Muscovy keepers share your pics!

[LuvinBlueBirds]

Put the one who is being bullied with as couple of the more docile girls to give her a break from this drake. if you don't they may stress her too much and you lose her. Or put your drake in permanent timeout. you need to figure out something asap.

Miss Lydia is absolutely correct. Take care of the hen FAST. I made the mistake of waiting a few days to see if they would get better and work it out. Then everyone ganged up on the poor hen on the bottom of the pecking order, including the other hens. She was a gonner by the time she was removed and put by herself. Don't wait! Put her in with the chickens if you have to. That is where mine went to be safe.

 

[TherryChicken]

I have a question. When my scovie girls lay, after 2-5 times of collecting the eggs, they will find somewhere else to lay. Is this normal? Could it be because they don't want me taking the eggs?

 

[calikid]

One of better threads that's forsure!

 

[DaisyMeadow]

I have a question. When my scovie girls lay, after 2-5 times of collecting the eggs, they will find somewhere else to lay. Is this normal? Could it be because they don't want me taking the eggs?

Have you tried marking and leaving a few eggs? Or maybe use fake eggs or golf balls to replace the ones you took? When we moved a boat that was concealing a nest of eggs, the mama abandoned it completely, and it had more than 15 eggs in there. So she may not like you disturbing the nest, but may not notice if you leave something in place of the eggs you are taking.

 

[TherryChicken]

Have you tried marking and leaving a few eggs?  Or maybe use fake eggs or golf balls to replace the ones you took?  When we moved a boat that was concealing a nest of eggs, the mama abandoned it completely, and it had more than 15 eggs in there.  So she may not like you disturbing the nest, but may not notice if you leave something in place of the eggs you are taking.

that didnn't even cross my mind. I may find some golf balls or some dumby eggs. I don't think their eggs are fertile, so I don't want to leave them. It's also not the best place for ducklings due to fencing

 

[kountryboy4life]

Yes, I do love my birds. But they do have a purpose. Well many purposes i guess. I have my chickens for eggs and meat. And my Muscovys are for eggs and meat as well. Due to there prolific nature, they produce ALLOT of young. I will sell as many as i can and what is left, goes to freezer camp. It is by no means my favorite part of raising them. But it is what it is. To help with the question with the eggs. They sure do not like when you take there eggs lol.. If they are not penned up, they will hide them on you to keep you from doing so. You can try the dummy eggs to see if they keep laying in that place. I have had quite a few girls in the past that would move the nest by just seeing you messing with it lol..

 

[Buck Oakes]

Hey y'all after mating how long does it take for females to lay fertile eggs?

 

[Ambi]

Hi allI'm a relative newbie to the world of raising Muscovies and I'm having my first big hiccup!I need some advice:-/I have three girls and one drake that are all siblings.I raised them from two weeks old and they're pets. Quite friendly. I hand fed them grubs and worms when they were little so they are all quite large too.They will be six months old in a few weeks and we still haven't had any eggs or mating so i decided it might be worth a try getting a se ond drake as mine free range around the front yard all day and there are a few girls.He came from a pen of 8 drakes so is quite battered and much smaller tthan mine, though he is about 1 year old.The moment I opened the box he was in, my drake attacked him. The girls even got in on it too. It was horrible! I pulled my drake off the new boy and locked him in his pen. He went crazy!I gave him some time to cool off then let him out again and he ran around the yard mating all of the girls and attacking the new drake again.My thinking is that he isn't attempting to defend himself as he is used to this and realises he is smaller and weaker than my boy. I have been leaving him in the pen during the day with tonnes of food and putting him in the shed at night on his own so he can grow stronger and his wings can repair themselves. Is this the right thing to do?Also, my drake is now following me around the yard and quite aggressively biting me, which he started doing about a week prior to the new drake arriving, around the same time he started trying to mate one of the girls. He's quite big and akward (his wings never formed correctly. I'm told this is called angel wings?) and his bites are leaving big bruises on me:-( It really hurts and I adore this fellow but I'm about ready to kick him up the backside!!What can i do to stop this agression towards me and how can i manage the two drakes?ANY help at all here would be greatly appreciated

I'm from Australian, QLD!
I had a fox attack early September last year that culled my flock of 4 birds... I've finally built my flock back up! I got two muscovy duckings last sept (both under 2weeks old) ones a big fat drake and the other is his sister... She hasn't started laying yet either! My other 2 Muscovies didn't lay until they were 10months! I was talking to people at a poultry farm about it and they said it was normal for them to start laying at 10months, so maybe give them another month or two before you start worrying!
The girls start becoming more sociable with you the closer they come to point of lay, or at least that's what I've found with my stubborn bunch!

I couldn't see if anyone else had answered you about that, I hope it helps! =]

Good luck with the housing issues! I'm having similar issues with my hard headed muscovy drake and couldn't-hurt-a-fly Runner drake!

 

[MuscovyLover]

I'm curious about this too Buck.

 

[Ambi]

I have a question. When my scovie girls lay, after 2-5 times of collecting the eggs, they will find somewhere else to lay. Is this normal? Could it be because they don't want me taking the eggs?

My girl does this! It's super annoying, but we know all her egg hiding places now, so it makes it easier!
We haven't tried leaving fake eggs, but it seems to work for a lot of other people...

I try and keep my layer in her pen till 9-10am (after she's normally laid for the day) and then let her out to free range till bed time! Depends on your set up if that's actually possible tho! Haha