Topic of the Week - Raising and Caring for Ducklings

[casportpony]

I never knew they were two complete different species. So it's like Horses and Zebras, or like the two species of peacock, India and Java

I think that's a great analogy!

 

[Henrik Petersson]

I never knew they were two complete different species. So it's like Horses and Zebras, or like the two species of peacock, India and Java

Bingo!

Or like horses and donkeys. And like horses and donkeys, ducks and muscovy ducks can have offspring, but the offspring is (almost always) sterile. Such offspring is even called "mule ducks".

Some differences between ducks and muscovy ducks, other than growth rate in their young:
- Ducks eggs take 4 weeks to hatch, muscovy eggs take 5.
- Duck drakes have a curled feather on their tail, muscovy drakes don't.
- The difference in size between sexes is bigger in muscovy ducks.
- Their vocalizations are different. Muscovy ducks never quack. Muscovy hens coo, muscovy drakes hiss.
- In general, muscovy ducks are much less attracted to water and swimming.

In most texts I read online, muscovy ducks are referred to as "a breed of duck", which I think is unfortunate and bound to lead to misunderstandings.

 

[PirateGirl]

I think there are many factors to consider when it comes to angel wing, genetics, vitamins, minerals, and protein. There is one vet book that suggests angel wing and perosis share the same etiology. I'll see if I can find that.

I'll also jump in and say not all feed is created equal and different feeds have different % protein. Angel wing, I believe, is in part related to protein consumption at a certain stage of duckling growth. Holderread does a good job of outlining the protein requirements of ducklings and adult ducks at different life stages (and differentiates between broilers and layers and muscovies) in his writing. Also different feeds are available in different regions. Long story short, read the labels and learn from Holderread.

 

[casportpony]

Bingo!

Or like horses and donkeys. And like horses and donkeys, ducks and muscovy ducks can have offspring, but the offspring is (almost always) sterile. Such offspring is even called "mule ducks".

Some differences between ducks and muscovy ducks, other than growth rate in their young:
- Ducks eggs take 4 weeks to hatch, muscovy eggs take 5.
- Duck drakes have a curled feather on their tail, muscovy drakes don't.
- The difference in size between sexes is bigger in muscovy ducks.
- Their vocalizations are different. Muscovy ducks never quack. Muscovy hens coo, muscovy drakes hiss.
- In general, muscovy ducks are much less attracted to water and swimming.

In most texts I read online, muscovy ducks are referred to as "a breed of duck", which I think is unfortunate and bound to lead to misunderstandings.

 

[PirateGirl]

Bingo!

Or like horses and donkeys. And like horses and donkeys, ducks and muscovy ducks can have offspring, but the offspring is (almost always) sterile. Such offspring is even called "mule ducks".

Some differences between ducks and muscovy ducks, other than growth rate in their young:
- Ducks eggs take 4 weeks to hatch, muscovy eggs take 5.
- Duck drakes have a curled feather on their tail, muscovy drakes don't.
- The difference in size between sexes is bigger in muscovy ducks.
- Their vocalizations are different. Muscovy ducks never quack. Muscovy hens coo, muscovy drakes hiss.
- In general, muscovy ducks are much less attracted to water and swimming.

In most texts I read online, muscovy ducks are referred to as "a breed of duck", which I think is unfortunate and bound to lead to misunderstandings.

This muscovy vs mallard seems like another good "topic of the week"

 

[casportpony]

I'll also jump in and say not all feed is created equal and different feeds have different % protein. Angel wing, I believe, is in part related to protein consumption at a certain stage of duckling growth. Holderread does a good job of outlining the protein requirements of ducklings and adult ducks at different life stages (and differentiates between broilers and layers and muscovies) in his writing. Also different feeds are available in different regions. Long story short, read the labels and learn from Holderread.

While protein may play a part in angel wing, I think it's more than just protein. I feed all of my ducklings 27% protein for many weeks and never see angel wing.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

While protein may play a part in angel wing, I think it's more than just protein. I feed all of my ducklings 27% protein for many weeks and never see angel wing.

