Solitary Muscovy at new house

[New Muscovy Mom]

Hello everyone,
My husband and I just moved to a 10 acre property with a 1.5 acre pond. Our first week at the house a lone duck showed up. I did some research and seems he is a Muscovy drake. He lets us get within a few inches of him but won't allow us to pet him. He gets close to the fence where our two small dogs are and seems curious about them. We have been feeding him and he loves it. He is still here three weeks later and spends his days in the pond and walks around the yard. We have named him Melvin and want to keep him and have him be as happy as possible. I have been reading that ducks like to be in pairs/groups. Should we get him a friend(s)? If so, male or female? How many? How old? Would they need to be separated at the beginning, or what is the best way to integrate them? Any advice would be appreciated as we know nothing about ducks.

 

[ruthhope]

Hello everyone,
My husband and I just moved to a 10 acre property with a 1.5 acre pond. Our first week at the house a lone duck showed up. I did some research and seems he is a Muscovy drake. He lets us get within a few inches of him but won't allow us to pet him. He gets close to the fence where our two small dogs are and seems curious about them. We have been feeding him and he loves it. He is still here three weeks later and spends his days in the pond and walks around the yard. We have named him Melvin and want to keep him and have him be as happy as possible. I have been reading that ducks like to be in pairs/groups. Should we get him a friend(s)? If so, male or female? How many? How old? Would they need to be separated at the beginning, or what is the best way to integrate them? Any advice would be appreciated as we know nothing about ducks.

Muscovy are feral in the USA. If Melvin isn't happy he will leave just as he arrived -- flying!! That includes if he wants a mate: he will go and look for one. If you take over feeding him -- healthy duck food, please, not bread or other empty calories -- he will gain weight and lose the ability to fly. He will be more vulnerable to predation. Muscovy do not sleep on water as wild ducks will if they feel threatened. And so feral muscovy that can fly are more prone to predation than wild ducks.

I would just offer Melvin treats -- chopped kale or diced water melon -- and leave him to find his own dinner [and breakfast!] He needs to preserve his instincts to remain as safe as possible in the wild.

If you want ducks, get domestic ducklings from a reliable source. Brood them in hour home and feed them good quality duck food, and when they are old enough give them supervised time outdoors. Build a secure coop for them at night and train your ducks to come to the coop at night -- mealworms are good inducement for most ducks. Depending on where you are and what local predators there are, you will likely have to build a secure pen for the ducks to be out in. Domestic ducks on 10 acres and a pond will be very vulnerable to predation if you do not keep them safe

 

[Miss Lydia]

@New Muscovy Mom
where does Melvin sleep at night? could he have been left there when the previous owners moved away? Is there any other body of water close by where there are other ducks Muscovy and wild ones?

 

[New Muscovy Mom]

@New Muscovy Mom
where does Melvin sleep at night? could he have been left there when the previous owners moved away? Is there any other body of water close by where there are other ducks Muscovy and wild ones?

I am not sure where he sleeps. We usually see him in the evenings and mornings. There are tons of trees around he may sleep in. We contacted the previous owners and they had never seen him before. There are ponds smattered around the town in various subdivisions, personal properties, and parks. It is certainly possible he could have come from there. However, I have never seen a Muscovy before. Lots of Mallards and tons of geese but that's all I've seen.

 

[Miss Lydia]

He may belong to someone around the area then. That is how I got my first Muscovy drake he was at the mountain river below our home. He was with us almost 12 yrs.
If you really want to keep him then he needs a safe place to sleep becasue sleeping in a tree will bring large owls and other predators. Many climb. Our first Muscovy lived across the river from us but the owners didn't pen or coop them at night and they were all getting picked off this drake ended up at the river I eventually contacted the original owners and they didn't want him so he came to live with us. Then I went and got him 3 Muscovy females AND that started my love affair with ducks. That was 2004.
He may be feral but I can't see that would matter if you want to provide a home for him. Are you in Florida?

 

[New Muscovy Mom]

M

He may belong to someone around the area then. That is how I got my first Muscovy drake he was at the mountain river below our home. He was with us almost 12 yrs.
If you really want to keep him then he needs a safe place to sleep becasue sleeping in a tree will bring large owls and other predators. Many climb. Our first Muscovy lived across the river from us but the owners didn't pen or coop them at night and they were all getting picked off this drake ended up at the river I eventually contacted the original owners and they didn't want him so he came to live with us. Then I went and got him 3 Muscovy females AND that started my love affair with ducks. That was 2004.
He may be feral but I can't see that would matter if you want to provide a home for him. Are you in Florida?

No, we are in Indiana. There is an existing chicken coop on the property that just needs cleaned up so we plan to fix it up for him. I wondered if he had flown off from wherever he came from because he prefers to be alone. But from everything I’ve seen they are very social creatures. So you would recommend getting multiple females versus a male? Would they need to be young? Separated from him at first?

 

[Miss Lydia]

A drake would be fine if no females around . If you decide on females he will need at least 3 drakes are pretty Randy. They will need to be introduced slowly if you have a pen that goes to that coop the new one or ones could go in there and that way meet and greet could go fine but when I brought home my 3 Muscovy females for my drake they took to each other with out any problems. This drake did have a buddy with him at the river but got killed before I took the one drake in.the only problem I had was the 3 females were used to living at a pond on previous owners property we didn’t have that here so to keep them from flying down to the river I had to clip their wings. This is so they get used to their new home and surroundings