With their clawed feet, bizarre-looking caruncles, mohawk-like crest, and lack of quack, Muscovy ducks don’t quite fit the “bill” (if you pardon the pun) for what you might consider a “normal” duck. But on our homestead, these are the only ducks we want to keep because they have won our hearts with both their utility and downright personable natures.
After keeping Runners,Cayugas, andPekins, I’ve become convinced that Muscovy ducks are the perfect homestead duck. Let me share why, and just see if you don’t agree. If you are willing to look past a warty face or two, you may find that these ducks are a wonderful fit for your property as well.
Muscovy Duck Characteristics
Muscovy ducks are a large breed of waterfowl. With their bright red face mask, they stand out from other domesticated ducks almost immediately. The red, rather warty-looking growths are called caruncles — you’ve seen these before on the necks of turkeys if the term seems totally unfamiliar.
雄性通常会在它们的喙、眼睛周围，甚至延伸到脖子上，炫耀一些人所说的可怕的caruncle阵列。我觉得他们丑得可爱。
Females are usually a lot more subdued with what looks more like a masquerade mask encircling their eyes. They can come in a wonderfully wide range of colors, like iridescent brown, soft fawn, white, lilac gray, and any color in between.
无论男女，只要被什么东西刺激到，都可以竖起一根意想不到的羽毛冠。然而，雄性的冠要明显得多。成熟的雄鸟体型庞大，通常重达10到15磅，因此通常无法飞行。雌鸭的体型通常只有雌鸭的一半，只有5到6磅重，可以像野鸭一样轻松地飞到空中。
Related Post:Raising Cayuga Ducks
They also have a back claw on their webbed feet, a unique feature, in the duck world, that allows them to perch on branches (and anything else they are so inclined) like a chicken. If you don’tclip their wings在美国，你会发现你的莫斯科母鸡到处闲逛:屋顶上、车顶上、桶边、树枝上!
在处理番鸭时要记住这一点。如果它们已经被你驯服并熟悉了，轻轻把它们的肚子抱起来并固定它们的翅膀是没有问题的。然而，如果你是他们的陌生人，他们可能会抓你。
The “Quackless” Duck
这个品种的另一个显著特征是它们发出的声音，或者更确切地说，没有声音。虽然它们有时被称为“无呱呱”鸭子(事实上，它们是非常安静的水禽)，但这个术语可能会引起误解，因为它们并不沉默。
Females usually make a quiet, musical trill when walking about. When broody, they peep and chirp. I think it’s supposed to be intimidating, but it is adorable. The males make somewhat bizarre, heavy-breathing, huffy sounds. When scared, they can honk like a goose, but that’s pretty rare. Usually, you can’t hear these birds unless you’re beside them.
So, if you have nosey neighbors complaining about how you need to mow yourlawn-turned-prairie, or saying yourbeautiful clotheslineis an eyesore, at least you can rest easy that they can’t complain about the noises your ducks are making.
Are “Quackless Ducks” Even Ducks?
从技术上讲,没有。这些独特的水禽不像所有其他家养鸭品种那样来自绿头鸭。从它们的学名就能看出端倪。Muscovies are derived fromCairina moschata, a South American native bird, whereas all other ducks are bred fromAnas platyrhynchos, the mallard duck (with the contested exemption of theCayugawhich may have some black duck origins).
Some think they are actually closer in character to a goose than a duck. You can think of it this way: Muscovies are to ducks as donkeys are to horses. They are similar and can crossbreed, but they’re not the same animal.
Related Post:Raising Pekin Ducks
And like donkeys and horses, the mixed offspring of a Muscovy and mallard-domestic duck will be a “mule” that is unable to produce offspring. The mule ducks or mulards, are often used for meat production as they grow quickly and robustly.
Getting Started With Muscovy Ducks
在你把第一批偷窥的番鸭带回家之前，你需要为它们做好准备。任何动物都不应该是冲动购买的!在你对他们的生活负责之前，一定要花时间准备好他们需要什么。
When you do make your purchase, be sure to get more than one bird as they are social animals and most content with friends. I recommend getting at least six, just in case you lose a few. A trio or quad of one male to several females is ideal for the small backyard starter flock.
The first consideration should be the time of year that you bring them home. Since Muscovy ducks originated in warmer climates, they are especially sensitive to the cold when young — and if there’s no mama duck to keep them warm, they’ll need to be kept in a warm place at night during the early days.
