Muscovy keepers share your pics!

[Going Quackers]

SO....

I let my chickens 2 Muscovies, Charlie & Nella out this morning for breakfast.
For the first time Nella (my female) ran excitedly down to the breakfast area, aaaand managed to get about 4 foot of air, eye balling me with a smug face and she cruised passed...
They're both 3 months old and have been running up and down my garden practicing flapping for weeks.

Am I supposed to clip her wings?

I live in a city (with a huge garden) there are foxes and dogs and cats, cars and people.
How rebellious do they get? She isn't particularly tame, inf act she screams (honks) when I try and each out to touch her

I don't want to lose her, but I don't want to mutilate her beautiful wings if she would stay anyway.
Her love, Charlie, is too big to fly I think. Would she leave him?

Depends on the bird, and young ones definitely love to try those wings.. i had a one fly by my kitchen window the other AM... mine dont' leave however i am rural so that provides quite a space and area for them to explore, i have some who almost never use their wings, i leave mine free flight due to the free ranging, others are always flying, up on my chicken coops, house roof.. heck even the horse barn...

Keep an eye if your in a more congested area clipping maybe the answer to keep the bird safer.

 

[purplesquirrel]

Muscovies are usually loyal to their home, some report that their birds went astray, though. Mine never took off for good, but mine are also rather lazy and barely fly at all.


It may be that your duck gets a little too adventurous and starts exploring the world beyond your fence. In that case, clipping would be adequate.

True. The thought of her flying over our high brick walls would be a disaster. Not so much if she went into my immediate neighbour either side, but beyond that, there are busy roads, and neighbours I'm not that familiar with.
Oh well better do it now before she starts missing the freedom of flight I guess!
Many thanks.

 

[Going Quackers]

Hers one of mine my youngest at 1.5 yrs. I couldn't get her to turn towards me and the ground is too slick to walk I'd have been sitting in front of her. But yours and mine could be cousins.

how pretty! i have quite a variance in chest patterns here but i couldn't catch them to grab a pic these days.. seems as the years go, new clutches are more bold and less camera happy lol

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is them

Not a great photo, Nella on the left Charlie on the right.

They are so pretty, if your close to roads and people[dogs] I'd clip one wing on each. it's better to clip than to lose and a duck hitting a windshield of a car doesn't stand a chance. My drakes are pretty heavy and one flew down the hill the other day really surprised me since I had never seen him do that.

 

[purplesquirrel]

Oh God! That's no good!
Ok I looked up how to do it on youtube, this Canadian farmer guy does a good video.
She's not tame at all, so it's going to be loud and stressful!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh God! That's no good!
Ok I looked up how to do it on youtube, this Canadian farmer guy does a good video.
She's not tame at all, so it's going to be loud and stressful!

Mine dif don't like to be caught and clipped sounds like they are being killed but they get over it. I wait till evening most of the time and walk in behind them when they go in for the night, shut the door and get the one I want to clip, You might want to wear gloves you can actually use once you put them on because they can scratch pretty good with their claws. I hold them between my feet and bend over open the one wing and clip doesn't take long at all. can you post the link to the video?

 

[Julie Birb]

They are so pretty, if your close to roads and people[dogs] I'd clip one wing on each. it's better to clip than to lose and a duck hitting a windshield of a car doesn't stand a chance. My drakes are pretty heavy and one flew down the hill the other day really surprised me since I had never seen him do that.

they're cute.

 

[Frank Phinster]

Hers one of mine my youngest at 1.5 yrs. I couldn't get her to turn towards me and the ground is too slick to walk I'd have been sitting in front of her. But yours and mine could be cousins.

Astonishing pattern, I have never seen this before. I like how the barring spreads over her whole chest. belly and shoulders

Indeed, one could think they belonged together.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Astonishing pattern, I have never seen this before. I like how the barring spreads over her whole chest. belly and shoulders

Indeed, one could think they belonged together.

Well in a way they are kin.

 

[Frank Phinster]

True; I don't believe that the Spains shipped too many of them to Europe