Our first Scovies!! <3

[Mikanik]

We've always wanted a Muscovy in our flock and yesterday we got TWO!! We were planning on getting one but they had this little "runt" (the yellow one) and we just had to take her in as well. We had a 2:1 ration of drakes to hens so luckily I'm fairly good at vent sexing (which I DO NOT recommend to anyone who hasn't been taught by someone experienced with it!!!) so was able to sex these both and confirmed as female. I know they're *slightly* different than our cayuga, KC and Blue swede...so I"m here to search and gather as much info as possible. But SO excited to have these two newbies to take care of. The runty is already doing sooo much better....eating and drinking up a storm and they're already warming up to us just after one day.

Anyway...I'll get to the good stuff...PICTURES!!!


Not sure what color to expect....not that we really care!

The front one is the one I picked out first....how could I not with that adorable face?!

 

[mnferalkitty]

So cute!!! I just got some too I got 12 and then ended up getting an adult female the other day, she is really shy

 

[Going Quackers]

awe so cute! i have 9 week olds right now... crazy little things ... our duck lilly hatched them out for us.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are precious, Congrats!!

 

[Mikanik]

Sadly....our dachshund founds it's way into our duck room/bathroom and got ahold of these two dear babies.

Made for a horrible day. My friend who happened to have a few hatch this year was promptly kind enough to give me two new ones. I spent the entire morning putting up gates and reminding EVERYONE that the bathroom door is closed AND latched even if the gates are up. Been fawning over the little ones all day and they have tamed down soo much that it's insane. I had one fall asleep on me as I laid back and watched tv. My partner even got one to eat out of his hands! Definitely a very different breed compared to our others!

 

[Nyowpotopop]

Aww, I'm sorry. Daschunds are notorious for snacking on other animals... It's what they were bred to do after all. I'm really sorry for your loss! I hope these two work out better and you can keep them safer. :3

Differences in the breeds... Muscovy ducks fly pretty well to my knowledge and they're bigger than most ducks especially the boys. The go broody pretty easy and hatch out most young but are hard to incubate. The cross well with mallard breeds if you want meat ducks. They're also quieter and don't like water as much because thier oil glands are not as well developed. They have nicely clawed feet so be careful handling it. They like to roost up high too, which is what the claws are for. And I have heard if you take the eggs too much they like to hide where they nest. That's about the extent of my knowledge!

 

[Mikanik]

Aww, I'm sorry. Daschunds are notorious for snacking on other animals... It's what they were bred to do after all. I'm really sorry for your loss! I hope these two work out better and you can keep them safer. :3

Differences in the breeds... Muscovy ducks fly pretty well to my knowledge and they're bigger than most ducks especially the boys. The go broody pretty easy and hatch out most young but are hard to incubate. The cross well with mallard breeds if you want meat ducks. They're also quieter and don't like water as much because thier oil glands are not as well developed. They have nicely clawed feet so be careful handling it. They like to roost up high too, which is what the claws are for. And I have heard if you take the eggs too much they like to hide where they nest. That's about the extent of my knowledge!

thanks.. These two are well guarded and protected! Especially since my other half now remembers to close the bathroom door. He felt sooo horrible! He's already fallen in love with the new ones and even named one! "Bonsai" is our new little yellow Muscovy's name. LOL We also have a deep brown and yellow duckling that has yet to be named. Today we built them a nice little pen inside our duck yard so we can put them out during the day. Luckily, in our little suburb, we don't have any real predators. A very few hawks here and there, but we've built up guards for that slim chance. We're hoping that having them out with the other ducks will make the socializing go a little smoother when they're finally big enough to be out there to wander free.

Thanks for the info! We had a goose so we know a *little* about getting clawed....but I imagine these guys can do a bit more damage. We will be *gasp* clipping their wings and adding about 4 feet of flight netting (???) above the existing fence, which is only about 4 feet high. Just for them, we plan on making some little perching areas out of old logs from a fallen tree around the in-ground pond we'll be putting in this summer. Can't wait to get this all done...our backyard looks like a construction zone. A pet safe one, but a construction zone nonetheless.