Breeding Muscovy ducks at home in detail for beginners

Good day, experienced and novice poultry farmers. Today we will tell you everything about breeding Muscovy ducks at home, keeping, feeding and hatching ducklings in incubators. What conditions are needed for keeping a Muscovy duck in a private farmstead?

Muscovy ducks, or as they are popularly called, Indo-ducks, have gained particular popularity in European countries, where they are distinguished from other duck breeds for the high quality of their meat. Muscovy ducks are bred not only for their meat, but also for their fatty liver, which is considered a delicacy.

Muscovy ducks at home in detail for beginners

The Muscovy duck is not demanding in terms of keeping conditions.. Any room can be adapted for raising this bird. The main thing is that it is warm and there are no drafts.

Muscovy ducks are quite resilient birds.Under optimal conditions, the survival rate of adults is 95-100%. The same survival rate is typical for young animals.

When raising Muscovy ducks, it is not necessary to have a pond nearbyThis allows them to be kept in small garden areas.

The Muscovy duck is not afraid of people, does not make any noise and creates a cozy atmosphere.. This bird attracts with its original appearance and a unique gait. Unlike ordinary ducks, which waddle from side to side, Muscovy ducks walk straight, nodding their heads up and down. The color of their plumage is very diverse, most often white, black and white and brown ducks are found.

Keeping Muscovy ducks in your household is profitableThis bird is unpretentious in feeding and eats a variety of foods well.

Breeding Muscovy ducks at home

Poultry in private farms is most often kept in adapted premises together with other animals. As for Muscovy ducks, it is best to build a simplified but separate poultry house for them. The premises should retain heat well in winter and be cool in summer.

It is desirable that the windows and doors of the building face south, and the blank wall faces the constantly blowing winds. The size of the poultry house is planned based on the placement of 2-5 ducks and 3-6 ducklings on one square meter of floor area.

Free-range keeping of Muscovy ducks

The parent flock of Muscovy ducks can be kept without walking. But releasing them into the fresh air will only contribute to strengthening their health. It has been noted that the more ducks are outdoors, the higher their sexual activity and incubation qualities. By the way, metabolism and resistance to diseases increase.

To ensure that the ducks get more light, it is preferable to arrange the run on the southern side of the poultry house. To let the ducks out, manholes measuring 0,4 by 0,4 m are made in the walls. They are located at a height of 20-30 cm from the floor level. To avoid injury to the legs, the manholes are equipped with inclined ladders on both sides.

The birds are let out for a walk only after the morning feeding and laying of eggs. The manholes are opened at 11 o’clock, when most of the hens have already finished laying eggs. An hour before the end of the working day, the Muscovy ducks are driven back into the poultry house. If the manholes are closed after being let out for a walk? Then the ducks themselves are waiting for the opening time, trying to get to the feeders faster.

In the summer, ducking trenches are installed in the walking yard. To prevent the ducks from flying outside the fenced area, their wings are clipped.

Although Muscovy ducks are considered frost-resistant birds, their paws often freeze. When the air temperature is below -15°C, the paddocks are covered with straw. They like to rest on it. After a snowfall, the paddock is cleared of snow and covered with fresh straw.

Feeders and drinkers for Muscovy ducks

In the household, duck feeders are made from boards 2-2 cm thick. To prevent Muscovy ducks from climbing into them, a bar is nailed on top, which also serves as a handle. When keeping a small flock, a round tin feeder is also convenient. Which can be placed on the bedding or hung at a certain height.

Long wooden feeders are usually placed along the central passage. Of course, short ones are placed transversely to the poultry house. They are placed at a distance of 3 m from the drinkers. If this distance is shorter, the ducks drink more water and consume more feed.

With dry feeding, there should be 2 cm of feeders per duck. But when distributing wet mash – 10-15 cm of feeder length. This difference is explained by the fact that dry feed is constantly in the feeders and the ducks approach them as needed. Distribution of wet mash requires the simultaneous approach of the entire herd! Why? So that the feed is eaten within a short period of time.

A mineral feeder is made with two compartments. One compartment is for shells or chalk, and the other for gravel. These feeders are attached to the wall at a height of 30 cm from the floor.

How to water Muscovy ducks?

Muscovy ducklings consume 0 liter of water per head per day in the first week of life. In the second – 1 liters. In the third – 0,15 liters. In the fourth – 0,25 liters. In the fifth and subsequent weeks – 0,3 liters.

Adult ducks require 0,45-0,55 l of water per day. The drinking front for them is 2 cm. Not only the quantity, but also the quality of water is of great importance.

What to feed Muscovy ducks

Muscovy ducks, like any domestic bird, need a variety of feeds for proper nutrition. In feeding ducks, grain feeds, industrial waste, feeds of animal origin, as well as succulent, vitamin and mineral feeds are widely used.

Grain feed is the main source of energy in the diet of Muscovy ducks. Only good quality feed with a moisture content of no more than 14-16% is used. Grain crops are divided into cereals and legumes. Cereal grain is characterized by high caloric content and digestibility, and legumes have a high protein content.

Cereal grain contains up to 70% carbohydrates, 8-13% protein, 2-8% fat, 1-5% minerals. Among these crops, corn, wheat, barley and millet are considered especially valuable grain for ducks. Soybeans, peas, beans and lupine are used as legumes.

