Muscovy keepers share your pics!

[RoyalT]

I feel really weird about this, but I got a video of my drake breeding one of my ducks today. Debating whether or not I should upload it to my blog for people who have never seen it before. Thoughts? I mean, it's an interesting process and I would like the video to be on the more educational than creepy side of things, but would it be?

I have found 3 eggs from the Blue Fawn girl and one today from my Black Pied. The chocolate duck is looking a little raggedy, so I need to figure out how to get her feeling better and laying. Still not sure if my white duckling from last year is female. I sure hope so!

 

[Frank Phinster]

I went to a show with my deceased hookbills and my pekins I still have. The hookbills and the pekin drake got pretty good ratings, the pekin duck received a little less points because her shape is not the best and she has green spots on her bill.
Unfortunately I didn't get many eggs from my pekins, she either did not lay well or always laid them somewhere in the pen where the crows found them before me. And the hookbill duck did also not lay much and the drake was not a good fertilizer, either...he did not show much interest in his partner but spent most of his time and energy to get over the fence to mate with the pekin duck and getting into fights with the drake.
When I started with ducks, runners were my favourites and I read the standart description over and over and looked for pictures so I have at least some idea how a high quality runner should look like.
But nowadays I like ducks with more flesh on them because they just look better in my opinion and stay calmer in stressful situation.
You can put a pekin or muscovy into a show cage and they will just stand there and eat and drink and eventually take a nap. A runner will stand in a corner for half of the time and try to get away and when it finally has calmed down it can easily be scared again.
High quality runners look always half starved to me and at least the German standart demands that they stand only on the last joints of their toes when fully errect. That is to much strain on the intersalal joints. That does not affect the whole breed an in the end you can decide whether you want to support this or not.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I went to a show with my deceased hookbills and my pekins I still have. The hookbills and the pekin drake got pretty good ratings, the pekin duck received a little less points because her shape is not the best and she has green spots on her bill.
Unfortunately I didn't get many eggs from my pekins, she either did not lay well or always laid them somewhere in the pen where the crows found them before me. And the hookbill duck did also not lay much and the drake was not a good fertilizer, either...he did not show much interest in his partner but spent most of his time and energy to get over the fence to mate with the pekin duck and getting into fights with the drake.
When I started with ducks, runners were my favourites and I read the standart description over and over and looked for pictures so I have at least some idea how a high quality runner should look like.
But nowadays I like ducks with more flesh on them because they just look better in my opinion and stay calmer in stressful situation.
You can put a pekin or muscovy into a show cage and they will just stand there and eat and drink and eventually take a nap. A runner will stand in a corner for half of the time and try to get away and when it finally has calmed down it can easily be scared again.
High quality runners look always half starved to me and at least the German standart demands that they stand only on the last joints of their toes when fully errect. That is to much strain on the intersalal joints. That does not affect the whole breed an in the end you can decide whether you want to support this or not.

I know what your saying about these runners compared to scovies. I have only been to 2 shows and there was only one duck entered in both shows the same duck so of course it took 1st place, it was a WH. and the calmest thing I ever saw. I love Scovies so much I don't know if I could ever change or add another breed to my menagerie but I sure do like to look at the other breeds and wish I had room for them all. out of my 13 Scovies 6 are rescues and the others Have hatched here. I don't know how it is in Germany but ducks seem to get dumped alot and in most places in the USA they are hated the Muscovies especially.

.

 

[Frank Phinster]

I am am member of the local poultry club and we make a show every year in december. I always help to feed and look after the birds and play supervisor.

Runners have been the only breed so far that behaves so nervous in the show cage, any other breed stays calm.

In Germany we also have duck-dumping, but it appears not so much of a problem as in the US. Most domestics you find on ponds and rivers belong to this breed: http://www.rassegefluegel-th.de/bilder/2011_erfurt/DSC_1666.jpg. They come in every colour that is accepted in the standart for any other breed and can fly very well and survive on their own in the wild. Many of these domestics you find outside captivity have left their home coop on their own and settled among wild mallards and interbreed with them, thus creating a lot of odd-coloured offspring that prefers to live near and within cities. It is feared that soon that the genuine wild mallard will vanish and only hybrids will be left.
I cannot remember when I saw the last feral muscovy, they do not seem to get dumped often. Feral domestics are not generally disliked, some people even seem to fancy the uncommon birds, ecologists and biologists are concerned with overpopulation and the hybrid-issue, though.

 

[eggfinder12]

I don't see why not. It's part of life. The baby ducks come from somewhere.

 

[nailladi]

I love them the most. They are tough and eat a lot of bugs.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I love them the most. They are tough and eat a lot of bugs.

They are awesome ducks..

 

[Adorkable]

@ Miss Lydia: I am from Germany and it is 3:45 PM now. Although this thread is for Scovies, I will now just post a pic of my runners here...




Since the two have to face abuse from my larger ducks at night in the shed I bring them into the duckling coop in the basement every evening. The coop once built for rabbits l and meant for outdoors so it has two rooms, the small enclosed one and a larger with wiring on the front. The ducks seem feel more comfortable huddled in the smaller room.

They are definetely not show quality runners, but I like them nontheless.

I've never seen runners this color. I like the white eyebrow on the female. It reminds me of the saxony. They're pretty!

 

[The Howards]

Liath playing Peek-a-Boo

We finally got them to eat out of our hands!!! It only took 3 months. They still won't let us pick them up without a huge chase but it is a HUGE step in the right direction!

 

[Adorkable]

Took some pictures on Tuesday when they were exactly 7 weeks old. I'm still not sure as to what sex they are

Hamsteak and Bigfoot.




Lyla-cakes (I hope it's a girl lol) and Bigfoot. She was supposed to be blue and white too, but as you can see.. she isn't. It's fine though because she's very nice and I love her

Bigfoot is mostly blue now but he does have some white on him.




This is Hamsteak. If any of them are drakes I'm betting on this one because it's the most dominant of the 3 scovies. He's kinda funky looking lol. Blue with some weird white splotches.




This is him (?) again. He has a little crest to raise. Pretty cool!




Lyla was eating. I didn't think they would start to get their caruncles so young (7 weeks).





Here are all 3 of them. I can't really see much size difference at 7 weeks. If the 3 of them are drakes I seriously think I'm gonna cry

I love how the ducks are in their own little world. They totally ignore the chickens unless they get too close then they do this soft hissing sound and run the chickens off. I have seen all 3 of them hiss at the chickens when they get too close. Does that mean that they are all males?

Edited because I wanted to add the pictures below. Sorry for all the pics lol