Actually, we'll have to wait a few months before this troop is ready for the soup pot, but these are all muscovy ducklings from a single clutch - and that's not even our largest hatch! (Tops was 15 ducklings from a single hen, though there are usually some losses throughout the season). Yep! Muscovies are indeed prolific and the hens are pretty good mothers. What we're doing in this photo actually is moving the family to safer quarters. While geese are easy to herd, ducks are not, particularly a panicking hen with a large brood. We've learned that the easiest way to move them is not to try and herd the family, but to scoop up all the ducklings and carry them. Mom will eagerly follow.
Unlike the ducks with which you are likely familiar, Muscovies are quite different. In fact, if you've never seen one before, you might actually wonder what you're staring at. They're MUCH larger than ducks from "Mallard stock". They have claws, and red "carunkles" over their eyes. They do not quack, but communicate in an alien sort of way by hissing or bobbing their heads back and forth.
("Tuxedo" is our big male. His emerald plumage is beautiful in the sunlight, but lighter feathers make for prettier carcasses. We typically keep 1 male for 3 - 4 females).
Muscovies are curious and friendly. The females are good flyers, (the males are too big for lift off), and the forage fairly well for themselves. They come in a variety of colors and patterns including pied, white, chocolate, green, blue, lavender and fawn. What I find particularly fascinating is that the ducklings look nearly all alike, but develop distinctive colors or patterns as they grow.
"Pinto" is one of our oldest and best mother hens. She has hatched numerous clutches. Her last successful attempt was in the dead of winter when she hid her eggs under a rabbit hutch and used stolen bits of rabbit fluff to build a fur lined nest!
Dress weight for males are between 5 - 7 lbs. Females 4 - 5 lbs. The meat is ruby red. It resembles beef both in looks and flavor. We have cooked muscovy duck a number of ways over the years, but our favorite method is the lazy way - smoked duck. We discovered this one evening after the burgers were removed and we didn't want to waste charcoal. Here's how: Cool fire by stirring in a handful of moist fruit wood chips, slap on said duck and return to your TV watching. Turn bird every commercial break. After an hour or so - voila!
This past summer we had an explosion of muscovy ducklings thanks to three hens who avoided freezer camp by hiding in the bushes only to reappear 35 days later with a grand following. All told, I believe we had 40 ducks at one point.
We occasionally keep a lucky duckling that looks promising...but who stays and who goes is often a point of some contention. While one of us aims to perpetuate stock that's lighter and larger, the other of us selects for more sentimental reasons. "P.D." for example, was kept because she looks like a police car. Oy!
She's a pretty little thing who certainly seems the perfect blend of both her mom, AND her dad!
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