In feeding the Muscovy duck, waste products obtained during the production of various types of products are widely used. Mostly, waste products from the processing of agricultural raw materials are used, such as bran, cakes and meal, feed yeast, feed molasses and potato pulp, etc.

Animal feeds contain complete and well-digestible protein. These include: dairy feed products, waste from the meat, canning and fish industries.

These feeds are especially valuable for maintaining high duck productivity and rapid growth of young animals. Thus, cottage cheese, skim milk, whey, dry skim milk, meat and bone meal and fish meal are introduced into the Muscovy duck diet.

Succulent and vitamin-rich feeds increase the biological value of the diet, enriching it with vitamins and minerals. Greens, potatoes, beets, squash, silage and vitamin feeds, carrots, pumpkin, cabbage and grass meal should be introduced into the diet of Muscovy ducks.

Ducks can obtain the minerals necessary for full growth by eating shells, chalk, eggshells, bone meal, and table salt.

Feeding the Muscovy duck by season

In a household with seasonal spring-summer egg-laying, the feeding regime depends on the time of year (see Table 1).

Table 1. 1 – Approximate daily ration for Muscovy ducks

Bedding material for Muscovy ducks

As a rule, Muscovy ducks are kept on deep litter, which helps maintain an optimal microclimate in the room. Wood sawdust, shavings, straw, flax straw, peat and chaff are well suited as litter materials. The approximate annual requirement for one duck is 12-16 kg.

The litter is usually laid in September and removed in the summer after the end of egg-laying. Before placing the ducks, the floor of the poultry house is sprinkled with slaked lime at the rate of 0 kg per 5 sq. m and the litter material is laid with an initial layer of 1-5 cm.

As it gets dirty, add a fresh layer of bedding periodically. If the ducks are kept outside, add more in the evening, and if they are not allowed outside, add a thin layer in the morning.

In winter, Muscovy ducks will not be as cold if the litter layer grows over 20 cm.

When drinking, the duck splashes water, causing the litter around the drinkers to become wet. The heavily damp litter must be removed periodically. It is completely removed when the poultry house is emptied, as it is prohibited to place a new batch of birds on the old litter.

Nests for laying ducks

Nests for laying ducks are installed in each section on the litter. They are placed in a dark place so that the bird feels calm when laying eggs. Usually, nests are located away from the drinkers at the rate of one nest for 3-4 Muscovy ducks.

For laying hens, simple open nests are made 30 cm wide, 45 cm deep and 40 cm high.

Conducting forced molting

After 4-5 months of egg-laying, Muscovy ducks go through a molting stage, then a new egg-laying cycle begins. Natural molting is slow for them – from 4 to 5 months.

To speed up this process, it is recommended to follow the following procedure:

• Day 1: remove food, leave water and light;
• Day 2: exclude food, water and light;
• Day 3: give 50 g of grain, water, light for 3 hours (from 8 to 11 am);
• Day 4: exclude food and water, light for 3 hours;
• 5-19 days: water constantly, feed at the rate of 100 g of grain per head per day, light for 4 hours (from 8 to 12 am);
• Day 20-30: gradually replace grain with compound feed at the rate of 100 g of feed per head per day, 6 hours of light (from 8 a.m. to 14 p.m.);
• 30-40 days: feeding at the rate of 130 g of compound feed per head per day – 20 g of grass meal, light for 8 hours (from 8 to 16);
• from day 41: gradually increase the feed supply to 200 g and then feed according to the “ad libitum” regime.

Increase daylight hours by 1 hour per week, adding 30 minutes on Monday and Thursday until reaching 14 hours (from 8 am to 22 pm).

Hatching ducklings in an incubator

Storing hatching eggs, subsequent selection, pre-incubation washing and detection of unfertilized eggs is the same as with other poultry. However, Muscovy ducks, unlike their relatives, have the longest incubation period of eggs – 34-35 days.

Place the eggs in a pre-heated and adjusted incubator. Heating should continue for 4 hours with the ventilation flaps closed and the humidifier turned off.

The time of laying is chosen so that the hatching of ducklings occurs in the morning hours. Usually eggs are laid in the afternoon. The incubation mode is given in Table 1. 2.

Table 1 — Incubation mode for Muscovy duck eggs

With horizontal laying, the capacity of eggs is 20% less than with vertical laying, but ducklings hatch much better in the first case.

The eggs are transferred to hatching on the 31st day of incubation, which coincides with the beginning of hatching (see Table 1).

Transfer to hatching should be done as quickly and carefully as possible. Formaldehyde is used to stimulate the hatching of the young. Help with hatching ducklings is only possible in exceptional cases, when the chick does not hatch on its own for a long time.

Ducklings under a hen

In a household, the care of raising young animals can be entrusted to a hen. Additional heating is not required, the duck itself will cover and warm the young animals, and the owner’s task is reduced only to timely feeding.

The mother hen and her young are isolated from the rest of the birds and kept separately. During the day, the ducklings are given the opportunity to move more. Starting from the 4th day, they are released into the yard on a fenced area, first for a short time, and then for the whole day.

Ducklings with a duck in the yard are fed not far from the place where they settle down for the night. Ducklings can be released from their mother’s care at the age of 25 days. Such ducklings no longer need heating and feel independent.