NEED advice. Healthy?

[itrevorjohnston]

Hi, I am new duck owner and I’d like to get all the advice I can get.

This is Frankie he is about 3.5 months old. To be honest I don’t know how to tell the sex yet. But I’ve been calling him a dude.

I don’t know what type of breed he is.

And I’d like to know more if I am missing something in terms of his nutrition and me looking after him.

My worry is that his beak is quite pale and I’m noticing his feet are starting to not be as vibrant.

I’d like to make sure he is healthy first.

He also hasn’t learned to quack yet. He doesn’t speak at all. Maybe because it’s just me teaching him.

He’s starting to practice to fly a bit.

And him being more of a teenager he is starting to show a bit more aggression to strangers and doesn’t follow or come when called as often. Just a bit more stubborn.

Any tips for nutrition, training, and general care will be much appreciated.

 

[fluffycrow]

Muscovy are a rather quiet bunch... @Canadian Wind @Miss Lydia

 

[KathiQuacks]

Looks like you have a White Muscovy duck! Sorry, I don’t know much more beyond that. I would guess she’s female..
Edit to add, your duck is stunning!! I love the beach photo

 

[tlcmurphy]

Very dapper duck with that bow tie!

 

[Jenbirdee]

what a cutie. we have several muscovy owners here to answer your questions and I’m sure one will be along shortly

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've had Muscovy since 2004 2 generations. The most important when they are young is to make sure they have a proper amount of niacin in their diet so they don't get a deficiency. I have always used Nutritional yeast this will keep their legs strong 1 Tab over each cup of feed they get. I even give it to my adults 3x a week. I have never been able to use duck-specific feed becasue I have a mixed flock so rely on a good quality poultry feed for all my birds.

You say she is starting to fly if you live in an area where other homes it may not be such a good idea if she were to land in someone's backyard that has dogs. Clipping one wing will keep her grounded so she stays home I don't have close neighbors but we are surrounded by woods so mine get clipped to keep them inside the fence. Every fall after their big molt and their new flight feathers have gown back in.

Female muscovy make a trilling sound and drakes huff If you look them up online you should be able to hear what each sex sounds like. Here is what a female sounds like
https://www.bird-sounds.net/muscovy-duck/. Couldn't find one on a drake but they make huffing sounds.

Before a female becomes sexually mature their caruncles are pale in color once they are mature they will become red. It's usually the drakes that tend to become aggressive once sexually mature some worse than others. Please explain what you mean by Frankie being more aggressive.

 

[Canadian Wind]

The bill colour is normal for a white Muscovy. The amount of carruncle growth (the red fleshy part) and the head shape makes me think male, but I could be wrong. Males will become quite large, up to 15 lbs and sometimes more. Muscovy are known as the Silent Ducks, because they do not quack.

Miss Lydia gave you some amazing info. She's helped me a lot with mine, too.

My main concern here though is that you appear to only have one. This may be a cause for any aggressive behaviour. Ducks, and Muscovy (which aren't true ducks), are social animals. They *need* to have another member of their species with them. Chickens or regular domestic (mallard derived) ducks won't fill that need, although a domestic duck is better than no companionship.

Good luck, and !

 

[Miss Lydia]

I do have a Muscovy female who prefers to live and hang with the Runners, Buffs and Cayuga I have so it can work if another Muscovy isn't available. This particular Muscovy hatched many of these Runners and Buffs in 2016 and for some reason decided she would stay with her kids.
I agree with @Canadian Wind it would be best if your Muscovy had a friend or 2

 

[Fawkes]

What a cutie!

Re aggression, the girls don't tend to get aggressive exactly, but they might have an attitude and be nippy sometimes. Rarely though, IME.

I've had a lot of muscovies since I was a teen, I think the only girl that's gotten nippy with me is my girl who was born last summer. If you irritate her she'll bite, and irritating her might be as simple as she's in my lap and I need to get up, so I gently pick her up and put her on the floor and that earns me a bite if I'm not careful lol.

She's done this ever since she was pretty young. She's a little better about biting now, but I've gone through periods where my hands and arms always had several cuts and bruises.

Meanwhile, my 4 month old drake doesn't bite me at all. Hoping that lasts...

 

[itrevorjohnston]

I've had Muscovy since 2004 2 generations. The most important when they are young is to make sure they have a proper amount of niacin in their diet so they don't get a deficiency. I have always used Nutritional yeast this will keep their legs strong 1 Tab over each cup of feed they get. I even give it to my adults 3x a week. I have never been able to use duck-specific feed becasue I have a mixed flock so rely on a good quality poultry feed for all my birds.

You say she is starting to fly if you live in an area where other homes it may not be such a good idea if she were to land in someone's backyard that has dogs. Clipping one wing will keep her grounded so she stays home I don't have close neighbors but we are surrounded by woods so mine get clipped to keep them inside the fence. Every fall after their big molt and their new flight feathers have gown back in.

Female muscovy make a trilling sound and drakes huff If you look them up online you should be able to hear what each sex sounds like. Here is what a female sounds like
https://www.bird-sounds.net/muscovy-duck/. Couldn't find one on a drake but they make huffing sounds.

Before a female becomes sexually mature their caruncles are pale in color once they are mature they will become red. It's usually the drakes that tend to become aggressive once sexually mature some worse than others. Please explain what you mean by Frankie being more aggressive.

Thank you for such a wonderful response.

I did just order some nutritional yeast off of Amazon yesterday so hopefully comes in by next week. I've been feeding Frankie a feed I get from the local store, I ask for duck food and this is what they give me which I believe is just a standard poultry feed. I live in Mexico. I read up on niacin so I started giving some carrots and peas into the mix of diet.

He eats a lot like me tho for treats he gets my leftover beef and scrambled eggs. It is a favourite.

He has been raised by me this whole time, had him I think like a week old. It is still a mystery to how he ended up in my pool and we asked the neighbours to see if we can find its mom. So I've just taken him in is as one of us.

He's been raised around humans and I tend to take him out of the house at least a few times a week. I take him on my motorbike to a local cafe, out for hikes, down to the river, to the beach, social events, I'd say he has been living a ducking good life.

In terms of aggression it seems as of the last 2 weeks he has been just a bit more nippy with people and more on alert in places, he doesn't follow me as easily when I take him for a walk, and not behaving when called.

I'd like to work through it and see how I can train him more.

When he is approached by people in public and they step within a foot or two to say hello or give him a pat he will start bitting their toes.

Frankie doesn't do it to me but to anyone else it is a bit too much.