Hi everyone,
I became an unplanned Muscovy mum a few months ago, after my sister found 2 fairly young ducks at her work. They were both very tame, and in danger of predators, so they came to stay with me while we worked out what to do with them. To cut a long story short, winsor and newton quickly became a much loved addition to my menagerie, and are now a permanent part of my family.
They are now possibly full sized, and I thought were both drakes, due to their quiet quacking and the sheer size of them. At least one has laid a few eggs in the last week or so in a disused dog kennel, but weren't sitting, so we removed them. And obviously at least one is a duck! One of them, winsor, has taken to living almost permanently under the pool deck, only emerging at morning and night to eat and duck around the yard. Newton is still always out and about, and sometimes disappears under the deck to hang with winsor briefly, before coming back out to his/her usual self and antics.
I will get a torch at some point and try to see what is happening under the deck, but my novice opinion is Winsor has perhaps set herself up a nest and is stockpiling/sitting on eggs? These guys are probably only 6 months old. Is this old enough to produce fertile eggs? The first 3 weren't fertilised, but we ignorantly removed them as they seemed abandoned. Would a female nest if there isn't a drake at hand? Physically, they seem very similar, although newtons' caruncle is growing a bit more than winsors'. I've hopefully attached a photo of newton here, pictured on top of the lorikeet cage where he has a great view into the kitchen where he can beg for food and attention lol.
Thanks for reading! I can't wait to learn more from you all.
I became an unplanned Muscovy mum a few months ago, after my sister found 2 fairly young ducks at her work. They were both very tame, and in danger of predators, so they came to stay with me while we worked out what to do with them. To cut a long story short, winsor and newton quickly became a much loved addition to my menagerie, and are now a permanent part of my family.
They are now possibly full sized, and I thought were both drakes, due to their quiet quacking and the sheer size of them. At least one has laid a few eggs in the last week or so in a disused dog kennel, but weren't sitting, so we removed them. And obviously at least one is a duck! One of them, winsor, has taken to living almost permanently under the pool deck, only emerging at morning and night to eat and duck around the yard. Newton is still always out and about, and sometimes disappears under the deck to hang with winsor briefly, before coming back out to his/her usual self and antics.
I will get a torch at some point and try to see what is happening under the deck, but my novice opinion is Winsor has perhaps set herself up a nest and is stockpiling/sitting on eggs? These guys are probably only 6 months old. Is this old enough to produce fertile eggs? The first 3 weren't fertilised, but we ignorantly removed them as they seemed abandoned. Would a female nest if there isn't a drake at hand? Physically, they seem very similar, although newtons' caruncle is growing a bit more than winsors'. I've hopefully attached a photo of newton here, pictured on top of the lorikeet cage where he has a great view into the kitchen where he can beg for food and attention lol.
Thanks for reading! I can't wait to learn more from you all.
We are glad you joined our flock.
