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Muscovies antisocial?

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nancy
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« on: October 18, 2009, 01:49:16 pm »

A neighbor told me that she doesn't like Muscovies because they keep all the native ducks away from the pond. She cited the short visits by the Hooded Mergansers early this year.

As I remember, the Mergansers and Lesser Scaups have always made only short occasional visits. Even before out little feral flock arrived.

I won't mind if they discourage the Canada Geese. They may be beautiful, but they sure are messy.
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Linda454
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« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2009, 08:42:35 am »

Hi, I'm far from an expert on any of this...but I can tell you by my own experience about my Muscovy's & the local water fowl in my area. I live in south FL. on a lake. I have come to love the Muscovy's & have pretty much adopted 6 of them. We have Egrets, Ibis & Fl. Mottles ducks vist here & the Muscovy's have never chased or discouraged any of them from being here. I too, had an Uncle tell me that the Muscovy's chase away the other ducks & water fowl. I in turn sent him one of my hundreds, yes,hundreds, pictures of my male sitting & "watching over" the Mottled ducks as they ate from their feeding area in my yard. He seems so proud to watch them! LOL They are so funny & "argue" with each other constantly & my male, Crazy Boy, will stick his beak in between them & break up the carrying on's of them all the time! My females will walk right thru their feeding area to get into the yard & their food & water. So,I'm sure you can see that my opinion is a lot different than those that think the Muscovy are a nuisance. I came into this love of them quite by accident & have learned all that I do know from this wonderful site, along with Cathy & the other who are experienced here. I also read whatever I can find about them which isn't very much! Here's the place to learn. I've had my ducks for a little over a year & I'm still learning by watching them. I have a female that is setting again, this is the third time,with the last two ending in disaster for her & her babies. I pray this time she'll at least get a chance to see her babies before one of the many prediters take them from her.........and me. The last were taken by an Egret, of course I don't care for them any more. I understand that it's Nature & it's all part of the food chain & everything.........I just don't like them........I also have heard that the male duck will kill the baby males. Now I love my big Crazy Boy, I don't know how I'd feel if i saw him kill a baby duck........OK, I'm not going there! As far as the males fighting. I have another, quite a bit younger, male come by a lot & all that ever goes on between the two is a chase around in circles! It's funny to see. I think if they were going to fight it would've already happened. The girls are so scared of him though. He's a like a big teenager who is "girl crazy" but doesn't quite know how to handle it all. LOL I found out something I never knew, since my girls are losing their tail feathers now, they actually dive under the water, pretty deep & far to escape the Pretty Boy! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them do it. They don't like being that wet. They come up in the yard & shake & preen til they're dry again. I think the diving is a last resort! LOL Well, I've got on quite the roll with my ducks. I ususally do once I start to talk about them! I'm usually not far from this site. But my Mom was in ICU for the past week & we finally got her home. I hope to be back more often again.
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Cathy
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« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2009, 02:16:54 am »

I have no experience with feral Muscovy but with my flock they really never bothered anything else unless it came to a situation where a bird got in their personal space.  I've not known them to actively remove another bird from the area.
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The information I have provided in this message is based on my own personal experiences, the experiences of others who have shared their experiences and knowledge with me, and a dash of opinion thrown in for extra flavor.  Your mileage may vary! Shocked)
Kats
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« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2009, 08:55:42 am »

I have no experience with feral Muscovy but with my flock they really never bothered anything else unless it came to a situation where a bird got in their personal space.  I've not known them to actively remove another bird from the area.

Same with me. They will run off the guineas at the food trough if they feel crowded, but they are pretty laid back in my experience.

Lovely story, Linda!! Grin
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