We handled this by raising our first batch of ducklings in the summer so they could benefit from being outdoors all their lives. You may choose to brood them in the garage with a UV lamp or in the bathtub in the house (if you are alright with cleaning poop out of your house every day).
Once the weather is warm enough at night, around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, or once they are over 8 weeks old, they can stay outside. The big thing to watch for with ducklings is them getting too wet and chilled. Without a mother to clean and waterproof them, they are especially susceptible to getting soaked and dying.
Muscovy Duck Housing
The next thing to have prepared is their housing. Ducklings need good protection from predators, especially at night, but they don’t need anything fancy. I’ve heard of people using a straw-lined dog house with a door, cutting a hole out of a large tub and flipping it upside down, or even just having a safe, penned-in area with a tarp-covered crate to use at night.
If you have a pond, free-ranging ducks may put themselves to bed on logs sticking out of the water or low-hanging branches. Our first Muscovy was not tame in the beginning, wouldn’t come when I called, and spent an entire year sleeping on a tire propped up by the edge of the pond no matter what the weather! She has since gotten used to me, but she showed me just how hardy these ducks can be.
On our homestead, we have a dedicated duck house. As you see in the photo, it is a totally enclosed pen with an overhang shelter on the northern side because that is where most of the bad weather blows. We have problems with roving stray dogs in our area, so having a safe place to shut up our birds gives us peace of mind at night.
We raised our ducklings in this closed space until we decided they were big enough to free range, and then trained them to come back at night. I call them with a special sound just for them and give them seeds as a reward when they return. It may take some herding to get them to get used to the idea, but once they figure out that returning to the duck house means food, they won’t be able to waddle back to you fast enough!
在夏天，它们大部分的时间都在闲逛和进食，我要确保在鸭舍有盖的地方为它们提供干净的稻草。额外的好处是，这种稻草是超级肥沃的花园覆盖物。冬天的时候，我在鸭舍里把稻草铺得很深，这样它们就可以用鼻子蹭进去，保护它们的脚不被冻伤。
Their warm, protective down takes care of the rest of them. Our Ozark winters often have just a few weeks around the single digits, so I’d be curious to hear the experience from Muscovy-keepers in northern places like Canada!
Food And Water Requirements
When it comes to food and water, Muscovy ducks are relatively simple. You can reference my earlier article onhow to feed ducks here但请记住，莫斯科人的需求更简单。
Related Post:What Do Ducks Eat?
我们的小群羊完全靠我们的土地养活自己。We have a pond teeming with larvae, fields full ofclover, mice, and bugs, grit in abundance, and worms and slugs after every rainstorm. On the rare days when we travel and I have to keep them cooped up while we’re gone, I provide a pan full of whole seeds and a huge bucket full of grass and weeds torn up from the surrounding area.
Muscovy ducks aren’t nearly as wild about water as mallard-derived breeds, but they still need plenty of clean water daily. Give them a pan deep enough that they can clean their whole face in it, but rest easy that they’ll leave it a lot cleaner than a Pekin or Appleyard duck. They will absolutely delight in a pond if you have one, but a kiddie pool where they can clean themselves and play is also sufficient.
How To Sex Muscovy Ducks
随着鸭子的成长，你会发现有一些微妙的方法来让它们交配。根据我的经验，雌性长出成年羽翼的速度比雄性快得多，尽管雄性可能比雌性长得更大，身体更聪明。虽然雄性carcarator比雌性更突出，但它们需要一些时间来发育。
Related Post:Raising Baby Chicks: A Guide For First-Time “Parents”
I have found the most surefire way of sexing Muscovy ducks is to listen to the sounds they make. At some point, they’ll stop their cute baby peeps and start making more adult sounds — the females will make those sweet musical trills, and your males will suddenly declare themselves by inexplicably huffing and puffing.
Potential Problems And Diseases
Muscovy ducks aren’t very disease-prone. I suspect it is because they are a little closer to their wild roots than other domesticated ducks. The biggest problems I’ve ever faced with our flock have always been cold-related.
I learned the hard way about motherless ducklings getting chilled. We once lost two ducklings after a hard rainstorm because I didn’t dry them off in time, and I’m much more careful now!
6 Reasons Why I Love Muscovy Ducks
Once you get your ducklings raised, I think you’ll be amazed by how useful and hilarious these ducks can be. Every duck breed has its fans, and I am unabashedly in Team Muscovy. These are the pros to this breed that have unendingly benefited my homestead.
