Muscovy ladies

[Coopcheney]

I brought home two Muscovy ladies and one crested female. I was told I would have to train them to go in the duck house at night. Yesterday I had to guide them in and it was not bad at all……today I went out and to my shock the Muscovy ducks put themselves to bed the crested duck was still foraging and didn’t want to go in lol. I will say this is my first time having Muscovy ducks and they seem to walk to the beat of a different drum. They seem almost mystical and very mysterious. Not silly like my Rouen ducks at all. I absolutely love them.

 

[sourland]

They are definitely different than the mallard derived breeds.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I love their personalities, and the sweet trills from the females is what won me over on this species. I would just have those but my daughter insists on having Quackers!

 

[Coopcheney]

I named them Edith and Cora

 

[ruthhope]

I brought home two Muscovy ladies and one crested female. I was told I would have to train them to go in the duck house at night. Yesterday I had to guide them in and it was not bad at all……today I went out and to my shock the Muscovy ducks put themselves to bed the crested duck was still foraging and didn’t want to go in lol. I will say this is my first time having Muscovy ducks and they seem to walk to the beat of a different drum. They seem almost mystical and very mysterious. Not silly like my Rouen ducks at all. I absolutely love them.

I have muscovy boys and currently one pekin drake. They move around together. The pekin sleeps in a dogcrate as he is only half the size of the muscovy boys, and he is rather annoying. He is non-stop yakety yak yak; he even wakes up at night and starts yaking away. He is at risk of being stood on when the muscovy have had enough. Yet in the morning,when I let them out, the muscovy go running up the garden towards the house flapping wings and wagging tails. Then they realize the pekin isn't with them and back they come to the shed to get him. By that time, I have generally got their breakfast from a bin in the shed and let the pekin put of his crate. We all walk up to the house together. They tend to get hydrated first and then come over and eat their pellets and meal worms. By 4 o'clock they are all by the back of the house waiting for me to come out and give them their dinner. They all promptly walk down to the shed with me and then , when I have their evening rations in hand, they all walk back up to the house with me. By 5 o'clock, they are all down at the shed door milling around. When they see me coming to put them to bed, they run up and greet me and walk back to the shed with me. The pekin knows he goes in first and mostly does that: he goes in and I shut the dogcrate. As soon as I get out of the way, the muscovy boys go in to their quarters. The times obviously vary by the season. About 3 weeks ago, I came home late and ran down the garden in the dark at 5.15. The boys were all inside: pekin in his dogcrate and muscovy in their area.

So they are not trained but they are used to the routine. Unfortunately, they are not reliable enough to use a timer controlled door as is possible with chickens. I have occasionally gone down to put them to bed, and they have run off to the far side of the garden. When the monkey gets them like that it's quite difficult to get them in bed as they run behind trees and hide! I once came home late (which I hate doing because of the raccoons and foxes in the neighborhood) and found them all by the side gate in the dark waiting for me to come home!

Enjoy your muscovy ladies: they are very lovely ducks but beware: they can fly. You may need to clip their wings to stop them leaving home.