[colliewoman]

She be sqidged! Although in true BC style now answers only to 'Red Dog'

[cuckoo]

Erin also responds to biscuit and dinner!

[jaykay]

Oh, now I really don't need any more ducks...... But I really like the lavender ones.......

Thing is, are they going to hybridise with my runners, cos I do breed those and would like them to breed true.

[goosepimple]

Hi Cuckoo, I breed  Muscovy ducks - we never clip their wings and they have never flown away, we have around 21 at the moment and  they are all happy to stay around and eat the goat mix on top of their cut maize.  We never shut them in - they roost on fences, shed roofs and dead trees which is much better and safer than shutting them in - don't shut them in.  The females fly before the males - you should be able to tell the males from their size from around 10 weeks - they grow carbuncle type things on their face and aren't terribly attractive.  The females are fab mums and - sorry fleecwife - we've only had 3 males this year and 14 females, all of which have survived.  We have a few serial sitters and they are very friendly eating from our hands and jumping on the window sill for bread treats. 
Jaykay - we did have to get rid of our original male though because he started attacking those expensive female geese you sold me  - seemingly they don't tolerate females of a different species very well.  Our more recent drake was born here and he and the geese/gander seem to tolerate each other well enough.
Cuckoo - we have had runners and various campbells in the past but I love Muscovy ducks for their wonderful temperament and great mum skills.  Great ducks, enjoy.

[MAK]

Good to read these posts and how they can roost.
Question:
We have one mum from last year sat tight on her 15 eggs for 23 days.Her daughter (mum 2) has a clutch of 16 that she sits on at night. It is possible that not all these eggs are hers as we have 5 new ladies for a week or so. Oh - the new ducks have a clutch of 8 or so.

Q: How long should I wait on mum number 2 to sit on her clutch 24/7 ? It's been about 5 days now.

I don't have an incubator but could try and make something up.

[Sylvia]

I had a pair of Muscoveys years ago, Hissing Sid and his dear wife, Dolly. Dolly would fly away when she was thinking about being broody (who wouldn't at the thought of a dozen or more children ) but would always come back to nest in her usual place. Sid led her a fine old dance 'til he got too old to run after her but he was very friendly and could be trusted with my small children, hens, geese and turkeys.

[goosepimple]

Ours usually wait until they have about 15-18 eggs before sitting, building their fortification up and sitting on the top - they usually sit beyond what we expect and it usually ends up being about 40days in total, just when we think they are on duds and think about shooing them off, out they come with their brood.  You will have to protect them with their young from herons in our case, we make up make shift pens for them and we can't let ours out until they are about 12 weeks old - seems a long time but ours would be taken by the sky vultures otherwise.  We feed the chicks on breadcrumbs whizzed up in the magimix with milk for about 8-10 weeks which they still love when they are adults and worm them at around 3-4 weeks.  Watch they don't get 'farmers lung' from stale smelly bedding, keep it fresh.

[cuckoo]

Well we have the muscovys - only 2 in the end - the others have found other places to go.  Rightly or wrongly we have trimmed their wings.  Fiestly little buggers - obviously never been handled really - also doused them in louse powder as a precaution.  They then went in with our ducks - who promtly waddled quickly in the other direction! Turns out Muscovy ducks hiss not quack.  I am sure they will settle in.

Thanks for all the help.

[Brijjy]

I've got quite a few Mussies and I love em. They are pretty quiet, the males hiss and the females make a kind of trilling noise but definitely no quacking. All of mine are very well behaved and they get tamer as they get older. I used to clip their wings but don't bother now unless one of the girls decides to lay and nest away from their house. The boys are too fat to fly. They make very good broodies and one of my girls hatched out a clutch of eggs in january this year!

[MAK]

Great info and tips.
So we have 2 nests that may contain eggs from 4 different birds. The larger clutch now has about 16 eggs ( I took a few of the oldest eggs away and added them to the smaller clutch of ,
how long should I give the females ( first time mums) to sit 24/7 before giving up and taking the eggs away.
The third clutch has a second time mum sat VERY firmly on top of but out of sight. maybe the younger mums needed to learn from her.
Any help appreciated.

[colliewoman]

Well we have the muscovys - only 2 in the end - the others have found other places to go.  Rightly or wrongly we have trimmed their wings.  Fiestly little buggers - obviously never been handled really - also doused them in louse powder as a precaution.  They then went in with our ducks - who promtly waddled quickly in the other direction! Turns out Muscovy ducks hiss not quack.  I am sure they will settle in.

Thanks for all the help.

They also make a funny little warbling noise when they wag their tails. They are quite chatty if you are patient with them.
I don't know if there is such a thing as a well handled musky, they sure know how to use their claws. But mine will eat from the hand 
Their eggs are very gloopy but delicious!

[jaykay]

Ducks normally take 28 days to hatch, geese 35 and I have a vague feeling somehow that Muscovies are somewhere in between.

[goosepimple]

Cukoo, well done on the two, hope they are female 
MAK Don't fuss over them and their nests etc, just leave them to it, they will get on very well without any help.  I must mention though that I don't clip any fowls wings - it's their only chance to get away from preditors which, if you live beside water, can include otter (dog otters are huge and will tackle them) as well as the fantastic Mr Fox of course.  Not fussing is probably the best piece of advice though - if they think you are nosing they will just forget the whole thing.  Good luck!

[MAK]

Thanks goosepimple - I'll leave them to it.

I think I have an albino female. All white ( not a dark feather at all) and she has no colour in her eyes - just the black pupil. She is the most enthusiastic about food, bathing and hunting out insects and is laying like crazy.

[Brijjy]

http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s383/brijjy/vivazpics191.jpg
This is one of my girls last summer. She sat on the eggs in the wood shed behing a pile of logs.