Broodys all over the place!

[piglett]

Well because this is supposed to be a family friendly place I didn't mention how horny the drakes tended to be. [I once caught one raping a wild rabbit] We used to maintain our flock at about 200 muscovies for both meat and eggs. Since the drakes are usually bigger than the ducks the drakes would be seperated early they were for meat.
We would carry only 2 drakes over the winter to breed replacements {the second drake was for insurance only in case one died} There were always a few ducks that were not productive at egg laying because they tended to go broody at the drop of an egg. These were our female breeding stock and if there were too many they became meat. The broodies would spend some quality time with the drake with someone watching so she wasn't injured by the drake Them she would go to the hatching area, That would be fun to watch as the ladies would try to steal each other's eggs for their own nest, If the hatch didn't go well they were usually given a second shot because they will breed anytime the weather was warm. The good mothers [uselly rare in ducks were used to raise the ducklings [I once saw a duck cover 20 ducklings with about half tucked under her wings] the bad mothers became meat. Yep we sold a bunch of eggs but there was more money in meat.

they poor rabbit .....WOW
we have 2 incubators running non stop with our buff orpington eggs in them
in our area almost everyone wants pullets
so we are left with lots of cockerels
i love chicken but after last winter we figured out that chicken 3 times a week was JUST TOO MUCH!!!
so we are looking to add something different to the menu
were picking up a dozen muscovie eggs this afternoon
(they are going for $15 a dozen around here)
anyhow like you said keep a "back up boy"
we do the same with our chickens, after all foul can just fall over dead
been there done that
i think for this year i will see how the ducks do with our chickens
next year i'll build a propper coop just for the ducks
we use water nipples in the botton of a 5 gallon bucket
so no problen with the ducks getting into the water dish all the time (like ducks tend to do)
i'll get a little kiddie pond once the muscovies feather out
i'm sure they will enjoy a nice swim

thanks
piglett
wolfeboro,NH

 

[~gd]

Well because this is supposed to be a family friendly place I didn't mention how horny the drakes tended to be. [I once caught one raping a wild rabbit] We used to maintain our flock at about 200 muscovies for both meat and eggs. Since the drakes are usually bigger than the ducks the drakes would be seperated early they were for meat.
We would carry only 2 drakes over the winter to breed replacements {the second drake was for insurance only in case one died} There were always a few ducks that were not productive at egg laying because they tended to go broody at the drop of an egg. These were our female breeding stock and if there were too many they became meat. The broodies would spend some quality time with the drake with someone watching so she wasn't injured by the drake Them she would go to the hatching area, That would be fun to watch as the ladies would try to steal each other's eggs for their own nest, If the hatch didn't go well they were usually given a second shot because they will breed anytime the weather was warm. The good mothers [uselly rare in ducks were used to raise the ducklings [I once saw a duck cover 20 ducklings with about half tucked under her wings] the bad mothers became meat. Yep we sold a bunch of eggs but there was more money in meat.

they poor rabbit .....WOW
we have 2 incubators running non stop with our buff orpington eggs in them
in our area almost everyone wants pullets
so we are left with lots of cockerels
i love chicken but after last winter we figured out that chicken 3 times a week was JUST TOO MUCH!!!
so we are looking to add something different to the menu
were picking up a dozen muscovie eggs this afternoon
(they are going for $15 a dozen around here)
anyhow like you said keep a "back up boy"
we do the same with our chickens, after all foul can just fall over dead
been there done that
i think for this year i will see how the ducks do with our chickens
next year i'll build a propper coop just for the ducks
we use water nipples in the botton of a 5 gallon bucket
so no problen with the ducks getting into the water dish all the time (like ducks tend to do)
i'll get a little kiddie pond once the muscovies feather out
i'm sure they will enjoy a nice swim

thanks
piglett
wolfeboro,NH

Well I have had Muscovy burgers and they are a heck of a lot better tnan turkery burgers we also used to to make chille and meatballs from them and have cooked sellected cuts on the grill, I was never fond of chicken any way other than fried. Free ranging adds some flavor. I have no experience with nipple waterers can ducks even use them with their bulls rather than beaks? One thing that water fowl people say is that they need to be able to dit their heads in clean water otherwise keep an eye on their eyes for infections and irritation they are supposed to have like an eyelid that they use for searching for food underwater.A lot of people use home made head dipers a gallon milk jug with a hole big enough for a head but not a whoke duck, Moscovy beeing tree ducks are not so big on swimming as the puddle ducks that most domestic ducks are decended from. They will swim and enjoy it but don't use a blow up pool they will put there claws throught it their first week

