Marvelous Muscovies

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Make Way for Ducklings

What could be cuter than a fuzzy flock of peeping ducklings? If you’re just starting out, you can purchase ducklings from local breeders, feed stores, hatcheries or animal auctions. Avoid buying a commercial strain of Muscovies that has been bred exclusively for meat production; the birds may have lost their self-reliant traits.

Muscovy females mature at about five months and will lay up to three clutches a year. They are known for being good brooders and protective mothers, so many raisers let their ducks do the setting rather than artificially incubating the eggs. De Wit, who keeps about 50 Muscovies, says Mrs. Duck does such a good job, it’s just not worth the trouble to pull her eggs.

After hatchings occur, however, you should make sure the babies have extra protection from a host of predators that include crows, weasels, dogs and even Muscovy drakes. “As soon as a mom is spotted with ‘yellows,’ we catch them all up (she follows), and put them in a duckling pen that’s placed within the night pen,” de Wit says. “This is a 3-by-6-by-2-foot-tall cage with small chicken wire on the sides and top, and a hinged lid. The mother enjoys protection from drakes and family squabbles, but still has company. The young family stays in there four to six weeks — until they don’t fit anymore — and then they’re set loose. Mortality is greatly reduced this way.”

The Witts also let the female Muscovies incubate their eggs — until just prior to hatching, when they move the eggs to protect the ducklings from being killed by fire ants, a common pest in the South. The ducklings stay in brooders until they’re 1 month old; then they go into outdoor pens protected by electric fencing.

M uscovies are super bug killers, efficiently converting pesty protein into tasty protein.

Whether the ducklings are reared by their mothers or in brooder boxes, they’ll need fresh, clean drinking water in a shallow container — a chicken waterer is ideal — so they don’t drown. Also, water pans shouldn’t be so large that the female can climb in with her brood and accidentally crush or drown them.

Young ducklings do well on moistened, unmedicated chick-starter crumbles or crushed waterfowl pellets, and finely cut fresh grass, dark green lettuce or chard. A mesh bag filled with leftover fruit and hung out of reach will attract small flies for the young to feed on and, if you have a worm bin, you can toss some worms to the birds as a special treat. Ducklings frequently hand-fed a small amount of bread or other tasty tidbit become tame and friendly.

Because young Muscovy ducklings are so susceptible to chilling, if they’re in a brooder box, it must be kept at 85 to 90 degrees the first week. Then the temperature can be lowered gradually, by 5-degree intervals, during the following weeks. Check the temperature with a brooder thermometer and watch the ducklings for signs that they might be too cold (huddling) or too hot (panting, avoiding the light). The bedding, which could be clean, absorbent wood shavings or straw, should be free of mold and changed frequently.

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