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I have ducks, Muscovy ducks exclusively.
Occasionally I search on Craig's list or in the paper classified ads for additional Muscovy ducks since I am always trying to keep my bloodlines from becoming interbred. Some of the farms I have visited were deplorable. You always hear of horses, cats and dogs but never poultry. The abuse is rampant.
I remember when I visited one such farm. The duckyard was in the hot sun (100 + degrees) with no shade for any of them. Their water was a thick green color which hadn't been changed in, I don't know how long. Sight unseen I told him I would take all of his 'scovies (5 of them).
I took them home and put them in isolation until they could adjust. They were not free range so it gives them time to get used to the routine and my other ducks. At the sight of me they would go into pitiful fits of terror. I gave them a pan full of water to bathe and had to change it numerous times until they felt like they were clean. Even then their feathers hung on them like rags.
Now they are some of my most beautiful ducks. They love me and eat out of my hand. Of the 5 I still have 4. Agnes, Ethel, Squeak and Rachael. Emmie was killed by a fox.
The other case came from a town close by. An ad in the classifieds prompted me to call the number. It was fall and people don't want to "winter" extra livestock. Since they aren't producing and aren't eating bugs they have no use for them. So I went and picked them up.
Again, isolation for awhile until they adjusted. They didn't know what grain was. They would eat grass if I gave it to them and they would eat bugs but not the grain. They had been raised without anything but what was in their pen to eat.
It is imperative that they learn to eat the grain before winter sets in here in Colorado. So I had to let them "starve" until they got hungry enough to begin eating the grain. Of the 3 I still have two. Ms Blue and Bella and they are some of my favorite ducks. Ms Blue especially. Lilly was killed by a bear.
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