Muscovy Duck-apalooza

We started with Muscovy ducks last summer - got 6 ducklings from one of our local friends (not bad at $3 each, half the mail order price without the shipping!). Once they differentiated into drakes and hens, we kept one male and two females overwinter. The other three were packed into the freezer for winter and very careful consumption!

One of the hens became the roast duck centerpiece of Carol's birthday (recipe and pic here).

Now, we are one year into our duck project and here are the things we have learned.

1. Muscovy will sit chicken eggs, but because she will set 20-30 eggs in 3-5 layers, chicken eggs must be near the top or the hen will inadvertently suffocate the newly hatched chicks.
2. Muscovy ducklings are small enough to easily move through 4-inch goat fencing all the way up until 8 weeks old. Mom hen flies over the fence and the ducklings slip through it to follow her.
3. Ducks' poop is very wet - wetter than chickens - and so they need more clean bedding when they stay indoors. They actually will be sitting then stand to poop and sit down just slightly ahead of where they pooped.
4. Ducks are very messy with water - especially problematic with the hen and her 5 ducklings that live with the goats. Goats do NOT like dirty water at all. Ducks say, "Feh, water schmater."
5. Muscovy are pasture trimming monsters - they will eat greens all day long - sometimes they just sit down into it and nibble a circle around themselves.
6. Muscovy do fly - although their wings are not as strong or large as other ducks - but they love to roost! They are treefowl more than waterfowl. This leads to wonderful pictures like this one: