Our Muscovy Ducks

The Muscovy Duck, probably one of the most misunderstood animals in the entire world.  The name ‘Muscovy’ means from Moscow, and the genus name ‘Cairina’ means from Cairo.  Both of which are not true, not even close.  The Muscovy Duck is native to South America and Mexico, but has worked its way into the southeastern United States, so you probably see them all over the place.  Since they aren’t from here, and they do take the ecological niche away from native birds, this species is listed as invasive, and you cannot legal release these birds into the wild.  The Muscovy is also a hisser, so a lot of people think that they are mean ducks, because when they see them they make the hiss noise, but they physically can’t make a quack, so you have to give them a break there. They also wag their tails like dogs when they get excited, and if you ever want to see what an excited Muscovy looks like, look no further than Birdy.

Birdy is kind of a sad story.  A couple found Birdy in a nest, already hatched, but all the other eggs were empty and there were predators in the area so they scooped him up and brought him home.  He imprinted on people, so when he sees anyone he can’t help but shake his tail feather.  They raised him in the house for the first full year of his life, they brought him on walks and took him to the park, so he is SUPER spoiled.  After about a year, they started looking for animal sanctuaries to take him in.  The first one they brought him to they said he got his feathers plucked and they weren’t treating him right, so they brought him to a second where they claim he got his beak twisted, so it is a little off-center.  Birdy arrived in November of 2020, he got his beak checked out by a vet and they said it’s fully functional, which is good.  Now he sits on his chair waiting for the tours to come around so he can show off.

Henrietta is our other Muscovy.  We got him here on Memorial Day of 2020.  Apparently some kids in a neighborhood nearby took him from his mom when he was only a couple of days old.  One of the kid’s parents found about it and brought the duckling over to the farm.  We raised him by himself until he got big enough to get put out with the Pekin Ducks, which is where he learned his duck behavior, and now he’s the alpha.  The males are the ones that get the red around their nose, and we thought it came in a little bit earlier than it actually does, so we named him Henrietta before finding out he was a boy, but we just shortened it to Henry.

Pictured Above: Henrietta (Male), Birdy (Male)