Wintering Muscovies ~ How do you do it?

[BooneHillbilly]

I have 6, 6 month old scovys and am in the process of clearing off some land for their run.. Now the question is what tyoe of housing shouhld I build for them? Will a couple of dog houses be ok or do they need somehting else.. Also at what age are they ok to be out in the "elements"? The gentleman I bought them from had them in a outside pen with no heat, so are they ok to go out now? Thanks so much

 

[MDC]

They do surprisingly well for being a tropical bird. Their basic needs are the ability to get out of the elements if they choose (wind, rain, snow, ice, etc.) and fresh water & a good quality feed. Corn is great during the winter - I increase the whole corn in my ration during winter months as it creates warmth while it's being digested.

The shelter can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. You do have to keep in mind that Muscovy can be extremely territorial so they won't tolerate the same confines that other ducks or even chickens might. If they have too small of quarters is causes stress, which causes fighting and picking.

A simple 3 sided shelter with a deep bedding of straw or hay would suffice unless you have long periods of snow/snowing where it'll get buried, etc. Of course, if you're building in a back yard your structure might need to be different than if you're out on a farm.

 

[Bleenie]

They're total Brats! mine were last year anyway, i am hoping the new ones will be better...

i had this 1 chocolate hen, LuLu, i had to bring he rin every morning to defrost her feathers. she just refused to sleep inside or under cover. so she got the warm towel in the laundry basket treatment every morning that she had frozen feathers.

I also have a couple that insisted on sleeping on or right next to the water at night too...they drove me nuts.

Their ponds, if i get them set up soon will be empty through most of winter.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

I've had mixed results. Last year, I lost one and another one, my hubby had to put down because her feet froze off. If they are DRY out of the wind, there shouldn't be a problem...my problem arose because they were splashing water onto the litter, wetting the litter in -10 and freezing.

Since then, we're making three waterfowl pens to get the muscovies out of the coop and into their own yard with shelters. Their waterers are black, rubber tubs (small ones) placed on top of larger black rubber tubs with hardware cloth screens. This style has worked very well all summer and I do let them have access to a kiddie pool when I'm home and the weather is nice. Otherwise, they get enough water to drink & dunk their heads but not for playing.