feathered as they can get water logged and die. They do not have water proofing when they have just the soft down on them. Mine were very healthy and I only kept heat on them for a week as it was warm when I got mine and they were in my garage. I fed mine DuMor 22% Duck All Lifestage and Purina Duck Starter and they both did very well. They are great at eating bugs and foraging in the yard. Good luck with those precious babies, they sure are cute.