1. Pest Control
第一天晚上，你把你的小鸭子放出来，你可能会注意到它们是寻找虫子的机器。番鸭是一流的猎手，能够直接从空中捕捉苍蝇和蚊子，不断地在草丛中搜寻蟋蟀和其他虫子，甚至把它们找到的老鼠都干掉。我要养这个品种，只因为它有控制苍蝇的能力!
2. Good For Free Ranging
The main reason we got rid of our first mallard-derived flock was because they developed a bad habit of wandering far and wide. With a pretty high-use road bordering our land and neighbors that we really wanted to respect, ducks that weren’t content to stay on our 12 acres just weren’t an option. Our Muscovy ducks have been far more content to stay home, and we’ve never had a problem with them leaving.
3. Less Mess
I find that they create far less mud-mess than mallard-derived ducks. My earlier flock of Pekins, Runners, and Cayugas would create boggy puddles in the yard after every rain — destroying patches of ground — but my Muscovies politely sip up the water that they find and then move on.
此外，他们也不会把水弄脏——我每天只需要加一次水。我有时一天换四次我的野鸭群的水，因为它太脏了。When you get all your water fromrain catchmentor a hand-pump like we do on our off-grid homestead, saving that much water really makes a difference.
4. Super-Jumbo Eggs
Muscovies don’t lay year-round, but when they get going in the spring, they can provide you with dozens of absolutely huge eggs. One healthy, well-fed hen can usually produce 150 eggs a year.
The eggs are excellent in baked goods. I usually use one Muscovy egg in place of two or three of my chicken eggs. They normally lay their eggs in the early morning, so cooping them up in a duck house at night could make your egg hunt a lot easier.
此外，番鸡雏并没有失去良好的母性本能。如果你让它们在一个巢里堆足够多的蛋——通常是8到12个——她会忠诚地孵化它们，亲切地养育它们。
Keep in mind that Muscovy ducks take far longer than chickens to hatch — somewhere around 35 days. The only issue you may face is figuring out where the nest is. I like to encourage duck-house nesting by piling lots of clean, fragrant hay in the quietest corner.
5. Delicious Meat
I can’t speak from experience on this one, but Muscovy meat is supposed to be excellent. Some compare the lean, flavorful breast meat to veal or a sirloin steak.
6. Just Plain Fun!
Muscovy ducks waggle their tails like dogs when they’re happy to see you. I can’t ever get over that delightful fact. The sight of our small flock meandering through the clover, nabbing endless bugs, brings me a quiet joy every day. I love watching our grey-backed hen incubate eggs so tenderly, or laughing at our iridescent brown male as he huffs around my feet begging for treats. I can’t imagine our homestead without them.
所以，即使外面有“更漂亮”的鸟，你愿意接受一张红肿的脸来换取你养过的最省事、最有益的家禽吗?你对这些不像鸭子的鸭子有什么看法?I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories below.
Hi
I was fascinated by your email about the Muscovy Ducks
I am from South Africa
I was wondering if this kind of Ducks would be available here or how I would be able to breed them
We live on a small holding which we indeed want to be off the grid
It seems we can learn a lot from you
Alta
Thanks so much for your comment, Alta! I’m not sure what the availability of Muscovy ducks is in South Africa–I’m sure some quick Google searches will find you more local information. But what I can tell you is that you won’t need to know much specialist information about how to breed these wonderful ducks–they’ll take care of it themselves, for the most part! We just had a brood of ducklings hatch the other day (the grey-backed duck on the nest in the photos in this article is the Momma, incidentally!). She built the nest, laid the eggs, guarded them, and incubated them all without interference—all I did was provide the clean straw in the duck house and close her in at night so that she would be safe.
Really, all you need to get started is a male, at least two females, plenty of water, and a safe place for them at night. They are wonderful animals–I hope it works out for you!
