What duck breeds are the best slug eaters?

[blogger]

I have Muscovey, but they are going to be banned in WA state. I hear Khaki Campbell are good eaters? Any opinions? http://backyardpoultryseattlewa.blogspot.com

 

[Oregon Blues]

All ducks are excellent eaters of slugs and snails.

I'd worry about a duck choking on one of those gigantic banana slugs, though.

You've heard Muscovies are going to be banned in Washington state? This is the first I've heard of it. Anyone form WA have any more information about this?

 

[Mike Winters]

runners? there cute and can make nasty slugs into alot of tasty eggs

 

[Tahai]

Dutch Hook-bills are reputed to be the best slug-ducks ever, though any of the foraging ducks will do a good job.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Muscovies love them some slugs and just about anything else unless it's a hairy caterpiller. I guess they don't like to get the hair in their teeth.

 

[newbyduckmom]

Both mt Khakis and Magpie gobble them up like candy....the ducks more so than the drakes. They also found a stash of night crawers yesterday and had a feast! (I prefer they eat the slugs!)


Them seem to stay away from the larger banana slugs.

Hadn't heard about Muscovies being banned in WA....bummer. I was thinking of getting one to set on eggs for me! Can't find anything on this other than federal. Here's a link from a local (Kitsap co) newspaper. It's a couple years old. That's the only thing I found. And it says nothing about WA in particular http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/apr/01/federal-officials-reverse-new-regulations-on/


Cannot find anything on the WDFW (Washington Department of FIsh and Wildlife) or WSDA (Washington Department of Agriculture) sites regarding Muscovy bans.

 

[blogger]

They could not get a Muscovey ban in place for 2012. So the WA state folks asked feed stores to not sell the breed. The are to be sold as food and not as pets.

Maybe because people let them go with unclipped wings? They take off and ruin habitat for WA native ducks. Muscovey are only native in Texas.

Also Muscovey males need 7 females. I don't think male and female can be told apart, except to wait until the males are obivously bigger in size than the females in that hatching. That creates a problem whereby a person can buy ducks that will be male and when mature they fight horribly. If you get too many girls outside the 7:1 ration, the hens have bad scuffles. Not the thing I want my kids to watch. So once folks end up with duck problems like this, they may help them scoot out the door....like they do with the dogs and cats they abandon. Just drop them off by the nearest lake and out of mind.

I have the actual regulation in a note on my laptop somewhere and will post.

backyardpoultryseattlewa.blogspot.com

 

[blogger]

Muscovey regulations are in limbo in WA, since 2010, except as I previously mentioned. The site I used is no longer active, but try http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/RegulationsPolicies/ The bad thing is US Fish and Wildlife lets u do whatever you want to these birds, torture, drown, anything goes. Shoot wolves out of airplanes. Hunt exotic animals within a fenced perimeter from which they can't escape. One CA kid set fire to a trapped opossum while neighbors screamed. I wish people and times were more simple, but maybe even cavemen pulled wings off of butterflies. I just stay home and feed my ducks. backyardpoultryseattlewa.blogspot.com

 

[blogger]

I'm near Carnation, which is not far from Snohomish. I can give you a Muscovey. It is still legal for private people to sell them as food, but not as pets.

 

[Nartoday]

Yeah, I haven't heard of a ban in WA, and I see a lot of Muscovy ducks on craigslist. I'm on the side of preserving our native species. If anyone has unwanted Muscovy, I will slaughter them for you!

On another note, I've read that Muscovy ducks make even better pets than Mallard derived breeds.