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The Muscovy duck is native to Central and South America, where it still lives wild. These ducks were domesticated in ancient times. There is a version that the Aztecs, but it is clear that there is no evidence.
There are several versions of where the name “muscovy ducks” came from. After the introduction of ducks to Europe, it was believed that old drakes secreted fat with a musky odor from growths on their heads. But modern Muscovy ducks do not smell. It is unlikely that these glands atrophied during the Muscovy ducks’ stay in Europe. Most likely, the name comes either from the ancient name of the Indians of Colombia - Muisca, or... from the word “Muscovy” - a common name for Russia in Medieval Europe (and the hand of Moscow reached here).
In the latter case, it is assumed that the Muscovy duck was imported to England by the English trading company "Muscovy Company", hence the name of this duck. type of duck in English - Muscovy Duck.
The name “indoutka,” more common in the Russian-speaking space, does not indicate the hybridization of ducks with turkeys, as is sometimes seriously stated on some sites. This name only shows the similarity of the head growths between musk drakes and turkeys. Indo-ducks are sometimes called mute ducks and mute ducks.
In the photo you can compare the growths of a musk drake and a turkey.
The second version of the origin of the name “Indian duck” is an abbreviation of the phrase “Indian duck”.
Whatever the versions of the origin of the names, this does not affect the popularity of Indian ducks among owners of personal farmsteads.
Indo-ducks on a personal farmstead, breeding and maintenance
The wild Muscovy duck is dark in color with some white feathers. It weighs no more than 3 kg if we are talking about a drake. There are 8-10 eggs in a clutch.
Domestication has had a fairly strong impact on the Indian ducks. Different breeds, like mallards, did not result from musk ducks, but the colors became more diverse. Indo-ducks today can be found in black, white, blue, white-winged, fawn, and piebald in combination with any base color.
Muscovy ducks' body weight doubled and the number of eggs laid for incubation increased slightly. The domestic duck lays 8-14 pieces.
The advantages of Indian ducks are their quiet behavior. They only hiss, without irritating their neighbors with their quacking. Opinions vary regarding the quality of meat. Muscovy duck meat is not as fatty as mallard meat, but that is why it is drier. This meat is not for everyone. The disadvantage of indo-ducks is the long growth of ducklings. In mallard ducks, young animals must be slaughtered already at the age of 2 months, while turkey ducks do not yet gain full weight at this age.
Keeping and feeding turkey ducks
Keeping Muscovy ducks is not difficult.These are very unpretentious birds. You just need to take into account that Indian ducks are heat-loving and will not tolerate cold weather well, contrary to what the sellers say. For the winter they need a warm barn with deep bedding. Since musk ducks love water no less than mallards, for the winter you need to take care of the type of drinking bowl from which musk ducks will not be able to splash out water.
In summer, Muscovy ducks can live well outdoors. You just need to monitor the length of their flight feathers, since they forgot to tell domesticated turkeys, like turkeys, that they are too heavy to fly. And the ducks themselves don’t even know about it.
Arrangement of perches for indo-ducks
In the barn, you need to take care of arranging resting areas for the indo-ducks. Perches for ducks are different from those for chickens. For ducks, make shelves about 15 cm high from the floor. This is important for musk ducks, since they, unlike Pekin ducks, cannot tolerate dampness and dirt.
Feeding
Indian ducks eat the same things as ordinary ducks. They will never give up greens and fruits. But they need to cut vegetation, since Indian ducks do not have devices on their beaks for cutting grass.
Feeding on algae and small aquatic animals in nature, in captivity musk ducks happily eat small snails, replenishing calcium reserves along with animal protein.
Although Indian ducks do not hunt mice and rats, the same drakes, being large enough, are quite capable of swallowing a rat strangled by a cat. It will take a long time to choke, but it will push through.
When feeding in water bodies, all types of ducks swallow large amounts of water along with their food. When eating dry food, they need to soak it so that it passes into the stomach normally. It has been noticed that all ducks immediately after feeding with compound feed run to the drinking bowls.
What is needed for breeding Indian ducks
Muscovy ducks can be bred in private farms in two ways: incubation and raising ducklings under a hen.
With any of the methods, you need to take care of the formation of families of Indian ducks. One mature drake is assigned 3-4 females. Theoretically, you can “give” a male 5 ducks, but then he will work to the limit and will not be confident in the quality of fertilization of the eggs.