We recently inherited a stray Muscovy duck! He is all alone. We have a big acre size pond. He follows me around and wags his tail for me all the time. We just don’t know where he came from and if he is missing his family. Are they OK alone? He seems happy and content. We live in South Mississippi
Hi Alta, I’m from Lesotho and we get muscovies from SA, so you’ll definitely be able to find them.
have you gotten any Muscovy ducks yet
I’ve seen these ducks raised in dessert areas but you have to have a pool of water
barwickraymond@gmail.com
在南非，他们被称为Makoue。
Photo/Attachment:
这是企鹅，一只流浪多年的番鸭。她悲伤的故事是，她和她的四个兄弟姐妹从以前的主人的房子里逃出来，开始住在河边。鸟的主人从来没有费心去取回他的鸟(所以如果你问我，它们严格来说是被抛弃的)。我三年前搬到这个小镇，看到这些鸟不断被车撞到，然后带着断腿或翅膀四处游荡，然后一起消失(你知道这意味着什么)，甚至在公园里被孩子们踢。我总是对孩子们和他们的父母大喊，没有必要为了好玩而伤害一只无辜的动物，它只会来找你吃的。
On my way home from work just two days ago, I saw Penguin getting hit by a car and the poor thing was trying to scramble away from the road while tripping over her own broken wing… Needless to say I managed to catch her and take her to the vet to treat her and keep her as a much loved pet forever. If I find any of the remaining siblings I will catch them too, after watching them all die one by one I have a bad feeling Penguin was the only one left… Either way she’s going to have the BEST life she could ever ask for with me ?
Glad you caught her–Muscovys can be difficult to catch when they’re scared! Even with her wing in the cast, she’s cute. Strays are always a heartbreak to me–their struggles are so unnecessary, since they are usually the result of people being irresponsible. I do hope you can find a sibling or get a friend–ducks are social and do best when they’re with at least one other. Hope the journey is an adventure for both of you!
上帝保佑玛利亚!!我非常感谢我们的天父，有像你们这样善良的心在那里，为这些上帝选择赐福给我们的可爱的生物!
Hi. I am raising a Muskovy ducklings that is approximately seven days old. I’ve had it for two. Been reading a lot about how to raise them. Is there any hope of returning it to the wild at age 8 weeks?
I have a single drake free ranging with 11 chickens. My neighbour’s dogs got my bunny and a chicken before I started letting the duck free range. He chases the neighbour dogs out! He is quite a friendly bird, though not interested in pets or being picked up, he comes when called and happily wags his tail and pants at me in greeting. I’m in central BC, so it can get pretty cold here, down to -25 C at night in winter. On those really cold nights I think I will put the birds in the garage for the night, but otherwise I’ve converted a small shed into a coop and they stay in there overnight pretty happily. We aren’t in freezing temps yet but is isn’t far off and everybody has moulted and is looking very puffy and warm.
Thanks for your comment, Lori! I find the drakes to be so endearing, even though ours has a tendency to try to knock the food bucket out of my hands in the morning. They are not fond of being petted, that’s for sure (which is why I try to pet him anyway, because he gets so offended! Lots of tail-wagging at the indignity of it all.) I’ve heard of drakes body-checking hawks to defend their brood–who knew that you could have one as part of your backyard defense (though that stinks about your neighbor’s dog–hope they took responsibility for the attack).
在你之前，我还没有收到任何加拿大的莫斯科人的消息!很高兴知道它们在遥远的北方生活得很好，因为零下25摄氏度很冷。你们在寒冷方面比我坚强多了!
Hi,
we have wild Muscovy ducks that have claimed our backyard, which has a river running through it, as their home for about 2 years now. We have watched 2 litters? batches? of ducklings go from 13 ducklings down to 0 due to pesky pukekos. the mother nests in our hay sheds till the ducklings hatch which seems like a safe place for them but then once they are hatched she takes them all over the backyard, where there are pukekos and onto the river till eventually, they all die ( i don’t want to doubt the mum but she doesn’t seem to be the best mum in the world). So we have just noticed that one of the Muscovy ducks are nesting again, in the hay shed, would it be a good idea to take her in and keep her in an enclosed space so that she is safe and once they do hatch to keep them all there till they are much bigger?. Should we make it so she can’t leave, or when they ducklings hatch, only she can leave? (by flying??) what’s the best way to relocate her and her eggs? just really don’t want to see another batch of ducklings get killed
thanks, Teresa
I had to look up what a pukeko was–I’m assuming you’re in New Zealand? Those sound like quite the pest to your wild duck friends!
的确，有些妈妈很好，而有些妈妈似乎一点都不知道。这可能是你的鸭妈妈不擅长照看她的小鸭子!虽然看不下去，但我敢肯定，当你和野生动物打交道时，做出这样的决定是很难的。有人会说，这只是发生在你后院的残酷现实。我不知道有什么方法可以安全地安置一只妈妈和她的蛋——通常，如果她的蛋被拿走了，她就会重新开始。至于把它们关起来——鸭子在长时间的禁闭中真的不太好。
So, all that said, I think a possible course of action is to relocate Momma and babies a day AFTER they hatch–she’ll stay with the eggs for most of the day until her clutch hatches anyway. Are there farms in your area that raise Muscovy ducks? Perhaps you could find someone interested in taking care of them for the long-term. I hope that at least gives you a start! Let me know how it turns out.