Also, I'm guessing (just guessing!) that wild muscovy ducklings eat a lot of small animals, which are very high in protein, which makes it seem a little odd to "blame" protein,

 

[chickens really]

Another great topic @sumi

Ducklings are so adorable...This is my way on feeding and caring for Ducklings..Not Muscovy.
I provide an indoor Brooder out of a plastic tote. The bigger the better. Heat lamp to heat half the Brooder. I never have a set temp in the Brooder. I watch how the Ducklings act and change accordingly. The first two days after hatching I use piddle pads or paper towels. Then I switch over to pine shavings..All My Ducklings are off heat at around 3 weeks old.
Feeding I use Duckling starter that I Wet to a soupy mix. It helps them keep hydrated and fed. Plus I provide water and dry feed too. I use small margarine containers with head sized holes cut in the lid so they can dunk heads and keeps the area dry..Then use bigger containers as they grow..I feed Duckling starter till 6 weeks and then feed Grower with a mix of scratch grains till 4 months.
Treats I give the first week..Lettuce, tomato, Peas too..
All my Ducklings Bath from around 3 days old. It helps get their oil gland working.
I like letting Momma Ducks hatch Ducklings. Nothing cuter than that.. I keep Momma and Ducklings in a nursery pen and will introduce slowly back with the flock as they free range at around 2 weeks for short outings daily. Ducklings raised by Momma are so much easier to get introduced back with the flock. Ducklings I introduce without a Momma I first introduce to the Hens as they free range at around 3 weeks old..I have a look no touch pen also that the Ducklings are in most of the time.

Nothing as Cute or as Messy as Feathered Puppies..
Although they are worth it 100%..
Enjoy your Ducklings..

 

[Henrik Petersson]

And here's how I've raised muscovies (without angel wing!). I'll do it in sections.

When do the hens sit on eggs?

2-3 times a year, from spring to late summer.

How do I make the hens sit on eggs?
With our muscovy hens, you pretty much need a crowbar to make them not sit on eggs.

How do I make a good nest for them?
Following a piece of advice from a guy on a Swedish site, I made a huge nest - 40 by 60 cm (16 by 24 inches). The opening was deliberately made small - 20 by 20 cm (8 by 8 inches) in order to keep the drake out (I'd read that the drake can destroy the ducklings).

I read that wild muscovy ducks often lay eggs in hollowed trees, and the ducklings have to climb out, so do not be afraid of making the opening too high up on the wall. In fact, my scovies love it when I have tons of bedding in the nest - they like to sit in a deep hollow, plus they expertly cover up all the eggs when they temporarily leave them - and if you put the opening high on the wall, the bedding won't fall out.

The nest, with the roof taken off, with partly concealed eggs. The mother has taken a break from sitting and is out to eat.

Once, when the nest was fully occupied, one hen sat on and hatched eggs underneath the little antechamber in front of the pop door of the coop. For some reason (lack of space?) she only sat on 8 eggs.

How many eggs will they lay and how many of them will hatch?
They lay a lot of eggs (sometimes over 30) and a lot of them hatch (upwards of 100 %). Now, we've always had some trouble of muscovy hens stealing each others eggs and fighting over who gets to sit our only nest, which has probably reduced hatching success (stolen eggs have gotten cold and died, etc). So for us, only something like 70 % of eggs have hatched.

Where do they sleep once they're all hatched?

Depends. With the ducklings hatched in the nest, they and their mother have always slept outdoors once they have left then nest and the coop. But I don't think that's due to an instinct not to sleep in the nest for more than a day; rather, I think the ducklings are simply to stupid to figure out how to go up the little ramp into the coop and navigate all the way back into the nest. Why do I think that? Well, remember the hen who hatched eggs under the antechamber? She and her ducklings kept sleeping there every night for weeks. And when the mother stopped sleeping there, the half-grown ducklings kept doing it. Even when they were so big that the antechamber only covered half of their bodies (it looked kind of funny to see their butts sticking out from under there).

However, sleeping under the blue sky during the Swedish spring or summer is no problem for muscovy ducklings - the mother covers them. Even if there are more than 20 of them, they won't freeze.

Mother resting outside with 23 ducklings underneath her.

Mother trying to lure her chicks out from the coop for the first time. After many hours, they managed it.

What do the eat and drink?

Ours have thrived on the same feed the adults eat - basic chicken pellets and water. Make sure the water buckets are low enough for them to reach it. Also, as I've said, you may have to crush or soak the feed. Do not feed them layer feed, that probably contains too much calcium for growing ducklings.

Also, we free-range our and they love to eat grass and chase after tiny bugs.

Ducklings eating chick starter. As said before, it's probably a very bad idea to feed this to scovies beyond week one or two.

Are muscovies good mothers?

Yes. They are every bit as good mothers as chicken hens. If you provide food, drinking water and a bathing area, the mother will do the rest.

When do the mothers wean their young?

At about eight weeks of age. The weaning doesn't happen overnight, but is gradual.

When can they bathe?

With our first batch of young ones, a duckling started to bathe the first day out of the coop. Me and my sister immediately got worried; we'd read somewhere that ducklings should wait several days before they could bathe, due to not having developed some protective covering or other, and debated wether we should kidnap the duckling and give it a good wipe-down. However, we left it as it was, and it turned out just fine. In other words, if their mother is with them, they can start bathing as soon as they want to.

