Breeding season and mussie questions

elfael · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:37 pm

Just wondering when I can expect some egg action from my calls? The saxonies are obviously too young (I assume they'll do something around the middle of the year), but the calls are adults and I have no idea when ducks usually start their breeding season. It would be nice to be prepared for it.

While I'm here, can someone (Jase?) tell me why my baby mussie, who doesn't even have real feathers on its head yet, is beating up the other ducks? :shock:

It chases my call drake and this morning I saw it grab the tip of my saxony boy's wing. It's such a laid-back creature the rest of the time that I was shocked when I saw it. Do I need to separate it from the rest? I don't want to.

Muscovy J · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:34 pm

hi how old is the mussie? was it raised with other ducklings ? and is it a drake? sometimes when a muscovy drake is handraised without other ducks thay can become agressive to other birds . as well as to people / have you got any pictures of it so we can have a look ?

regards jase

elfael · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:09 pm

Thanks Jase,

I think it's about 6-ish weeks old, as when I got it I assumed it was about a week old. It's lived with the saxonies since I got it, first in the brooder then in an outdoor pen, and it's been with the calls as well for about 10 days. It's about the same size as the rest of them now, and I'm worried about it being aggressive since it will grow so much larger than them. I also have toddlers, so an aggressive bird just won't work. It's fine with the kids so far, but not showing any fear of them even when they get close.

I posted a picture a couple of days ago in the "what sex am I" section, in a group with the other ducks. I can try to get a better one if it's not clear enough.

Rebecca

broken bird · **Joined:** Sun Nov 05, 2006 7:34 pm **Posts:** 125

from your posting, I would the duckling is about 4 - 12 weeks old is is most likely a drake by the this action

Muscovy ducklings eat and eat and eat and when they are not eating they are thinking about it.

If you do not have feed on demand a muscovy duckling will attack each other and other birds. And for some reason it seems they always catch the wing tip, (angel wing) if they do catch a bird and pull a feather out they will eat it,

What I do is feed them twice a day morning wet bread, this sometimes last all day, (ensure the bread is in a shaded place) then layer pellets at night, which they eat all in about 20 minutes.

I also give them "toys", long pieces of grass, free slices of bread, stryo foam boxes, a large tub of water to swimm in, etc.

It still happens but but no one gets hurt.

Muscovy J · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:47 pm

hi is this him
http://www.paforumphotogallery.com/disp ... 0051&pos=2

what color is he ?
also like bb said muscovys can be cranky to each other . and all thay live for is eating and breeding . when you raise mussie ducklings all together thay are a quiet breed when thay get older but when handraised without other ducks thay will treat you as a duck :lol:

elfael · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:35 am

Yup, that's him. He's bigger now! He's black and white, though a lot of him is still yellow. I've put up a couple of new photos. I guess if I have a boy I should be looking for a guaranteed girl ... any excuse for a new duck!

I feed them laying mash two or three times a day, depending on whether the kids tip it out, and they get stale bread and minced up vege/fruit scraps from the kitchen as well. I think the mussie eats most of the kitchen scraps; the others don't seem fussed. They also have free access to the lawn and all the goodies it contains from 6am to 6pm, and a half-shell pool full of water to swim in in the afternoons. (They seem to be dealing okay with having to share their pool with the kids :lol:

). I'll try the wet bread idea and see if that helps.

I was told that ducks will eat styrofoam boxes and produce interesting poo. :shock:

Rebecca

Muscovy J · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:08 pm

hi .
sounds like your boy is well feed . bread is good as it puts weight on them .

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