I was given 2 Babies, and 2 fertile Muscovy eggs, Babies were a week old.
I had a Chinese Brown goose that was “sitting” so I snuck the two fertile eggs under her and after 3 weeks, out popped 2 new babies, after several months they had grown substantially. Turns out I had 3 Males and one of the fertile eggs was a lone female. As soon as the hormones kicked in the males ganged up on the female to breed her, ultimately killing her. Now with out the female the two dominant males gang up on the third make, making his poor life Hell.
Watch out for Muscovy’s…
Watch out for Muscovys? I’d say the bigger threat is bad flock management. The drakes aren’t inherently evil–they just don’t want to be a fraternity. I know it’s too late for your poor female, but she had no chance–each male should have at least three females to himself, in an ideal circumstance. I’m not sure if you were asking for my input, but for the sake of your remaining birds, you need to make some sort of change–it would be probably best for everyone involved if you exchanged two of the males for two or three females. It sounds like you haven’t had the best time with these awesome birds–I hope things work out better for you all, Marsha.
What happened has nothing to do with Muscovies and everything to do with the fact that you allowed the sex ratios to be extremely unbalanced. The same thing would have happened regardless of whether they were mallard-based ducks, chickens, turkeys, etc. You are responsible for keeping your flock at a proper ratio. As soon as you realizes that you had 1 female and 3 males, you should have either acquired *many* more females or rehomed/eaten 2 of the 3 males.
This is not just Muscovies. All male ducks are sex-crazed in mating season. At least 3 ducks are needed to one drake for there to be any chance that of peace. We have a white pekin make and once one of the females was killed by a hawk he began to go after our chickens (dangerous for chickens…whole different biology).
Hello from B.C. Canada. We live in the Thompson Okanagan and love our Muscovy Ducks. They have fared just fine in temps as low as -25 F but we did keep them in their pen for those couple days. But mostly they will stay in after we open their door in the morning if it’s not to their liking for temp. We clip one wing and have found it allows them to fly low to ground still but no runaways. They are curious and very serious helpers when we turn sod in the garden each year. They love worms and cooked white rice with som tiny ham cubes added. That’s their winter protein boost. Lol. They know their names and are great at hiding those eggs. It’s an Easter egg hunt daily. Best if you find a nest to leave a couple eggs and take the rest. Believe us, if you don’t you will suddenly have a flock of 20 some odd ducklings showing up with mom for snacks. ??. All in all they are the best animal we have added to our little hobby farm. We have a flock of 13 females and two males. Have a great day from us to you all.?✌️
This is great! Thanks so much for filling in with some information about Muscovy ducks in Canada. I’ll see if I can add a note in the article. You’re made of sterner stuff than I am–I don’t know what I would do with -25!
So glad to be able to share in our appreciation for these wonderful, personable birds. Have a wonderful spring! We’ll both probably be enjoying some fluffy little babies soon enough.
