We had a mother muscovy duck sitting on eggs, yesterday (July 4) we found she had discarded a second egg from her clutch, and then she abandoned the eggs. We candled them, found one that had movement and two that were pretty full, so we popped them into our incubator. One was pipping pretty soon after that, and this morning we had a new baby duckling! Welcome to the world!
All about Muscovy Ducks
Mucsovy Ducks (Cairina moschata) originate from Mexico, Central America and South America. They are a breed of domestic ducks that can fly, and are fun to watch when they do! The are quiet compared to other ducks, the mothers have some quiet trilling coo sounds to communicate with their offspring, but the males have a quiet breathy/hissy call.
Terminology
A group of ducks is called a flock (typically in flight), raft (while swimming together on water), paddling or team (often when hunting and flushing ducks into the air), or Waddling. A Brace is used for a pair of ducks often during mating season, a brood (group of young ducklings) or sord (a group of mallards).
Temperament
You can tell if a Muscovy is happy, because they wag their tails just like dogs! They are typically friendly and calm.
Muscovy Ducks are the largest duck in North America. Females are referred to as Hens and the males are Drakes, Males are usually 6-8# and females 3-4#, about half the size of the male. The males typically have iridescent and glossy feathers, with the females looking a bit more drab to blend in to their nests and camouflage them from predators. They come in a variety of colors, black, white, blue (a diluted black often appearing slate gray or bluish-gray), chocolate and lilac (a pale silvery grey). They can also be pied (a mix of black and white), bronze, cream, sliver and lavender. Wild Muscovies are mostly black with white wing patches.
Muscovy Drakes have distinctive red fleshy caruncles on the face, and have a pronounced feather crest on the nape, when this stands on end it looks a bit like a mohawk. They also have a blackish or dark red knob at the base of the bill. Males will hiss and puff during courtship. They also have sharp claws, the curved large claw on the second toe is used in fighting.
Muscovy ducks can live for 8-12 years, and sometimes up to 20 years in captivity with proper care.
Muscovy Nests
Muscovy Ducks are protective of their nests and pluck their own feathers to line their nest bowl. A clutch will contain any number of eggs, typically between 8 and 20.The incubation for a Muscovy Duck egg is 35 days, with the mother leaving the nest only to eat and drink once or twice a day. She sits on the eggs the rest of the time to maintain their temperature of 99-102 degrees. Muscovy hens have a strong maternal instinct and will typically raise their ducklings until 8-10 weeks until they fledge. (Fledge – verb – bring up a young bird until it’s wing feathers are developed enough for flight)
In the wild Muscovy ducks like natural sheltered spots near water for nesting sites, and natural tree cavities. After a clutch, the Muscovy takes a break from laying eggs and will also usually molt some feathers. She is then ready to lay another clutch and start the process over. They tend to use the same spot if they found it to be a safe predator proof site, though they sometimes lay a second clutch in a separate area and continue caring for ducklings of the first clutch while incubating new eggs in the second.
Ducklings
When they hatch, Muscovy ducklings are covered in a soft down, and they do not yet have waterproof feathers. For the first 10-14 days they stay on dry land, by 2 weeks their feathers start replacing the down and they can begin swimming. At around 7 weeks their adult plumage is growing in and at 8 weeks old they are typically good swimmers and able to stay warm and dry with their waterproof feathers.
Muscovy Ducks can fly short distances from a very young age, at just 1 or 2 days old they can flutter to a height of 4-5 feet. After 4 weeks old they can make short flights of 50 feet or more. At 12-14 weeks they are nearing adult size and can fly a hundred yards or more.
As backyard ducks, Muscovy ducks are happy with access to wading pools, shallow streams or a fresh water source to splash in. They immerse themselves in water to clean and waterproof their feathers.
Some people raise Muscovy Ducks as a food source, with the meat described as a tasty lean substitute for beef. We here at Legendary Acres are a no-kill farm, and our pets are not raised for food.
