muscovy ducks

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

hi, this may sound stupid but here goes, we were given 12 muscovy ducks as new ducklings last spring, so far no eggs,do they only lay in the spring? what age do they start laying? any help appreciated.

-- Julie (nelson3@bright.net), December 07, 2000

Answers

Mine started laying at about eight months and will sit on three clutches a year if conditions are right. For some reason they prefer the shelves in my workshop. Sometimes startle people. Are you sure you don't have all males? Have you seen mating activity?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 07, 2000.

The ones I had a couple years ago laid like crazy in the spring, and were wonderful moms. I had one gal hatch out 18 babies and raised them all. I am dying to get more Muscovies. They are the best.

-- Jenny Pipes (auntjenny6@aol.com), December 08, 2000.

My experience with muscovies is that they will lay rather profusely in the spring and intermittently during late summer and early fall. No eggs in winter. If they are allowed to sit and hatch (which they are inclined to do 2-3 times a year) their egg laying will of course be less.

You can tell males from females, because the males get about 1 1/2 to twice as large as females and the males have more "warts" on their face. A muscovy duck may have a rather smooth face compared to the drake.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), December 08, 2000.


Julie, it was not a stupid question. When we first had ours I didn't know a thing about ducks, we also have muscovies. Ours began laying when they were about 6 months old. However, I too, suggest you check to see if they're all males. Ask around, someone near you should be able to help.

-- Phyllis (almostafarm@yahoo.com), December 08, 2000.

Julie, I believe that you just need to wait until spring. I never had a Muscovy lay in the winter(there is always the exception). They are wonderful mothers, and you will have lots of little Muscovies by next winter. A previous contributor described them quite well, as the males are twice as big as the females. Oh they can fly too. I liked that since they could get away from the stray dogs(the bane of all ducks). Good luck and enjoy your ducks

-- karen (kansasgoats@iwon.com), December 08, 2000.


I've got three muscovies and I was looking forward to the eggs but they all turned out to be males. Just my luck. But they do a good job of keeping the grasshoppers thinned out. They'll clean out a big yard of grasshoppers.

-- Joe (jcole@apha.com), December 08, 2000.

With 12 ducks, the odds are not likely that they are all males, unless they were sexed before being given to you. I would say you probably have both males and females, and just need to wait. I've had Muscovies for several years, and they always start laying in the spring. Usually 6-10 in a clutch the first year or so, then they start raising 16-20 at a time. Generally raise at least 2, more often 3 clutches per year. It is hard at first to tell young males from females, but after you've had Muscovies for awhile, you can do fairly well at sexing them from a young age. As adults, it's easy, males are almost always way bigger and heavier than the females, and the carnucles (big red fleshy thing on their bill) is much bigger than on the female. Also, as soon as mating season rolls around, the males do a lot of hissing and head bobbing to attract the females attention. If you don't eat the eggs or get busy butchering the ducks by about 4-5 months old, you will be overrun with ducks in short order. (Ask me how I know, LOL.) They are great scavengers, my feed costs from spring to fall are minimal as they forage extensively. Some also make great pets, I have one huge male who knows his name, comes when called and follows me all over when I do chores. Even beat up my dog who objected to me petting the ducks. BTW, if anyone is near Central Oregon and wants some cheap Muscovies, just let me know. : )

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), December 08, 2000.

Assuming you have layers next year, try some of the newly-laid eggs. They will have a harder shell than chicken eggs, but the taste will be there.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 11, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