Muscovy Ducks- Pets with Benefits

The term "odd duck" might have been coined by someone who laid eyes on a Muscovy. They have patches of featherless, red skin on their heads (and on males, sometimes their necks as well) called "caruncles." They also have a crest of feathers on the top of their heads that they can raise at will. This photo is of Elvis, my drake. He lifts his head feathers when he is trying to impress the lady ducks. They find his pompadour look quite irresistible!

Muscovy ducks do not quack as other duck varieties do. They make breathy, huffing sounds (some people describe it as a "hiss," but that does not seem accurate to me.) The female ducks make a pleasant, quiet little trilling sound. None of their vocalizations are very loud, making these ducks a good choice if you don't want to bother your neighbors with loud birds.

Muscovy's are quite easy to care for. Given a large area to roam, they will find much of their own food during the warm season. I offer some chicken food in the morning and evening, and a supply of fresh water at all times. Ducks need to have deep enough drinking water to be able to rinse and clear their nostrils. Many sources say that Muscovy ducks do not need to swim, but my ducks certainly enjoy enough water to to get in and have a really good bath. This not only brings them (and me, watching!) great pleasure, but keeps their feathers in beautiful condition.

This breed of duck is quite hardy, resistant to parasites and illnesses that plague other types of poultry.

Poultry are tempting snacks for all manner of predators, so you must keep your ducks safe from fox, racoons,neighborhood dogs and air born predators as well. Portable electrified poultry netting is easy to install and an excellent way to keep four footed predators away from your ducks. Your ducks will also need shelter from the weather. I live in Maine, and my ducks share a roomy, insulated coop with my chickens. In truth, the ducks prefer to be outside as much as possible, but they obviously welcome shelter when the weather turns cold or stormy. It is fun to look into the coop on a cold winter night and see my big ducks perched feather by beak next to my laying hens.

If you have one or more female ducks, you will also need to provide a nesting site.These ducks like privacy when they lay and hatch eggs, so arrange for a nice box in a sheltered place that will allow the duck to feel safe. Straw or shavings to line the nest box will provide a soft landing for eggs. You can opt to collect the eggs as they are laid, or (if you have a male duck to fertilize those eggs) allow your duck to brood a clutch and hatch ducklings. Female ducks can and will lay eggs even if there is not a male duck present, but the eggs will not be fertile and will not hatch.

Let me tell you about duck eggs. They are delicious!

Want to know more? This photo shows what I found in my nest box one morning. Two chicken eggs, (the smaller, brown looking eggs to the left) and a duck egg. The duck eggs have a greenish tinge, are larger than chicken eggs, and an ivory texture to the shells. When you try to crack one of these eggs you will find that the shell is very much thicker than that of your average chicken egg.

Duck eggs have more protein in the white than chicken eggs do, and they boast a very rich yolk. They are wonderful for baking, causing baked products to rise a bit more, and giving a wonderful texture and flavor. Many cooks swear by duck eggs for superior baked goods.

If you did a side by side taste comparison of a chicken egg and a duck egg (fried, scrambled, poached, your choice) you would find that duck eggs taste quite similar to the more common chicken egg, but perhaps somehow just a little bit better!

This photo shows Beauty on her nest, (an old Wyman's blueberry crate.) She laid one egg each day for 19 days. After she laid her egg she would cover it with nesting material, (straw and feathers she had plucked from her breast.) Following the advice of someone with more experience than me, I gathered each egg and put them in a dark cabinet, turning them daily. In it's place in the nest I put a golf ball. On the 19th day Beauty gave up her life of hanging by the pool with her friends and became broody. At this point I sneakily took out the golf balls from her nest and gave her the eggs back.

A broody bird is one that sits on its nest until eggs hatch. They go into a trance-like state, and just sit for endless hours, heating those eggs with their bodies. They leave the nest just once or twice a day to eat, drink and eliminate waste products. It is important to make sure the bird has food and water available when she leaves the nest, because she will not let her eggs get chilled by being away for long. My hens would take a quick bath every few days when they took their break, and this was important for their health as well as maintaining high humidity in the nest, which helps the eggs to develop normally.

Muscovy's brood longer than most other birds. The dedicated hen will brood that nest for 35-37 days. On these days a miracle is happening; ducklings are growing beneath her. During the final days of brooding the ducklings make small vocalizations while in the eggs. The mother trills back at them. They are bonding before they ever even meet.

The ducklings double in size in a week. They eat. A lot. Worms, grubs, grass, clover, poultry food and treats such as kitchen scraps disappear down their greedy crops. In 12-15 weeks they are as big or bigger than their mother.

Keeping an eye towards self sufficiency and fine dining we took the ducklings (23 total from our two hens) to be butchered when they were about 14 weeks old. It was difficult to see them go, but good to know that they had never had a bad moment since they hatched. They had known sunshine and grass and clean pools of water and plenty every moment of their lives. They had been happy ducks.

My husband is a southern man and he knows how to cook. One of his cooking tricks is smoking meat. A huge, metal smoker lurks in the back yard, and he fires it up during all seasons to create smoked shoulder, ribs, salmon, chicken, turkey and now... duck. We have found smoked duck to be a delicacy; good enough to serve at Thanksgiving to a houseful of guests.

We have also roasted a few ducks. Muscovy meat is dark; people compare it to the texture of veal or venison. Most of the meat is found in the breast, but after feasting on that we boil down the rest and use what is left for a rich stock and excellent soup. I have heard that large Muscovy ducks sell for $60 or so in specialty markets. This means that my freezer is full of some very high dollar meat.

I've had my ducks for almost a year now. Although we harvested last years crop of ducklings, we kept the original trio. They have handled the winter well so far, and I am looking forward to warm weather so I can enjoy seeing the ducks exploring the yard in search of pests to eat, splash in pools and puddles and raise broods of those fabulously cute babies.

I have found my Muscovy's to be quiet, helpful, enjoyable animals to have on my little homestead. They cut down on insects, enrich my soil with their droppings and brighten my life with their antics. Their eggs are delicious, as is their meat. I am glad we invested in our original ducks, and hope they'll be with us for years to come.

If you'd like to learn more about raising ducks, please check out my links below.