The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: gingercloverbramble on June 09, 2010, 12:25:26 pm
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A friend of mine has had way too many broody muscovies and now has to find homes for her many ducklings. She has asked if we would like to take some from her and as usual I am tempted!! We already have 6 ducks (mixed breeds - runners, aylesbury) which free range around the farm and sleep with the hens at night. If I was to take half a dozen muscovy ducklings I would house them in another shed - certainly to begin with as they will be so young (our other ducks are about 15 months or so?!). I am wondering whether the newbies would keep themselves to themselves or if they would eventually run with the other ducks?! ???
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Lisa to start with you will have a "them and us" groups but through time they will settle down and all be good friends.
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;) Thanks James - will go ahead and tell her we will definitely take some!!!
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Lisa soon your family is going to be as big as mine hee hee hee. : ;)
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- if the muscovies end up mating with the other ducks, the ducklings will be sterile mules which are supposed to be very good for eating. Grow to the size of the male m's very quickly apparently, as they're sort of sexless I suppose. My muscovies keep themselves pretty much separate from the aylesburies, at least they did until the duck was sitting her eggs , then I saw the drake with one of the aylesburies...... The muscovy drake roosts way up in the trees - they're very good fliers, and different from all other farmyard type ducks - most ducks are descended from the mallard, but the muscovies are a south american perching duck! So not closely enough related to have fertile progeny, but apparently in the far east they've been breeding the m's with say, pekin type ducks for the table duck market for years. And in France, barbary duck is a delicacy and is of course muscovy duck.
I like the muscovies the best, love the noises they make , and their wildness. Good luck with the ducklings! Rhona
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Thanks for the information about the muscovies. Am looking forward even more to getting them now after hearing that they are your favourites Rhona! Cheers ;)
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We had lavender muscovies for many years. They kept us well entertained with their antics. The ducks, if they got fed up with being persued by drakes would take off then fly low over a sheep fence - the drakes couldn't quite make the height and would crash into the fence, leaving the duck to go on about her life in peace. The ducks would also fly across the road to our fields over there, knowing the drakes couldn't follow. How they were never hit by speeding cars mid-flight I don't know. Oddly, they never flew back but would wait for us to go and fetch them at night. We have 2m high windbreak mesh around our veg garden - the drakes would walk up it which was quite a sight, then wobble precariously on the top before flying down to mess up the garden. The ducks of course just flew over the top.
The ducks are excellent mothers and they raised many broods for us - our duck pond looks very lonely now :( They also got top prices at the rare breed and poultry sales as the young lavenders look stunning.