The Muscovy Brothers say farewell to one of their own - RIP Mr Muscovy
Today I found one of my three Muscovy ducks dead in the chicken house.
No signs of attack or injury, he must have just gone there to find a dark place to die.
I believe it was just old age.
I don't know how long Muscovy ducks might live but he was at least 5 years olds when he came to us 18 months ago. So he was now closing in on 7 years old.
He came to us with his 4 brothers and a Greylag Goose when their owner was selling up his smallholding (homestead) and wasn't able to find a home for them.
The original five ducks were quickly reduced to three when two of the five made a dash for freedom on arrival and flew over the fence down toward the lake. They were not seen again.
That did take me by surprise as we were led to believe by their previous owner that they did not fly. I guess they heard the quacks of the wild ducks down there and the lure of a lady on the lake was too much for them.
The three remaining Muscovy Brothers and their erstwhile manager Mr Greylag settled down to a more perambulatory life in the new compound with the chickens and the cockerel.
They even featured in their own duckumentary on steemit commissioned by @greenacrehome :
So I salute Mr Muscovy for his valuable service.
Together with his brothers and Greylag the Goose they did a fine job of keeping the buzzards away from the hens.
RIP Mr Muscovy.
You might also be interested in some of my other posts :
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Delivering a 5 week steemit course to promote the platform in Wales - anyone done anything similar?
A Challenge for 2018 - can I sign up 100 new people to steemit in one year? #signup100
SteemRadio - schedule of all the steemit radio shows - week beginning 8 January 2018
Steemit in Wales - heading for 100% growth - first meetup on 10 February
My Childhood Days in the Home Counties of England, 1966 - The School Fete
MSP Waves Radio : Pennsif on Air with Globocop : What happened in 1966 - the school fete edition
My Childhood Days in the Home Counties of England, c 1967 - The Flying Scotsman
A Guide to steemit for Charities - anyone interested in collaborating on this?
My Charitable Giving - Farewell A Dollar A Day, Hello Pennsif's Pot
SteemCommerce - Businesses accepting payment in steem (v 2 @ 3 January 2018)
That was amazing! After last night I believe the steemit community can do anything...
Yesterday I became a Dolphin. Now it is time to set my steemit targets for 2018
Homesteaders & Preppers on steemit - heading towards 300 by the new year? v11 [23 Dec '17]
[ photographs and video by @pennsif ]
My Flag is lowered to half staff for the loss of Mr. Muscovy .
Thank you, he was a good duck.
Happy Sunday! This comment is to inform you that your article has been linked and featured in the most recent issue of the Weekly Homesteading Newsletter! Please check it out if you have the time! Thank you!
That's great, thank you.
Oh so sorry!
Muscovies are such a great addition to any homestead.
Yes I am thinking about getting a female duck this year to get some eggs and maybe even some little ducklings...
Rest in Peace sweet little Angel.
Thank you Lyndsay.
RIP Mr muscovy!
👍
Goodbye Mr Muscovy. Seems he had a good life though. RIP.
I think his brothers are missing him now...
Glad he had a #healthy-home till the end.
He definitely enjoyed the freedom of the big new paddock.
WE SALUTE YOU, MR. MUSCOVY!
Thank you.
So sorry to read about your duck! Atleast he had a good life
👍
Sorry to hear that. It's never easy when you lose one of the animals.
I've just been trying to search how long muscovies live for, but there doesn't seem to be a real certainty. They seem to have settled on 10-20 years and males might live a bit longer than females. Younger deaths seem fairly common too though, so 7 years might be pretty close to an average.
Someone mentioned that being enclosed can cause them problems and make them sick, as they should always be outside, which is interesting as my instinct would be for them to have shelter to overnight in.
Interesting to know, thank you.
They had the freedom of the quarter acre run. There was a shelter for them but them commonly seemed to prefer to be outside.
Sounds like my quails. They have shelters, rarely use them. They'll shelter under the shrubbery in the heat and lay their eggs in sheltered areas, but they sleep out in the open, even in a storm!
It's good to pick up these bits of information. I'm still contemplating muscovies for the future. So did they tend to sleep outside overnight?