I hate flies and slugs and other creepy creatures that eat my garden and drive the animals batty. At the same time I hate to use chemical pesticides.
So we are adding Muscovy ducks to our farm. I read of an experiment that stated Muscovies are able to remove flies from an enclosed area 30 times faster than fly traps or other control devices. Sounds good to me!
This year we plan to run the Muscovies along with the cattle during the fly season and then bring them up to the garden for the winter.
Muscovies are unique, the only domestic ducks that aren't derived from mallards. They come from South America and they're tree birds rather than water birds. They don't need a pond to swim in (they do need water, but a large basin will do). And they fly. They're bigger and heavier than other ducks, and flying gives them large and powerful breast muscles, and strong, meaty legs. They don't quack, the ducks chirp softly and the drakes hiss, and only when they have to. Calm birds. And though they fly, folks say they fly around, not away.
They come in black and white and various shades of grey and brown, with a bright red crest around their eyes and above the beak, called curuncles. Muscovies have never been industrialized or "developed", probably because they don't come in standard sizes: the drakes are much bigger than the ducks. A full-grown drake weighs about 15 pounds, and a duck up to 9-10 pounds
The hens lay several clutches of eggs per season and are great mothers. Eggs hatch after 35 days, the birds reach full size in 120 days, but can be slaughtered after 90 days.
Meat yield is higher than any other duck, with 50% more breast meat, which is 98% lean, and the skin has 50% less fat than other ducks (but slaughtering a Muscovy will still yield a jar of fine duckfat for cooking).
If all goes well, we'll have our fly control and roast duck too.
I hate flies and slugs and other creepy creatures that eat my garden and drive the animals batty. At the same time I hate to use chemical pesticides.
So we are adding Muscovy ducks to our farm. I read of an experiment that stated Muscovies are able to remove flies from an enclosed area 30 times faster than fly traps or other control devices. Sounds good to me!
This year we plan to run the Muscovies along with the cattle during the fly season and then bring them up to the garden for the winter.
Muscovies are unique, the only domestic ducks that aren't derived from mallards. They come from South America and they're tree birds rather than water birds. They don't need a pond to swim in (they do need water, but a large basin will do). And they fly. They're bigger and heavier than other ducks, and flying gives them large and powerful breast muscles, and strong, meaty legs. They don't quack, the ducks chirp softly and the drakes hiss, and only when they have to. Calm birds. And though they fly, folks say they fly around, not away.
They come in black and white and various shades of grey and brown, with a bright red crest around their eyes and above the beak, called curuncles. Muscovies have never been industrialized or "developed", probably because they don't come in standard sizes: the drakes are much bigger than the ducks. A full-grown drake weighs about 15 pounds, and a duck up to 9-10 pounds
The hens lay several clutches of eggs per season and are great mothers. Eggs hatch after 35 days, the birds reach full size in 120 days, but can be slaughtered after 90 days.
Meat yield is higher than any other duck, with 50% more breast meat, which is 98% lean, and the skin has 50% less fat than other ducks (but slaughtering a Muscovy will still yield a jar of fine duckfat for cooking).
If all goes well, we'll have our fly control and roast duck too.