muscovy duck breeding

[ziggy]

hi all , im wondering what i need to do to rear some muscovy ducklings/ whats the best time of yr to watch for it / i have 2 females and 1 male . they lay a few eggs , but how do i know that they are actually fertile? i understand theyl sit on a clutch of twenty odd, but they will be a yr old at easter, and have definitely been at it! albeit clumsily!! at the moment were taking eggs as they come to eat, and they are happy with our other hens.

regards simon

[Popalops]

Ducks make useless mothers, mostly they get bored with sitting, if they do hatch any young they often get off the nest as soon as the first ducklings appear and leave any not hatched or too young to follow, those that do follow often get abandoned, I use an incubator to hatch and a broody hen to rear the little one's, much safer and less stress, I would love some Muscovys, I have calls Cambells, and Pekins at the moment..

Good luck
Tony

[Willow]

Ducks make useless mothers, mostly they get bored with sitting, if they do hatch any young they often get off the nest as soon as the first ducklings appear and leave any not hatched or too young to follow, those that do follow often get abandoned,

Our duck sat and hatched, and looked after her young like the perfect mum.. no problems at all on that score..

We had 2 females & 1 male - I have written about this in detail in another post - be aware that ducks will harm / kill each others ducklings.. so make sure the ducks are in sepperate duck houses & runs..
Have you got a plan in the event of hatching ???? males?

[ziggy]

thanks for that both of you, im happy to keep them apart if the event happens.

weve noticed the males have a good old go at the girls and sometimes become quite rough and end up sitting on them, i have no way of knowing if the eggs are fertile?
as for the outcome of the ducklings im happy to keep a couple of females but the reason im in this position in the first place is because we were assured we were getting four females and we got two of each !! so the rest will be reared for the table this time . as the kids keep naming them! i wont be sellling them on any scale .

[skinnypins]

Hi ziggy

there are ways of knowing if your duck eggs are being fertilised.

the first is to crack one open and to look on the side of the yolk for either a blood spot or a white squiggly tail.

the other is to use an incubator and on day 7 you would need to candle the eggs using an led torch as they do not put hot light onto the egg which can damage it.

duck eggs unlike chicken eggs will not keep and need to removed and incubated the day they have been laid, whereas hens aggs will keep for upto 5 days in a fridge and remain dormant in that time.

hope this helps.

Claire

[Willow]

duck eggs unlike chicken eggs will not keep and need to removed and incubated the day they have been laid, whereas hens aggs will keep for upto 5 days in a fridge and remain dormant in that time.

I found that a bit confusing - I know ducks will lay one egg per day for 16 days plus - they will cover the clutch with any nesting material to hand and leave the clutch till they lay again the next day, they only start 'sitting' on the nest when they have a huge clutch.. The laid eggs remain naturaly 'dormant' until the duck starts sitting permanently.. otherwise any duck, wild or domestic would only ever have one chick..

[skinnypins]

Hi Tina

In a natural enironment where the Duck is inclined to brood then yes she would lay her clutch over a period of a few days and then they would normally all hatch within a few days of eachother. Muscovies either are very good at sitting or will not sit at all. Bear in mind also, that Muscovies also sit their eggs for 35 days as oppposed to the norm of 28 for ducks.... and have a higher tendency o get board of sitting after the first few ducklings have hatched and abandon the remaining eggs. This is merely from my own and my family experience after running a chicken and duck farm for 20+ yrs, and experiences can differ betwen breed stock and the environment the ducks live in.

If it is intended to incubate the eggs if the duck is not broody to sit (and in most cases this can be a bit like chickens and they might not get broody until they have been laying for around 5 to 6 months), then the only option is to incubate the egg the day it is laid if the duck is not sitting them. I have been told by an american gentleman who breeds to preserve rare breeds that the hatch rate for duck eggs is reduced dramatically if they remain cold after laying for more than a few hours and that they dont remain dormant like hen eggs do, apparently this is why when you purchase duck eggs for hatching you must have those that are posted for either same or next day delivery, and have been laid the same day as they are dispatched.

This is apparently due to the much greater humidity that duck eggs require during their incubation period compared to chicken eggs.

I have in the past taken eggs that have been abandoned by a non-broody duck and incubated successfully in succession of hatchings over a 3-4 day period until my duck has been broody enough to lay and sit her own eggs.

best wishes, Claire

[Willow]

I must admit we've not got muscovies - that part of your post seemed to be refering to ducks in general - as you pointed out you have years of large scale breeding experience.. Our experience is that of a 'pet duck keeper' -
Our original 3 were cross breeds - call x tufted apricots, kept as pets in a run & free range, their first 'spring' they proved themselves to be determined mothers who looked after / covered first huge clutch of eggs which we found and removed - they then proceded to lay another clutch which was again covered with the nesting material daily (mayby this is how - in this environment, the eggs are kept at the naturally correct humidity) The eggs were sat on with grim determination and hatched.. What we'd read about tufted ducks & egg mortality was a bit grim so hatching 6 out of the 2nd smaller clutch was apperently pretty good.. A couple of our neighbours kept / keep a variety of ducks in their gardens for many years and let them 'do their own thing' theirs produced countless healthy ducklings - as you said, maybe it is the environment..
We've now got hook bills, khaki cambell and two x breed males but make sure to check and collect eggs daily!!
Great to know there is another really experienced duck keeper on here (I'm not counting myself in that) - we'll know in which direction to yell if we need help!

