Ronery is a juvenile blue pied muscovy drake. His mother laid his egg in another hen's clutch that was already 2.5 weeks into incubation - so when his clutchmates hatched, he wasn't ready yet. I popped him in my incubator and 2.5 weeks later, out popped Ronery. But, I had a predicament. His mother continued to lay her nest elsewhere, but the rest of his real siblings weren't going to hatch for another couple weeks. So, I gave him his rather appropriate name and raised him in a brooder. He bonded to me, and followed me around. I would take him out and carry him around while doing chores and while milking. He was the only duck allowed in my milkroom, where he got all the best treats.
As you can see, he has angel wing. I fully and completely attribute this to diet. Most of my ducklings are raised naturally with their moms. They have access to food 24/7, but they also free range and their diet is somewhat diluted by grass, weeds, and whatever else they find. Ronery has been my ONLY muscovy raised in a brooder, and the ONLY one that has gotten angel wing. I've had my breeding stock for a while and have hatched out a LOT of muscovies, too.
Ronery gets to be my special buddy. He knows his name and as long as I don't sneak up on him, he still lets me pet him a lot. He even tries jumping in my lap, which he's no good at.