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I prefer to raise ducks for meat, over chickens. With chickens, you have to worry, as they are growing, if you didn't get to them fast enough, if you will find one of them half eaten....ducks don't seem to have that problem, plus they grow so much faster. They are messy, but I kinda wonder if they might get some extra nourishment and minerals from the muddy water they seem to like. If I dump out their water, to clean up, they all run to drink the runoff water before it disappears and there is the clean H2O, being ignored. It is better for me to have more waterfowl because at any time, I might lose my yard and have a very large pond; especially if its been raining nonstop for 3 days or more. The ducks and geese love it. I need high water protection for any projects involving chickens or guineas.
I have about 8 duck eggs right now and I'm hoping I get another broody to cover them. Also, I picked up a guinea egg today. My araucana Mom is doing fine with her 2 goslings. I should take a pic before it gets old. I love how those broodies can hatch so much better than me, but can't seem to speak chicken to convince them when I want them to work for me, so really think a stall of notorious broody breeds would be a good investment. I can't sell chicks to save my life, but I sure can sell ducklings and goslings, if I give it half a try. The locals seem to want all I can hatch. Even if I don't sell them as ducklings, the local asian community would gladly buy up whatever grown ducks I'm willing to sell.
Never would I have thought of using duck meat (muscovy) for burgers or chili. I hope to have similar experiences. Just today, DH was imitating his grandmother......"No good, turkey, duck." I guess if you can insult them in 2 languages, it makes them more ugly. I'm just not as offended by their lack of beauty as him.....and really, I don't see them so very ugly.

 

[piglett]

well we got the eggs already set em
the lady selling them said something about it taking 33 to 35 days for them to hatch ???
anyone ever hatched them out?
she also had geese (loud)
i don't think the people next door would dig all of that
that is why i'm going with a quiet type of bird
now once the wife & i buy some acerage
we plan to have just about everything worth eating that has wings on the planet
but for now on our little 1 acre mini farm we have to limit what we get.


piglett

 

[~gd]

well we got the eggs already set em
the lady selling them said something about it taking 33 to 35 days for them to hatch ???
anyone ever hatched them out?
she also had geese (loud)
i don't think the people next door would dig all of that
that is why i'm going with a quiet type of bird
now once the wife & i buy some acerage
we plan to have just about everything worth eating that has wings on the planet
but for now on our little 1 acre mini farm we have to limit what we get.


piglett

yep 33-35 days is right did i forget to mention that above?

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Thats quite an impressive incubation period.....even longer than my geese. Momma had given me an old used incubator she had bought for $5 and I had written all the breeds of birds and the incubation period for each. I hope I wrote for muscovy.
I tell you what.....I have a cousin who has been mentioning for years that she wants me to raise a muscovy for her, kill and clean it and sell it to her because its good eating, but I'm incline to keep my mouth shut a while. I might not want to part with my meat. I'm still at 6 very quiet muscovies. Funny I didn't notice that before. I picked blackberries right along side of them for about half an hour and never heard a peep out of them. Conceivably, if someone had a pen and a nice hedge surrounded them and blocking the view, I think they could be undetected.

 

[Beekissed]

Currently have two White Rock broodies sitting on clutches and one that hatched out a small family already, which I supplemented with a few feed store chicks, not normally something I do, but I did this time for some strange reason.

I have a White Rock rooster and half my small flock are standard bred WR and the other half are Black Australorp from hatchery source. Then I have an ancient EE of my sister's, along with one WR/BA mixed hen. The eggs under the broodies are what I call "coop choice" eggs...not selected for the WR breeding, just any ol egg I pulled out of the coop when I wanted to load up some broodies.

I use the offspring for replacement layers and meat, but am kind of trying to develop my own standard bred WR in a loosey goosey sort of manner. I'm not a dedicated breeder but hope to maintain a level of "good" with this line in some manner, just with judicious culling of the breed/offspring.

My maternity ward....

One of his ladies and babies last year....

Y'all got broodies working this year?

 

[NH Homesteader]

I have 2 broody turkey hens and a broody (although confused) Dominique who finally has chosen a nest... I hope. She kept moving, lol!

 

[Beekissed]

Oooooo, broody turkeys!!! That's a lot of meat on the hoof being raised up there!

Had a wild hen turkey in the front yard for a long time this morning...but she didn't look like she was fully wild. Maybe a cross with a silver breed of some kind, as she was a very beautiful gray/silver with white markings on some wing tips. I don't know of anyone within a few miles that have chickens, let alone turkeys, so not sure how she got here.

 

[NH Homesteader]

We have domestic/wild crosses around here, someone let their flock loose years ago and you still see the occasional funny looking eastern wild turkey!

My turkeys are mother and daughter and are directly next to each other, it's kind of cute. We are rushing to build a hoop coop for the tom and the other hen before the poults arrive! Last year our tom (different one, he passed this winter) killed all our poults this will not happen again!!!