[ziggy]

thats all very interesting reading , & appreciated, i must confess there has been occasions last autumn when my wife , went to feed and collect any eggs , that one female was sitting adamantly and hissed at her. at present im taking eggs to eat daily from all the hens and two ducks, my thinking is il let them see how they feel when the temp is a bit higher march /april and see if either of them will sit and hatch some, it would be a bonus and any males would be for the table , basically ive spent a lot of money on hens and ducks from various sources,and id now like to take some rewards.

regards ziggy.

[Popalops]

Now I am confused, I have been hatching hens eggs for several years now and my pal has been hatching for around 50 odd years last year I successfully hatched 35 out of 40 call duck eggs all stored until 20 eggs were collected and only 1 duck laying 1 egg most days, so 20+ days, the eggs were kept in a egg tray in the porch, I also hatched 20 of 20 Khaki Cambells stored the same way for at least a week, 10 days is normally considered about the limit but as you can see longer storage times do still work, I would never dispute the sooner the better, I also let a pair of Mallards sit on 15 eggs she had laid 14 hatched, she didn't start sitting until the last one was laid....

Tony

[ziggy]

what times of year can i expect my muscovies to gett broody? im either going to let her do it herself or im hoping to get fertile eggs and il get an incubator.
either way its pointless if there not fertile!
if say the first few are fertile would it be safe to assume any more laid would be as well. ?
regards ziggy

[skinnypins]

Hi all.

There is some confusion here....

The initial question was pertaining specifically to Muscovies and I answered the question for a specific breed of Duck. Call ducks and mallards etc all have their own way of sitting and a laying pattern as with all breeds they have different personalities and breeding traits such as the amount of eggs to anticipate a year.

Muscovies are often slower to brood for themselves, but when they do they can be very good at it. The thing that has to be remembered is that the breeds as we know them now are not what they were 40yrs ago, this is due to some of the line breeding that is done.

Muscovies are bred these days to be a utility duck, this is why a lot of people choose to keep them, so they get eggs and can feed up for the table. It has to be remembered that when you adapt a breed in this way by line breeding that changes in the ducks inclinations and egg laying/brooding nature changes also.

Because Muscovy eggs are a longer hatch, and incubate for 35 days as opposed to 28, they naturally have a higher fatality rate as they have longer for bacteria to be able to permeate the shell and infect the forming duckling inside.

Therefore, specifically with the longer incubating breeds such as the muscovy it is recommended that you do not keep the fertilised eggs for more than 2-3 after laying before incubation. If keeping them to incubate they must be stored out of direct sunlight, point downwards at a temp of 16-18C, and if kept for up to 3 days they must be moved very slightly each day until incubated. Do not keep heavily soiled eggs to incubate, lightly soiled and clean eggs only, and do not be tempted to wash the eggs.

Claire

[skinnypins]

Hi Ziggy

ok as with most duck breeds it can vary a little due to enironment and general weather conditions and age of duck, but generally they will begin to mate and broods can be anticipated from spring.

if you chooose to invest in an incubator, avoid the temptation to get one second-hand, there are some pretty good starter packages around these days that include all you need, incubator, brooder, candler, disinfectant and young chick and duck feeders etc. and you would simply need to purchase a thermometer and hydrometer seperately.

My adice is to avoid the all singing/all dancing makes of incubator as they have more on them to go wrong and less chance of being able to buy part replacements.

I can personally recommend brinsea,corsi and hydrobator incubators after years of very succesfull use and great success hatching.

Depending on what type of incubator you go for would vary slightly the temp and humidity required for your hatching, for example a still air incubator needs a slightly higher temp than a fan assisted, and a 10 egg incubator would need a lower humidity than a 30 egg incubator.

A package I would suggest for beginners is the corsi starter package available on the incubatorshop.co.uk.

I wish you all the best with your muscovy hatching wether it be natural or with an incubator!!

Claire

[Willow]

Just to add to the confusion - Do mucovies 'brood' later than other ducks?
I thought that 'spring' would be the natural time for ducks to lay & brood - Ours started laying around Dec / Jan and after we'd removed the first clutch carried on laying and the jnrs Hatched Feb / March..

[skinnypins]

Hi Tina,

Good question, and the answer is yes.

Muscovies in general will mate and lay fertilised eggs from late january early feb, but as a breed even a mature and experienced muscovy duck is far less inclined to actually sit on her clutch till hatching time until the warmer weather comes in end of march/ early april.

I have found with muscovies its a 50/50 if they will sit on their clutches, and if they do around only 80% will sit till they hatch. This is due to the longer incubation period for the eggs and the way that they are being bred. Sadly most muscovies sold these days have come from incubated rearings as opposed to natural brooding and gradually the natural skill of duck mpotherhood is becoming lost within this and some other breeds, such as the Saxony and Rouen.

other breeds such as cherry valleys are just lazy sitters, and will abandon the clutch before completing hatching. In any case, as you are well aware, its always a case of watching closely if you have a duck sitting eggs and to ensure that she has her own safe space to prevent the eggs/hatchlings from being attacked by others.

My advice to people wishing to breed is this...... having hatchlings is very rewarding wether done naturally by your duck or in an incubator, but its something that needs to be well thought out for the welfare of the ducklings and you benefit from a lot of research first.

Happy hatching all!