Muscovy ducks are the only domesticated duck
which is not descended from the mallard. Instead, they’re South American in
origin, and, depending on who you talk to, ‘not quite a real duck’.
I think this is mainly because they don’t
quack (they chirp and hiss instead), they hunt flies and mosquitoes, and
basically get around like a goose, with that same sense of ‘here I come, step
aside y’all’.
I’ve heard it said often that Muscovies are
tree birds, rather than water birds – what this means in a domestic context is
that they don’t roost on the ground, but instead prefer to be up a bit – which
is great from a predator point of view.
That said, they do like a bit of water – but
this can be a basin, it doesn’t need to be a fully fledged duck pond (though
they love those too).
Muscovies eat a bit of everything – grass,
slugs, bugs, flies, grain…. whatever’s going. I wouldn’t put them in your
vegetable garden as your lettuce might suffer a dreadful fate, but they are
fine around less delicate and perennial crops.
The muscovies at Milkwood Farm have happily
integrated into our poultry system with the chickens – where the hens go, they
go too.
Last summer that was out on pasture in an egg
mobile, surrounded by electric netting. This year it’s in the gravity chicken
run.
They seem fine with either arrangement. They
waddle, they forage, they have a splash, do a poop, then go hunt flies for a
bit.
Prodigious poopers
I tried to get a video of this bit bit but
didn’t manage it, so take my word for it (and maybe be thankful i didn’t).
Muscovy ducks poop with such flamboyant
squirts that they usually startle everyone around them in the process,
including themselves. It’s quite funny actually.
But the good bit here is the fertiliser,
delivered generously in liquid form. You can cell graze muscovies through your
backyard or paddock or food forest and reap the benefits.
Why hunting flies is a big bonus
Firstly, of course, there’s the fly control
factor. Nobody sits around saying ‘gee i wish we had more flies’ that i know
of. And muscovies hunt them. Like, actually hunt them. With glee and relish.
But here’s the added bonus of fly hunting,
other than fly (and apparently also mosquito) control – it’s wild protein
inputs!
In a permaculture system, you’re always
looking for ways that you can stack or combine things to reduce inputs – in the
spirit of ‘every output is an input’.
Animals that harvest wild protein themselves
to supplement feed are a gold-star winner in such a system.
And anything that eats flies, as well as
produces fertilizer, eggs and meat prolifically, is welcome at my place.
They are tough as… a tough thing
Our muscovies are a motley crew of possible
siblings and cousins, inherited from some folks down the road when they moved
away.
Beating sunlight or freezing temperatures
worry them not. They are consistently healthy, cheerful and up for it. Whether
that’s fly hunting or just waddling around.
They make more Muscovies
From Spring to Autumn, they lay eggs. Somewhat
randomly it seems. Sometimes in the henhouse laying boxes, and sometimes… just
wherever they sit down that morning.
And every so often, one of the girls goes
broody, and becomes, in the lingo, a sitting duck.
That’s the other thing about muscovy ducks –
they are great ‘sitters’, and mothers too.
To my somewhat random observations, this
sitting seems to start as a collaborative project – one duck starts sitting,
then the next day you’ll find another duck sitting on that same clutch of eggs,
and so on.
Eventually, one of the ducks stays there
consistently and, 35 days-ish from when someone or other started sitting, its
birthday time!
Our last clutch resulted in 7 live births, two
‘didnt-quite-make-it’s and 4 eggs that didn’t hatch at all, which were gingerly
added to the humanure compost before they cracked and things got stinky.
The ducklings are just like their parents –
sturdy, healthy, low-care poultry. Oh and they hunt flies too – from about 4
weeks of age!
Duck meat like no other
A note: Muscovies breed very easily, and
before you know it you might have quite a few. If you do not want to eat them,
then don’t let the girls go broody, and eat all the eggs instead. Simple.
If you are interested in ethical low-impact
homegrown meat, then muscovies are for you. The hens grow out to about 4.5 kg
and the drakes to about 6kg.
The ducklings grow out to a good size (but not
full size) by 10-12 weeks, and it’s at this time, before they get their full
set of adult feathers, that home harvest makes the most sense from both a
practical (plucking) and a output-for-input point of view.
I’ll do another post on duck day as
we call it – but essentially, it’s similar to chicken day – it’s
messy but fruitful and has all the connotations and emotions and rewards of
home-scale animal husbandry.
The result is a sizable bird with meat more
reminiscent of red meat than duck meat.
Muscovies have very little fat, compared to
other breeds – though for each bird you will still get a small jar of precious
home-grown duck fat for your cooking.
In short, Muscovies are a great breed for
anyone with a little space – they would not suit small backyards, but on 1/4
acre upwards, they’re an excellent option to consider.
They are not as reliable egg layers as khaki
campbells or indian runners though so if you’re duck-egg-centric, have a look
at those breeds.