AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi,

So some of you may know from reading my member introduction that I recently acquired a duck....
In short I went on holiday and came across an unwanted duck so I brought him home =)

I dont have any clue about ducks really so any useful information, hints & tips would be great =)

About him:
Name: 'Schubert'
Breed: Muscovy (I think???)
Gender: Male (I think???)
Age: His last owners got him as a duckling in Jan 2010 so about 6-7mths old

I'm a complete newbie to ducks so heres a few questions:

When he waddles up to talk to you through the wire hes ok for a little while but then he pecks my hand? Not hard but I'm not sure why he does this? Its almost like a pinch? He grabs at you with his beak. Is this normal? Should it be discouraged and if so, how?

Schubert doesnt quack. Apparently he never has.He just sort of...pants. And hisses sometimes but mostly just pants like a dog???

Should a ducks wings be clipped?

Whats the best way to pick him up? I picked him up today and he just sort of 'pedalled' with his feet. Not sure if its just because he hasnt been picked up for about 2-3 months or because I was holding him wrong???

Heres some photos of him from today(sorry they're just links...not sure how to post them?) :
http://i25.tinypic.com/w7n2q.jpg
http://i26.tinypic.com/2ajnknl.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/206m0bn.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/30rwfvo.jpg

Thanks for looking & any help would be appreciated =)

Thanks

Alex

Hi there, yep you've definitely got yourself a male muscovy there. Beware...muscovies can be very addictive!


Muscovies are not actually an actual duck breed (based on the mallard). They don't quack like ducks, both male and female alike and if they interbreed with a mallard derived duck their young are mostly sterile. Females can sometimes make a bit of a quack if they are stressed. Males can grow quite a bit larger than the females.

Muscovies are basically a meat breed so grow quite large and like their food. They aren't particularly known for their egg laying abilities, mine used to lay about 28 eggs if I collected them every day before going broody. They are known for being good broodies and mums and some keep people them around as handy incubators. They like their food and the way to a muscovies heart is to offer him food. The favorite foods of mine is lettuce, fresh corn and watermelon.


Generally muscovy males get so large they can't fly. If you have more of the backyard variety who isn't going to grow huge you find he can get a bit of air under him. Mine could fly from one end of the yard to the other if it meant being first in line for food. He had no interest in flying over fences and I'm not sure he could have. My females on the other hand did get over fences, probably by accident though. I clipped their wings when they were younger and lighter and didn't bother clipping again when they moulted new flight feathers through and I didn't have problems when they were older. You'd probably have to judge your boys flight abilities before deciding on whether you clip his wing. It does give them extra ways to escape a predator if you have them out freeranging.


My suggestion is carefully! This is for two reasons, one is they have claws which other ducks don't and can really scratch you if their paddling catches your arm. The other reason is they drink a lot of water and their poo can be dangerously watery!

One suggestion is to have one arm hooked around them so their wings are being held close to their body and your hand rests under their feet holding them together. Keep the tail pointed away from you or you'll probably be covered in poo. It probably depends on the size and weight too. Slightly smaller ducks you can hold with one hand either side of their wings to keep their wings in.


Im not quite sure whats happening there. He is probably starting to feel his hormones and is now at the age when breeding with females would be of great interest to him. The males can be quite bossy to other ducks around them and don't mind hanging on to wing feathers of a duck which might get to close if they are feeling in a bad mood Your boy, having grown up around people, may be trying to assert his dominance over you, I'm not sure. Don't let him hurt you though. You may want to consider finding him some girls (definitely more than one as they can be quite hard on one female) or just live with his moods over the breeding season. He'll mate with chooks if that's all that around too so be warned!

As you would probably know ducks like to swim in water and spend a bit of time preening and taking care of their feathers whilst sitting in water. Do you have a swimming tub for him? What are you feeding him at the moment?

I suggest you check out the Australian Muscovy forum as there is lots of muscovy information there: http://www.australianmuscovy.com/index/index.php

Good luck with your new friend. They are full of characters and become so friendly, they're just lovely I think!

Hi =)

Thanks so much for the reply, very helpful =)

I havent bought him a swimming tub yet but will certainly buy one for him today. I only got him on Saturday so hes been eating alot of veggie/fruit scraps and some guinea pig grain which has lucerne and heaps of seeds in it...I'm going to buy him some proper food today...whats the best to get from the produce?

Thanks

Alex

If he was with females I would say layer pellets and this would probably be fine even though he's not. Some suggest not feeding drakes layer pellets though because they are higher in protein and where a duck would use this up in an egg, a drake can not and may end up with a low sperm count and kidney problems. They do eat a lot and will definitely need a professionally balances diet (ie pellets), scraps and the like is definitely not good long term.

You could check if you local produce store carries duck food, otherwise maybe you could ask your question on the Australian Muscovy forum and see what others feed drakes who aren't with females?