The Muscovy duck is one of the few animals we have here that will not be found on the Livestock Conservancy web site. This is not because the Muscovy is not a heritage bird, but because - while many other species have struggled with changing times and industrial breeding - the Muscovy has thrived. These domesticated offspring of the wild Muscovy are, in fact, considered a nuisance bird in Florida due to their ability to adapt when released into the wild. 

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Muscovy are great foragers, and in our little duck pond they have done a beautiful job of cleaning out weeds, leeches and assorted other nastiness it originally contained! Unfortunately, they also seemed to have cleaned out most of the frogs, so next year they will be rotated into the new pasture with the goats in order to give the frogs a change to repopulate. They - together with the geese - have done a wonderful job with keeping the grass trimmed, which means less mowing for The Husband!

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Their size also makes them able to stand up to the geese, even on the grumpiest of goose days. Their own nature is quite easy going. While descriptions often label them "skittish," ours were handled from an early age and will allow themselves to be picked up easily. Though, to be fair, if held too long they have been known to poo on me!