Muscovy Ducks

Cairina moschata

My very first Muscovy, "Donald The Duck," a Blue drake. Donald truly knew his name and came when called.

Muscovies are the only domestic ducks that are not derived from Mallard stock. They are a South American species. The original (wild type) coloration is black and white, but domestication has produced many more colors, including white, black, chocolate, and blue. The males are large, weighing up to twelve pounds, with the smaller females reaching only seven (I have heard of one Australian strain bred for market, in which a dressed male reached nearly 20 lb and took two people to restrain). Their feet have strong sharp claws and are built to grasp, so that they can perch on branches. Some people consider them ugly because of the large red warty caruncles above the beak and around the eyes. They are, however, very personable and interesting birds, and quite intelligent. Unlike most domestic waterfowl, Muscovies will often fly up and roost. They fly fairly well, especially the smaller females, but are known more for flying around than flying away!

The meat of the Muscovy is unlike that of the other domestic ducks. It is not greasy and is much more like veal than like poultry. In Taiwan and Europe they often use the Mule Duck, a hybrid of the Muscovy with Mallard-derivatives, as a meat bird.

By the age of three months or so, the males are nearly twice as large as the females. I've found that in younger Muscovies, the feet of the males are often relatively larger, but I don't know if you can count on this.

Breed clubs:

International Heavy Duck Breeders Association
Kyle Yacobucci
306 Dillenback Rd.
Palatine Bridge, NY 13428
518-673-5668
e-mail: kyleyac@yahoo.com

Muscovy Links:

Northwest Wildfowl has a page on Wild Muscovies

Alison Fisher's Muscovies

Another page on Muscovies

Muscovy Duck Central

Pinnacle Farm's White Muscovy Ducks

Here are the Muscovies at The Easy Chicken

Muscovies from Jan's Ornamental Waterfowl

The Domestic Waterfowl Club on Muscovies

Poultry for small farmers: Muscovy Ducks

Muscovies at e-chickens

The Muscovy Duck website

Witt Farms Muscovy Ducks

Shoreline Muscovies

See the Muscovies at Cottage Rose Birds n' Blossoms

Muscovies at Dunroven Farms

Muscovy Books & Articles:

Hoffman, Edmund. 1992. A Natural History of the South American Pato, Cairina moschata, the Wild Muscovy Duck. 9th International Symposium on Waterfowl, Pisa, Sept. 16-18, 1992. Hard to find. I have a library call number for it that may help: QL696.A52H64.

A pen of Wild Muscovies: This is what the native South American birds look like

A closer shot of a Wild Muscovy hen
Photo courtesy of Dirk Fussbahn

[Photo of a Muscovy duck]

"Donald's" son "Huey"
for stefan
See Huey in his first off-Broadway (OK, off-InformationSuperHighway) role.

"DoubleDuck," Huey's successor, not just another pretty face
Photo ©Frank Quinn

Although Scobies can be quite pretty, too!
Photo © Jerry Jividen -- plaNET eARTh

"Catcher," DoubleDuck's son
He got his name 'cause when you toss him bread he'll pick it right out of the air (that's a piece of bread in the upper right)
Photo courtesy of Virginia Martin

"Portabello," my most recent breeding Blue drake
Photo courtesy of Stefan

"Oyster" is the best Blue I've bred
Photo courtesy of Ginger Carson

A drake with his crest raised
Photo courtesy of Ann Marshall

The head of a show-quality Black Muscovy male
I find this to be extreme! The birds can hardly see. The faces on the Blues and Chocolates have not been so overdeveloped and are much more natural and balanced for the bird, in my (not very) humble opinion.