Wandering Muscovies

[PunkinPeep]

When i got my scovies, i didn't know how much they enjoy their daily walk. I had a male and 3 females, and they went for walks a LONG way from home. And sadly, i've now lost my drake and one female. So as we regroup and reinforce our property to keep the ducks home, i'm looking at getting replacement ducks the same age from someone nearby. My concern is whether muscovies that haven't been raised here might decide to try to go home.

One person in another forum, said that he stopped raising muscovies because he once had 20 of them fly away in the fall.

Has anyone else had an experience like that?

Will it be a problem to bring in 4 or 5 month old scovies to join my flock?

What are your experiences?

 

[Amiga]

Muscovies are flyers, and a number of people clip their wings.

Others say that keeping them relatively confined (where they are safe, and cannot fly away) for a couple of weeks helps them understand they are expected to stay around.

I like the idea of bribing them . . . making the place so much fun, they would not consider wandering off. Think peas, or something from the sticky about treats here on the forum.

 

[Going Quackers]

I can only share my own experiences.. i have a flock of only Muscovy, the majority have been raised here from either day olds or couple week olds.. i did add some ducks last year at several mths old...

My girls are not clipped, because they free range i want them to have an ability to leave/get away.. my drakes are to big to get far off the ground.. my oldest guy has to weight almost 15lbs.

They wander around the property and usually will coop themselves up at night come dusk... I keep all pools and feed around there barn area. We are rural living, surrounded by nothing but more rural properties and forests.