Still from a video I shot of ducklings swimming, flapping their wings, diving far underneath the surface and even looping underwater!

Incidentally, I've noted that muscovies raised at home, where we have rather a big pond, are much more inclined to swim than their parents, who we bought from a farm that didn't have any pond. So it seems that the "bathiness" of muscovy ducks depend on how much they get to bathe as kids.

Do you have to keep the drake away from them?

I'd read horror-stories of how muscovy drakes can kill the ducklings. We took the chance and didn't separate our drake from the young ones, and it worked out perfectly. He's never touched them, other than to give them an educative nibble in order to show them their place when they've been in the way.

Predators and other dangers

We are fairly free from predators where I live, but there are occasional stray cats and dogs, jays and magpies, potential dangers for the ducklings. Even so, we've never lost one to a predator, even though they've free ranged every day. Note that they have always been locked up in the pen at night.

Sadly, we did loose one of our fist batch to drowning. We had a small plastic tub in the duck pen for the adults to dip their heads in. The tub was too high for the ducklings to enter... Until one morning, when I found one drowned in it. It had finally managed to jump into in, and not managed to get out. After that, we always put big rocks or similar in water containers like that.

How tame do they get and how do I tame them?

It's pretty similar to chickens; it's a breeze to get them tame enough to eat from you hand, but getting them to let you touch them is a whole different ball game.

From the beginning, the ducklings will shun you, but if you approach them carefully with food in your hands, it will only take a few days before they eat from your hands. With our ducks, most of our adult hens aren't that tame... Which means the ducklings are often tamer than their mother! It's kind of comical to see her stand there and hiss two feet away, while her offspring plunge their heads into my hands without a shred of fear.

Remember how I said that the ducks we raise ourselves love to bathe a lot more than their parents? I also find that they get a lot more tame than their parents. You can get our first-generation scovies to eat from our hands, but if you stoop feeding them like that for a few weeks, they resort to shyness again, and you have to start over... I find that scovies hand-tamed since ducklinghood get a lot more tame as adults.

When can I sex them?

It depends on the individual duck. With scovies, the first visible sex difference is the size difference. The problem, however, is that the smaller drakes aren't much bigger than the bigger hens... So when you have 20 ducklings, you're gonna have some ducklings at either end of the size spectrum that are very easily sexed, and some in the middle that are harder. We sell the biggest and the smallest ones first, in order not to give customers ducks of the wrong sex!

But I would say you'll start to see a difference around six to ten weeks.

What are good names for them?

Elon Muscovy, Donald Duck.

Sorry if that was too much info. Also I want to add the disclaimer that I'm neither educated in nor have worked with ducks or any other animals, I'm merely a passionate bird keeper and forum dweller.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

And here's how I've raised muscovies (without angel wing!). I'll do it in sections.

When do the hens sit on eggs?

2-3 times a year, from spring to late summer.

How do I make the hens sit on eggs?
With our muscovy hens, you pretty much need a crowbar to make them not sit on eggs.

How do I make a good nest for them?
Following a piece of advice from a guy on a Swedish site, I made a huge nest - 40 by 60 cm (16 by 24 inches). The opening was deliberately made small - 20 by 20 cm (8 by 8 inches) in order to keep the drake out (I'd read that the drake can destroy the ducklings).

I read that wild muscovy ducks often lay eggs in hollowed trees, and the ducklings have to climb out, so do not be afraid of making the opening too high up on the wall. In fact, my scovies love it when I have tons of bedding in the nest - they like to sit in a deep hollow, plus they expertly cover up all the eggs when they temporarily leave them - and if you put the opening high on the wall, the bedding won't fall out.

The nest, with the roof taken off, with partly concealed eggs. The mother has taken a break from sitting and is out to eat.

Once, when the nest was fully occupied, one hen sat on and hatched eggs underneath the little antechamber in front of the pop door of the coop. For some reason (lack of space?) she only sat on 8 eggs.

How many eggs will they lay and how many of them will hatch?
They lay a lot of eggs (sometimes over 30) and a lot of them hatch (upwards of 100 %). Now, we've always had some trouble of muscovy hens stealing each others eggs and fighting over who gets to sit our only nest, which has probably reduced hatching success (stolen eggs have gotten cold and died, etc). So for us, only something like 70 % of eggs have hatched.

Where do they sleep once they're all hatched?

