A Tale of Two Ducks

Our Muscovy Duck Journey: From Trio to Flock Expansion

Almost exactly one year ago, we made the decision to add Muscovy ducks to our homestead. After doing extensive research, I felt confident that these ducks would be a perfect fit for our farm. Muscovies are quiet, personable, incredible foragers and parents, excellent at rodent control, and, on the sustainability side, they’re gentle on your lawn and garden (unlike chickens... I'm looking at you, Larry! Insert photo). And if that’s not enough, their dark meat is more like steak or venison than traditional fowl.

So, we set off to find a trio—a drake and two hens—and took a long drive to pick them up.

Muscovy Ducks and Chickens: A Good Fit?

We were told that Muscovies could be housed with chickens, and while this setup worked for the first 10 months, it wasn’t quite ideal. We built a separate pen with a net over top and a dedicated house just for the ducks. Despite this, they eventually abandoned their designated space and decided to sleep under the chicken coop. One thing I quickly learned about these unique birds is that they are very opinionated. Once they make up their minds, good luck convincing them otherwise!

A Growing Flock

That summer, Jemimah, our hen, became a mom and hatched 4 beautiful ducklings. Genevieve, our other hen, seemed more interested in being the fun auntie, so we borrowed a couple of her eggs and

hatched them in our Nurture Right 360 incubator . We ended up with two ducklings, Splish and Splash, who immediately took a liking to Orsa, our mixed-breed LGD, believing her to be their mother. 

Our flock grew, and the ducks thrived alongside the chickens, spending their afternoons foraging around the yard. By late summer, we made the difficult decision to thin the flock down to our original trio, plus Splash (who, for all intents and purposes, was a young hen). The rest of the ducklings were sent to freezer camp (link coming soon).

Winter Surprises and the Great Escape

The winter was uneventful, though I would often walk outside to find one or both hens perched 20 feet up on the roof of our storage shed. These girls could certainly fly! His Lordship, Sir Waddlesworth, was too large to join them, and Splash preferred to remain grounded.

In early March, I received a text from a neighbor who lives 600 feet below us on the mountain. She asked if I was missing a strange-looking bird and sent me a picture of our Jemimah.

We rushed down to retrieve her, only to find that our pen was missing both hens—just Sir Waddlesworth and Splash were waddling around, unfazed. We were unsuccessful in getting Jemimah back. She flew off when we approached with food, disappearing deep into the woods. That was the last time we saw either of our hens.

What Happened?

We believe that a predator visited the pen during the night, causing the hens to flee. Once airborne, perhaps their internal navigation system was thrown off, or maybe they decided it was time to explore the world. I even interrogated Waddlesworth to find out what he said to them, but he pleads innocence.

The New Beginning: A Growing Flock

Determined to rebuild our flock, I immediately set to work building a covered run and separate coop for the two remaining ducks. Two months later, Splash—who had previously displayed all the characteristics of a female—suddenly grew twice in size and developed an impressive set of caruncles (the warty growths on a Muscovy drake's face). It’s a fascinating mystery of nature, and now, we have a drake on our hands.

And that’s how, this weekend, we were able to purchase 8 straight-run ducklings to raise this summer. We plan to process any drakes at around 4 months of age, and the hens will remain to help grow our flock for next year.

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