Removal naturally
The Muscovy duck is a good hen, capable of incubating more than just its own eggs. The problem with placing other people's eggs under the mute is that the eggs of the Indian duck have a long incubation period. If mallards sit for 28 days, then musk ducks sit for 35 days.
Theoretically, an Indian duck can lay from 70 to 120 eggs per year, but before sitting on the eggs, she will lay only 20 to 25 eggs, and then sit on them for a month. She will not hatch all the eggs, but only about 15 eggs. Under favorable conditions - nesting starts early and the weather is warm - a muskellunge can hatch 3 batches of eggs. Even if the hen brings 15 ducklings each time, the profit from her will be only 45 heads of young animals. Against at least 70 potential eggs.
No, not all the ducklings in the photo belong to this hen. They obviously slipped her some incubator ones.
If it was decided to breed musk ducklings naturally, then the hen needs to equip a shelter. It's better to have several to choose from. Having chosen a place for a nest, the Indian duck begins to lay eggs there, bringing nesting material along the way.
The temperature at which the Indian duck will lay eggs should not be lower than 15 degrees, since Muscovy ducks are a heat-loving species. If an Indian duck starts laying eggs in cold weather, they should, if possible, be collected and placed in a relatively warm place. It has been noticed that more ducklings hatch from eggs stored for two weeks in such a cool place than from those freshly laid by an Indian duck.
The advantage of breeding musk ducks this way is that you don’t have to worry about temperature conditions and the protective film on the eggshells. The hen will do everything herself. Even in hot and dry weather, muskies manage to hatch ducklings.
Immediately after hatching, Muscovy ducklings remain under the brood hen until all the living ones come out of the eggs, dry out and stand on their paws. After this, the ducklings quickly learn to peck food, but always stick together in a herd. Immediately after hatching, it is impossible to understand who is a duck and who is a drake. But drakes must grow twice as large as ducks, so they quickly gain weight and, as a rule, after a couple of weeks it becomes clear who is who.
Egg incubation method
Incubating Muscovy ducks in home incubators is a very troublesome task. Even enterprises that have tried to incubate turkey ducks have abandoned the idea because the duckling yield is too low. Opinion of Indian duck owners: some factor is missing.
It seems that this factor is a brooding duck who thoroughly knows everything about the rules of breeding ducklings. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to copy her methods.
In particular, musk eggs are covered with a dense fatty film, which initially protects the egg from infection. But subsequently, the same film prevents oxygen from the air from penetrating through the shell. As a result, the duckling dies from suffocation.
Such problems do not arise with a hen. Periodically plunging into water and returning to the nest, she gradually erases this film with her paws and wet feathers.
Muscovy duckling hatching
During incubation, the film will have to be washed off the egg manually on days 10–14. And for this you will need a hard dishwashing sponge.
When washing eggs, the temperature regime will inevitably be disrupted.
At the same time, Muscovy duck eggs require periodic cooling. The mother duck will do everything herself, but the man will suffer.
Muscovy ducklings. Debriefing"
Therefore, breeding at home is best done with the help of brood ducks. If we take into account that the incubator produces a small number of ducklings, then with natural incubation, most likely, even more ducklings will be produced.
Breed "mulard", who is it
In fact mulard not a breed, but a hybrid between two different species of ducks: the Indian duck and the domesticated mallard. Out of ignorance, malicious intent, or simply for ease of perception, a seller may write in an advertisement that he sells ducks of the “Mulard breed.” You can buy it for meat, but you shouldn’t hope to get offspring from these hybrids. They are infertile.
In the photo it is mulard.
Its advantages: fast growth, like mallards, and heavy weight (4 kg), like Indian ducks.
To obtain and raise mulards for meat, you need to take care of selecting a suitable breed of domesticated duck. Typically, to obtain a mulard, you need a mallard duck and a musk duck drake.Since the musk drake can weigh up to 7 kg, it is better to choose a mallard of the largest breed possible.
Reviews from Muscovy duck owners
Let's sum it up
Indo-duck is a beneficial bird for beginners, not requiring special attention, but giving a decent increase in meat stock over the summer. The fact that musk ducks only hiss also has considerable advantages. You won't be woken up in the morning by a chorus of mallard ducks demanding food. Mallard drakes, by the way, behave much more modestly. They quack very quietly.