Depends. With the ducklings hatched in the nest, they and their mother have always slept outdoors once they have left then nest and the coop. But I don't think that's due to an instinct not to sleep in the nest for more than a day; rather, I think the ducklings are simply to stupid to figure out how to go up the little ramp into the coop and navigate all the way back into the nest. Why do I think that? Well, remember the hen who hatched eggs under the antechamber? She and her ducklings kept sleeping there every night for weeks. And when the mother stopped sleeping there, the half-grown ducklings kept doing it. Even when they were so big that the antechamber only covered half of their bodies (it looked kind of funny to see their butts sticking out from under there).

However, sleeping under the blue sky during the Swedish spring or summer is no problem for muscovy ducklings - the mother covers them. Even if there are more than 20 of them, they won't freeze.

View attachment 1249083
Mother resting outside with 23 ducklings underneath her.

View attachment 1249084
Mother trying to lure her chicks out from the coop for the first time. After many hours, they managed it.

What do the eat and drink?

Ours have thrived on the same feed the adults eat - basic chicken pellets and water. Make sure the water buckets are low enough for them to reach it. Also, as I've said, you may have to crush or soak the feed. Do not feed them layer feed, that probably contains too much calcium for growing ducklings.

Also, we free-range our and they love to eat grass and chase after tiny bugs.

View attachment 1249086
Ducklings eating chick starter. As said before, it's probably a very bad idea to feed this to scovies beyond week one or two.

Are muscovies good mothers?

Yes. They are every bit as good mothers as chicken hens. If you provide food, drinking water and a bathing area, the mother will do the rest.

When do the mothers wean their young?

At about eight weeks of age. The weaning doesn't happen overnight, but is gradual.

When can they bathe?

With our first batch of young ones, a duckling started to bathe the first day out of the coop. Me and my sister immediately got worried; we'd read somewhere that ducklings should wait several days before they could bathe, due to not having developed some protective covering or other, and debated wether we should kidnap the duckling and give it a good wipe-down. However, we left it as it was, and it turned out just fine. In other words, if their mother is with them, they can start bathing as soon as they want to.

View attachment 1249101
Still from a video I shot of ducklings swimming, flapping their wings, diving far underneath the surface and even looping underwater!

Incidentally, I've noted that muscovies raised at home, where we have rather a big pond, are much more inclined to swim than their parents, who we bought from a farm that didn't have any pond. So it seems that the "bathiness" of muscovy ducks depend on how much they get to bathe as kids.

Do you have to keep the drake away from them?

I'd read horror-stories of how muscovy drakes can kill the ducklings. We took the chance and didn't separate our drake from the young ones, and it worked out perfectly. He's never touched them, other than to give them an educative nibble in order to show them their place when they've been in the way.

Predators and other dangers

We are fairly free from predators where I live, but there are occasional stray cats and dogs, jays and magpies, potential dangers for the ducklings. Even so, we've never lost one to a predator, even though they've free ranged every day. Note that they have always been locked up in the pen at night.

Sadly, we did loose one of our fist batch to drowning. We had a small plastic tub in the duck pen for the adults to dip their heads in. The tub was too high for the ducklings to enter... Until one morning, when I found one drowned in it. It had finally managed to jump into in, and not managed to get out. After that, we always put big rocks or similar in water containers like that.

How tame do they get and how do I tame them?

It's pretty similar to chickens; it's a breeze to get them tame enough to eat from you hand, but getting them to let you touch them is a whole different ball game.

From the beginning, the ducklings will shun you, but if you approach them carefully with food in your hands, it will only take a few days before they eat from your hands. With our ducks, most of our adult hens aren't that tame... Which means the ducklings are often tamer than their mother! It's kind of comical to see her stand there and hiss two feet away, while her offspring plunge their heads into my hands without a shred of fear.

View attachment 1249114

Remember how I said that the ducks we raise ourselves love to bathe a lot more than their parents? I also find that they get a lot more tame than their parents. You can get our first-generation scovies to eat from our hands, but if you stoop feeding them like that for a few weeks, they resort to shyness again, and you have to start over... I find that scovies hand-tamed since ducklinghood get a lot more tame as adults.

When can I sex them?

It depends on the individual duck. With scovies, the first visible sex difference is the size difference. The problem, however, is that the smaller drakes aren't much bigger than the bigger hens... So when you have 20 ducklings, you're gonna have some ducklings at either end of the size spectrum that are very easily sexed, and some in the middle that are harder. We sell the biggest and the smallest ones first, in order not to give customers ducks of the wrong sex!

But I would say you'll start to see a difference around six to ten weeks.

What are good names for them?

Elon Muscovy, Donald Duck.

Sorry if that was too much info. Also I want to add the disclaimer that I'm neither educated in nor have worked with ducks or any other animals, I'm merely a passionate bird keeper and forum dweller.

You should make this into an article if it is not already.