Recent content by Muscovynmore

Well, thaaat's interesting. They look like nicely-marked Swedishes, that's for sure. I'll point out that the foot I can see has orange splotches, which points to Ancona genetics. And as I recall, when the breed was close to extinction, Swedishes and Runners were used as stock. So it's not...

I'm don't have personal experience with either breed, but I'd guess Pekin or possibly Indian Runner. They'll be easier to determine when they're older. Do they stand upright like that most of the time, or is that just duck attitude?

Adult females can hiss, too. They don't "talk" the way males do, but pretty much anything that can breathe can hiss. Duckling won't be changing its voice for a while yet. Depends on the breed of the local ducks. Muscovies grow pretty well and turn chunky pretty quick, compared to many...

Aw, he's cute. From glancing at the picture, he could have just been nodding off. New ducklings lean back pretty far sometimes.

VixyQ, first, no need to panic. Birds that don't mind sharing a nest are usually friendly, and neither of them should hurt the ducklings. One of the mothers might try to steal the babies, but if it's warm where you live, it should work out just fine. Just keep an eye on them and watch for...

I'm leaning toward male, but developing feathers are the greatest proof in Muscovies. If the feathers come in first, it's female. If it gets big before growing in more than a few wing feathers, it's male. Except, of course, in the case of some runts, but this is true almost all of the time...

Colors vary from white to different shades of cream. Those bigger eggs look right for Muscovy to me--I assume my screen is showing them a bit browner than they really are. Size? When I last had bantams, their eggs were usually tiny (compared to chicken eggs). If your ducks are new layers and...

Whoops, didn't really notice the brown. Sorry! I meant her dark head versus lighter back and wing feathers. As for the blue fawn or not, I'm not really an expert on that color. I've found that like black feathers, blue feathers fade to a brownish shade before the bird molts. Some birds show this...

That looks like a blue duclair pied. Her head's darker, but that's not uncommon (unless, of course, her head really is black, but that's not what it looks like to me). The feathers on her back and head are different ages because of how ducklings' feathers grow, so her coloring should even out a...

Well, if you don't have a drake, that makes a lot of sense. They want one.

I hear that males of any type respond well to food and the lack thereof. But just to be clear: this will only muss up Wobbles' feathers a bit. If anything will be hurt, it'll be your duck's feelings (and frankly, any duck that attacks has enough of an ego already). I'd say ask your husband to...

Heh, that reminds me of our goats. They all know their name . . . and that just means they can be disobedient more effectively.

Just popping in to say that Wilson, at least, will not be molting anytime soon. He's pretty!

Well, I'm sure it will be easier to tell when their feathers come in a bit more.

That's too bad . . . I hope his hormones calm down soon! That's the reason we haven't gotten any dogs. My Muscovies are amazingly talented at their favorite sport of dog-baiting. Not my favorite thing to watch.