solo Muscovy female..

[DeborahDi]

Muscovy girl lost her sister (nasty possum attack)... she has 16 chickens and 2 geese to hang out with. Any thoughts on whether she can be okay as a solitary duck or do we need to look for ducklings for her to adopt? or ...? Any thoughts welcome.

 

[FrostRanger]

I'd get her a few more duck hens. Being around you'll other birds helps a bit but she really ought to be with her own kind. You can raise some duckings but unless she's broody don't count on her adopting them. I was in a similar situation last year (with my chickens) where I was down to 2 birds (due to wet fowl pox) and I lost one to a neighbor's loose dog. Fortunately, I did have some chicks I was brooding inside that were about ready to go outside. While I am sure she appreciated not being alone, it took a few weeks of see but no touch just to get her to be civil with them. Even when everyone was integrated, she was never motherly towards them

 

[ruthhope]

I agree. Having hens etc around is temporarily ok but she needs ducky friends.

Sorry about the attack on her sister. Did you see it happen -- I doubt it was an opossum. Far more likely to have been a raccoon or a mink

 

[dannichols525]

She will go broody even without a male. You might want to wait until she does and then give her some fertile eggs to hatch.