New Muscovy Babies...any idea on what color they will be?

[kitkatbahr]

Hi all,

Well, I just got two more Muscovy ducklings. The "wild" mama duck would bring the four she had left (when she first showed up,, she had six) up every day, theree times a day, to eat the food I put out for them. Well, one week ago today was the last time anyone saw mama duck and the four babies. She was living in the ditch in our yard and across the road from us. She would go back and forth across the road, with four little ones following along. I was so afraid she would get hit by a car, but she kept on doing it.

Anyway, Saturday was the last sighting of her and the little ones. I looked for her every day, up and down both ditches and the road, etc. No sign of her. Then, Monday, I went out to feed my big ducks and I heard baby ducklings peeping and peeping. So, I went to investigate but couldn't find them. I have a hard time telling where sound comes from, as I am hard of hearing. So, I went in and got my husband. He found them right away. There were only two left and no mama duck anywhere. We decided to catch them and bring them in to raise with the first three that I got.

They are the same age as my three that Little Duck had, as the other mama, we were calling her Mae West, brought hers up two days after Little Duck had her babies brought up. So, I know they are close, within two days of each other. But, these babies are much, much smaller than my three, that had been eating gamebird starter, since they were three days old. These new little ones were three and a half weeks old before mama (Mae West) disappeard. Now that I have had them since Monday, they are doing good and growing pretty quick.

Anyway, here are some pics of them. The one is a chocolate one, I guess, and has brown beak and feet. Very cute and also my favorite. The other is brown and yellow. Does anyone know what they may look like when they are grown? I know there are expert Muscovy people here.

Also, I am going to include a pic or two of all five of them together. You can see how much bigger the first three are, compared to my new ones. I keep calling the bigger ones T-Rexes cause they look so much bigger! Not as much as they did 5 days ago though, as the little ones did grow a good bit.

Here are some pics!

Two new little ones:

A closer up pic of the chocolate one and the other new one. Cocoa has brown feet and a brown bill.

Pics of all five of them...

For size comparison...one of the first three, with one of the second two...

Looks like they are having a meeting or something! LOL

So, any ideas on what the two new little ones (first and second pic) will look like when they grow up?

Thanks.

Kathy

P.S. I sure am hoping they are ALL hens!! I have two Muscovy Drakes that would love for that to happen. LOL

 

[Hurst]

News one look like they might end up being chocolate with some white.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

The one on the left will be mostly black with some white on it's throat. One on the Right will be Black & White i.e. Black Pied. They are not light enough to be chocolates & when you have the brown bill and feet they will feather out black.
Cute Scovies, by the way, and I am so glad you were able to take them.

 

[kitkatbahr]

Thanks! I just wish I could have saved all four of the babies. By the time we found these, the other two were already missing. I don't know if they suffered the same fate as the mama or not, as we don't know what happened to her. I wouldn't be surprised if she did get hit by a car, as she crossed the road with the babies all the time. Several times a day. Only thing is, I checked the ditches all along the road and didn't find her body, so I don't know. I took pics of her and the four babies on Friday, while they were swimming in the ditch. She was so pretty. BLack and white. She had a huge, white chest and then black with purplish.greenish feathers along her back. The other two babies were mostly brown, like little Cocoa, but had a bit more yellow on them than Cocoa does. Not much though. I worried that they were still "out there" after I found these two on Monday. I kept going out and listening, walking the ditches back and forth, etc. but couldn't find any evidence of them. I guess only these two survived. I am so glad I got them though. I know everyone always says to leave the babies and mama will come back to them, but I truly think that she is gone for good. We still haven't seen any sign of her and it's been just over a week now. She went from coming up to eat duck feed three times a day, with the ducklings, every day for three and a half weeks. to totally disappearing. So, something happend to her. Probably that HUGE coon that tried to get the other three babies that Little Duck had that I now have.

Anyway, these little babies seem happy and healthy and are growing good!

 

[keeperofthehearth]

You're probably right and the Coon got them.

We are having a problem coon. Missed it again last night. I think it is "trap wise" so we will have to be smarter about setting and baiting it. I could tell it had tried to get into both the duck house and the chicken house last night. It was also on the back deck and made a mess of some stuff there. He's left sign around and I think it may be a large male. We'll try again tonight and hopefully get him before he gets our ducks or chooks.

Have fun with your new babies!