番鸭很棒。对于一个小宅基地来说，可能不是一个更好的生产牲畜物种的选择。我喜欢她们是很好的自然的引路人和母亲;鸭蛋很难在孵化箱里孵化，除非你投资一个非常好的(而且昂贵的)孵化箱。我从不让我的家禽(除了鹅)自由放养，因为周围有太多的鹰，但无论如何，在夏天，如果你能把鹰赶走，莫斯科人当然可以在牧场上生存。但不要指望它们能因为捕食者而自谋生路。对于任何种类的家禽来说，安全的鸡笼和围栏都是必须的，至少可以在夜间使用。我通常在春天能找到最好的舱口。第二窝的卵在炎热的夏季温度下无法存活。
谢谢你的评论，Jack!我完全同意这是一些最好的牲畜，特别是小农场。我希望我在文章中没有说得不清楚——夜间保护对这些奇妙的鸟类真的很重要。尽管如此，我还是经常遇到一两只鸭子，它们在春天的夜晚绝对不肯从池塘里出来——在这种情况下，我发现我必须相信它们的判断，因为无论如何我也无能为力，哈哈。
对了，谢谢你提供的关于鸡蛋的有趣信息!回想起来，我发现在我的经历中也是如此。我只是从未听说有人指出这一点。
Hi Wren,
When I had my Muscovies, I also had Rouens and Blue Swedes. I like those two breeds as well. They are both similar in size to a female Muscovy and they too made good setters and mothers. I occasionally ended up with some mule ducks. I actually thought that was kind of cool, something a little bit different. A mule Rouen-Muscovy duckling is easy to identify right off because they have the black eye stripe of a Rouen but the colors aren’t “quite right”… a little hard to describe, but if you have Rouens and Muscovies and one hatches you’ll know it right away. The only drawback to Muscovies is that if you have more than one drake, one may become a merciless bully over the others, even to the death, unless you have a lot of hens. But not always. As far as bullying goes, Chinese geese are the worst. I hatched some Chinese goose eggs under a foster Muscovy mother and even though they were raised around other ducklings since hatching, once they got some size on them they brutally attacked and killed their duckling flock mates. I don’t like that breed for that reason and although I love regular geese (i.e., ones descended from the wild graylag goose), I’ll never get Chinese again. And I’d be wary of Africans. I’ve also read that some rare breeds of geese that were originally bred for fighting have Chinese blood (unlike Muscovies and mallard-type ducks, Chinese-type and graylag-type goose hybrids can be fertile). After my experience with the breed I can see why they’d make good fighters!
伟大的文章。良好的文字和文件。神奇的摄影。真正有趣和迷人的信息事实。玛丽费尔南德斯。NATURE TEACHER AND AUTHOR
So glad it could be helpful to you! Thanks for your kind words, Mari.
大家好，我点了莫斯科牛排，我喜欢。很温顺，很好。不幸的是，我刚刚一次孵出了3个蛋!对我们来说太多了。我有一个朋友想要10只，我想他会把它们卖掉或放在他的农场里。我在想，给每个妈妈留下一只小鸭还是两只小鸭比较好?我只有另外一个舱门，把它们都保留了下来。Any advice?
听起来像有很多小鸭子!!我的建议是:首先，只要你有资源、有欲望、有时间，养多少只小鸭就养多少只，但不要想太多。我猜你想知道雌性的孩子被夺走会受到怎样的影响。但你不必担心。鸭子和人不一样——当你把小鸭子送给你的朋友时，雌性不会在情感上妥协。当你把小鸭子赶走时，它们可能会和你打架(它们可能很凶猛!)，但很快她就会恢复“正常”。我想说的是，你把小鸭子和妈妈留在一起的时间越长，在把它们送到另一个农场之前，它们就会越强壮——如果你能等到它们开始从妈妈那里独立出来(通常是当它们开始长出真正的羽毛时)，它们会有一个最好的开始。希望会有帮助!
我住在阿拉巴马州南部，养过番鸭，你只会说它们。他们也是非常好的母亲，有一次我看到一只母鸡莫斯科赶走了一只老鹰，它试图吃掉她12只毛茸茸的黄色小鸭中的一些。他们很有趣，我们经常会看到我们4-5人站成一个圈，互相嘶嘶叫。我确定他们是在谈论他们的一天。我们一开始是5或6个，他们很快变成了30个，然后是60个。我们在屠杀他们，把他们送人。我们搬走了，现在没有，但很快就会我们刚在12英亩的地方建了一个池塘。我不会再屠杀了，因为一旦这样做了，这太令人心碎了，它们明白发生了什么，会在围栏里和它们注定要死去的朋友们围在一起。我觉得它们脏兮兮的，便便也比其他动物多，但听说了其他鸭子的情况后。我可能会放弃韦尔奇的那些丑角。 Thanks for the great article.
I have 4 Muscovy hens that are great. They have started laying for the spring. My question is I want to get some ducks that are better layers like pekins or khaki campbells and would my hens raise the babies?
can I keep a lone male with a flock of 7 chickens? (all hens) My ex asked me to foster him after his two females were eaten by racoons after my ex removed eggs from the clutch and the females started hiding eggs. He’s just been here 3 days but wanders around alone since the chickens avoid him so far. I’m hoping he will acclimate and am wondering if I should get him a mate, rehome him to a big flock, or wait and he will acclimate the way he is.
A drake can injure or kill chickens if he tries to mate with them. Best to either get a rooster to protect them, or get some ducks for the drake.
I just got two muscovies from a friend and I am sure what sex they are yet. If they are a male and a female, would you recommend that I exchange one so that they are both the same? Or is it ok to keep one male and one female?