for sale

[maggie144]

Hi There.


I have a few muscovy ducklings for sale at £5.00 each if anyone has a mouse problem, or indeed a slug problem.

I also have a petrol mower, sitting on my garage which is in need of a good home, if anyone can make use of it.

maggie

[Tensing]

Maggie, where abouts are you?

[maggie144]

i am in north cumbria village of hayton nr aspatria


maggie

[Luath]

Lucky me, just acquired half a dozen Muscovies - do they really eat mice?

[maggie144]

Hi There,

You are indeed very lucky they do eat mice, in fact anything live up to a small rabbit, so if you have a veggie patch you want cleared of slugs let them loose on it. they will have it cleared in no time,

Don't feed them dead mice, they only eat live prey

Also i'm not sure if you are aware you cannot eat their eggs, they will make you ill, muscovys are breed for eating, so look after them, fatten them up, and then into the freezer if you want,

They also make good mothers they will sit on their eggs until they hatch, but when they have hatched them, they have a tendency to eat their young, which is why i remove the young once hatched. they will also sit on other bird eggs too including chickens.

Good luck with the ducks, enjoy them if you want to know anything else feel free to ask.

maggie

[Hepsibah]

Muscovy eggs don't make you ill. I eat them all the time. I've also found that muscovy ducks make wonderful mothers too. I've never known a muskie to eat her young.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/ ... _Muscovies

They are known for being good brooders and protective mothers, so many raisers let their ducks do the setting rather than artificially incubating the eggs

[the.fee.fairy]

Dammit, if only you were closer!!

I need something for the slugs and mice!

[maggie144]

Sorry Hepsibah
but i have seen first hand my female duck kill her babies, they usually do it when there is something wrong with it, they do what most animals do kill the weak, or the ill.

I have had this information from a very reliable source, as to the eggs, they do make you very ill if eaten, if they don't them a cast iron stomach they must have.

maggie

[Hepsibah]

Many animals will kill their offspring if there is something wrong with it. That doesn't mean they need their healthy offspring taken away from them for safety's sake. If you choose to raise them yourself that's fine but please don't give the girls a bad name.
If your muscovey has killed healthy ducklings, there is a possibility she is seeing them as a threat to her eggs (sounds strange I know but I had a silkie who did that, killed anything she hatched immediately she saw it). If this is the case you are probably going to be better off taking the ducklings away and possibly not breeding from her to avoid passing the trait on.
I'd be interested to know what it is about muscovey eggs that makes you think they're poisonous. You see I and lots of other muscovey keepers eat their eggs with no ill effects whatsoever. It seems strange that you are so very sure they will make people ill when I've seen first hand that they haven't.

[Dotty]

Actually, it is categorically untrue that you cannot eat muscovy eggs. They are no different whatsoever from other duck eggs, and it's a real shame that you have been given the wrong information.