Muscovy

have had this pair for 3 months now visiting my pond. For the last month just the male or female comes. They take turns. Must be sitting on a nest as I have seen them mating

this odd male/hybrid has been coming for 3 days now.

another shot

A common farmyard escape . . .

Resin

Donna,

Beautiful photos and beautiful bird. Thanks for sharing.

Marilyn

Donna,
We have a bunch o' Muscovies at the pond near our hosue as well. They nest everywhere. This past year, the same mother nested under our front porch twice. Here's my favorite of the day the first little group hatched.
Deb

And the first time she brought them back to visit, about 6 weeks later..

oh to funny and messy. They sure make a lot of poop for little duckies

Wonderful photos - and are those babies cute or what???!!!

This is Buttercup. When we got him, he was 3 inches long and 2 inches wide and yellow...all over even his feet and bill. He is not very happy that his name is so girly!

Duckmother are these pure bred or hybrids??? I have never seen this kind of marking/coloring on the bills on hybrids

Buttercup is a rehab duck. So, I really do not know if he is a hybrid. However, the female that may have been his mom, is a hybrid.

I caught him flirting with some Pekin ducks, yesterday. We had to have a Mother and Son talk. I explained that Pekins are not very good Moms and that he should pick one of new female Muscovies (which are great Moms). Did he listen? No! He walked over to three Pekins and talked sweet them. He is such a charmer ;o))

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!

We used to have Muscovies on our homestead in central Penns. They would pick the dumbist places to nest. One was in the hayloft. When they hatched, I would carry the babies to ground level. Another insisted on nesting about 25 feet up a tree. The poor babies would hatch, then fall to their deaths around the base of the tree. That darn bird pulled that stunt over and over again. She always seemed to be so confused as to what happened to her ducklings. One nested on the floor of our chicken coop, which was open during the day. There was no electricity in the coop, so it could be quite dark inside. I walked in, to collect eggs, when it was still pretty dark, and saw what looked to be a black garden hose on the floor. It took a few second for it to sink in, that it was a black snake, swallowing the muscovy eggs. The muscovy and the hens were putting up a fuss. That snake was preoccupied, and full of lumps, and didn't flee. I picked it up with a manure floor and took it outside to digest its meal.

This message was edited Jan 7, 2007 9:56 AM

I am surprised that the babies died when they would jump. Usually, at that age they bounce. But, I agree, Moms don't always pick the smartest area, instead they pick (what they think is the) safest area. As you saw first hand, it is not always the safest either. Were you ever able to save any and watch them grow?

bsharf: I know what you mean about the Muscovy mom's nesting in what seem to be odd spots. This past spring, one nested in a median in the middle of the main entrance into our neighborhood. An area about 3 ft wide with one crape myrtle tree and some lantana! Nothin' but a curb between the nest and the traffic!

This is one of those original ducklings from my posting above. She still visits, and also nested in our yard this year. We call her "Seven" because she was always the last to show up when the 7 original little ones would come to visit.

Deb

Went out for the paper this morning and came around the corner to see the ducks making themselves at home. You can see they are right by the drive and walkway. They are very comfy round people. The male was watchful, though. (I also noticed they had just made a meal of my newly sprouting Colocasias.
:0 )

Deb

Marvelous!

to funny. Yes they get some of my plants too

How wonderful!

Debin,

Those baby ducklings are adorable! 'You' can almost touch the fur in that photo!

They're still cute in the second pic, 6 weeks later!

Thanks for sharing!

This message was edited Jan 14, 2007 3:26 PM

Duckmother,

What's a Pekin Duck and what do they look like?

I'm assuming you have Pekin Ducks, since Buttercup was flirting with them. Did Buttercup mate with any of the Pekin Ducks?

Edited to add...... Why don't the Pekin Ducks make 'good mothers'?

This message was edited Jan 14, 2007 3:30 PM

Debin,

What is (are) Colocasias? Are they fruit that the Ducks were eating on the tree next to them?

Marilyn: Colocasia = elephant ears. They barely went dormant this year and now they're sprouting new growth. The Muscovy ducks seem to like them at that stage. I had planned to cover them with a little chicken wire til they got taller but the ducks beat me to the punch! (They've also eaten my cannas & gingers in the past.)
Whatcha gonna do.....(sigh).
:)
DebinSC

Marilyn, Pekins are the white ducks...yes, if you have ever eaten Peking duck, you either ate a Pekin or a Muscovy or a mix of the two. Both ducks grow quickly and (I am told) very tasty. I feed all of the ducks and most think that I am the "feeding lady" and sit with me and eat out of my hand, etc. However, I did not put them in the wild and try to discourage people from doing so. They most likely will be killed within 3 years. On a farm or as a pet, they will live at least 7 years. Some domestic breeds live 20 years+.

Most ducks will mate with other ducks, no matter the kind. It is more common place when there is a lot of domestics in a small area. Buttercup may mate with a different breed of duck but right now, he just wants a date. lol He wants to dominate a female...even though she will end up being the boss. The other (older) male Muscovy, will not let Buttercup near the other two females.

China was the first to domesticate the Mallard over 1000 years ago. Over time they became experts at raising, incubation, etc. and through these techniques the produced many types of ducks such as the Pekin. If you think of ducks like you do a rose. If you want to improve on one part of a rose such as smell you will lose something else such as size...well the same with ducks. Pekins grow fast, are about twice the size of a wild mallard, and have good meat. They lost their color and how to brood. This will not always happen but usually, the female will make a nest, may lay an egg or two, may even sit on the nest for a day to a week. Then she kind of, gets bored and leaves her nest. Well, it does not take long for something to nab it, bird, turtle, human, etc. So, you rarely see pekins with chicks. There are other white duck breeds and some make better Moms but none are as good as Muscovy Moms.

They will only leave the nest for short periods of time, keep their eggs warm, fan them if they get too hot, etc. If you know anyone that has ever gotten to close to Muscovy cheeks, they probably got flogged. I am lucky, the Muscovy Moms here will bring there chicks for me to see. Or, maybe, she just want me to duckling sit while she eats...either way, I love it.

A picture of 3 Pekin females, 1 Pekin male and 1 Khaki Campbell male,