Duck · breed notes
Muscovy Duck
The Muscovy is the odd one out among domestic ducks: a crested, red-faced bird from the warmer parts of South America that perches in trees and does not quack. Below is what two early books on ducks say about it, quoted line by line, with the place where they disagree marked.
Where it comes from
Howard treats the Muscovy as its own genus, not a variety of the common duck, and places its wild range in the warmer regions of South America. In other words, he does not see it as one more breed alongside the Pekin or the Rouen, but as a different kind of bird with peculiarities of its own. He also gives the old alternative name, Musk duck, and explains it by a smell of musk in the skin.
Muscovy ducks (fig. 6) form a distinct genus, having several peculiarities or characteristics which make them different from others.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management
More from the books (2)
They are sometimes called the Musk duck, owing to the odor of musk which pervades the skin
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and ManagementThese ducks are found wild in the warmer regions of South America.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management
Both books describe a bird that flies well and perches high. Howard writes of wild birds taking to trees when alarmed and staying hidden there for a long time; Lamon and Slocum say domestic ones roost like chickens, in trees or on the barn, and sometimes fly up to nest in a hollow tree. One account is of wild birds and the other of farm birds, written twenty-five years apart, and they describe the same habit of getting off the ground.
they fly into trees when alarmed and remain there for long periods of time before leaving their place of concealment.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and ManagementThis breed of ducks will often roost on roosts like chickens or in the trees or on the barn.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
More from the books (1)
Sometimes they will fly up and make their nests in a hollow tree.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
How to recognise one
The face is the giveaway. Both books single out the bare red skin and fleshy folds (caruncles) around the eyes and at the base of the bill. Howard calls the cheeks naked and the folds scarlet, and names the face the most distinctive part of the bird; Lamon and Slocum describe it as covered with corrugations or caruncles that should be red. If you are trying to tell a Muscovy from another large duck, start here.
The face is the most distinctive part of these ducks, the cheeks being naked, with a scarlet, fleshy space around the eyes, and the base of the bill carunculated also with scarlet folds.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and ManagementThe face is covered with corrugations or caruncles and should be red in color.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
On top of the head is a crest the bird can raise. Howard describes the drake's head as large, with long crest-like feathers that rise and fall when the bird is alarmed. Lamon and Slocum add that the drake has a knob at the base of the upper bill, which they give as one of the ways to tell drake from duck in this breed.
the top being covered with long crest-like feathers, which rise and fall when the bird is alarmed.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and ManagementAt the base of the upper bill there is a sort of knob-like formation in the drake which serves as one of the distinguishing characteristics between the duck and drake of this breed.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
The body is long and broad and carried level, with long, strong wings and a fairly long, stiff-feathered tail. Unlike other drakes, the Muscovy drake has no curled feathers in the tail, so the curled tail feathers that mark the drake in other breeds are no help here. The knob on the bill, above, is the sign the 1922 book gives instead.
The drake does not have the curled feathers in the tail, as do other ducks.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management
More from the books (2)
They are long and broad in body which is carried in a horizontal position
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and GeeseThe wings are very long and stout, and the tail is rather long, with abundance of stiff feathering.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management
Temperament and habits
Both books warn that drakes fight. Lamon and Slocum describe the drakes fighting one another, badly at times. Howard goes further and calls the breed a poor fit for a farm kept with other poultry, because of its quarrelsome and pugnacious nature. The 1922 book knows about the fighting and still rates the breed highly; see where the two books disagree, below.
The drakes are quite pugnacious and fight one another badly at times.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
More from the books (1)
Muscovy ducks are very unsatisfactory birds to keep on the farm with other poultry, owing to their quarrelsome and pugnacious natures.
Howard, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management
Lamon and Slocum list several habits that set the breed apart, and each comes with a comparison in the same passage: the birds do not quack like other ducks; they moult once a year, where other domesticated breeds moult two or three times, and the single moult takes longer; and their eggs take five to seven days longer to hatch than the 28 days given for other breeds.
The period of incubation for Muscovy eggs is longer, being from 33 to 35 days as compared to 28 days for other breeds.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
More from the books (2)
They do not quack like other ducks
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geesethey moult only once, taking longer to do so, usually about 90 days
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
The breed is long lived, the ducks are broody and good mothers, and the plumage is unusual. Lamon and Slocum say the feathers are harder and less downy or oily than in other breeds, and that because of this, birds not used to swimming water are more apt to become water soaked. The book adds that this is especially true of the drakes, because of their large size and long wing feathers.
The Muscovy is long lived, specimens having been known to breed until they were eight or ten years of age.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
More from the books (4)
They are a broody breed. The ducks will make their nests and hatch out their eggs if allowed to do so and are excellent mothers.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and GeeseThe plumage of the Muscovy is not as downy or oily as other breeds, the feathers being harder.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and GeeseFor this reason the birds are more apt to become water soaked
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and GeeseThis is especially true of the drakes on account of their large size and long wing feathers.
Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
The two varieties side by side
| Point | Colored Muscovy | White Muscovy |
|---|---|---|
| Plumage | Lustrous blue-black, sometimes broken with white“the back in color of plumage is lustrous blue black, which is sometimes broken with white” (Howard, 1897) | Pure white throughout“The White Muscovy in color of plumage is pure white throughout” (Howard, 1897) |
| Head | Glossy black and white“The head of the Colored Muscovy is glossy black and white” (Howard, 1897) | Young birds often show a black patch on top until the adult moult“Young Muscovies of both sexes often have a patch of black on top of the head up to the time they moult at maturity.” (Lamon & Slocum, 1922) |
| Bill | Dark horn“the bill is dark horn in color” (Howard, 1897) | Not described in either book |
| Eyes | Brown“eyes, brown” (Howard, 1897) | Leaden blue or gray“The eyes in the white variety are of a leaden-blue or gray color” (Howard, 1897) |
| Shanks, toes, webs | Yellow to dark lead or black“the shanks, toes, and webs vary in color from yellow to dark lead or black” (Howard, 1897) | Pale orange or yellow“The shanks, toes, and webs are of a pale-orange or yellow color.” (Howard, 1897) |
| Show fault | Plumage more than half white“Plumage more than half white is a disqualification.” (Lamon & Slocum, 1922) | Feathers of any other color“feathers of any other color will disqualify the bird for show purposes.” (Howard, 1897) |
Old standard weights
| Book | Adult drake | Adult duck | Young drake | Young duck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard, 1897 | 10 lb | 8 lb | 8 lb | 7 lb |
| Lamon & Slocum, 1922 | 10 lb | 7 lb | 8 lb | 6 lb |
The two books agree on the drakes and differ by one pound on the ducks. Both are historical show standards from their own year, not the current American Poultry Association standard.
As printed in Howard, 1897: The standard weight of the adult drake is 10 pounds; adult duck, 8 pounds; young drake, 8 pounds, and young duck, 7 pounds.
As printed in Lamon & Slocum, 1922: Muscovy 10 7 8 6
Where the two books disagree
Twenty-five years apart, the two books reach opposite verdicts on whether the Muscovy belongs on a farm.
Muscovy ducks are very unsatisfactory birds to keep on the farm with other poultryHoward, 1897, Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management
The Muscovy is perhaps the best general purpose breed for a farm flock.Lamon & Slocum, 1922, Ducks and Geese
Questions readers ask
Is the Muscovy really a duck?
Both books treat it as one. Lamon and Slocum list it in their table of standard duck weights next to the Pekin, Rouen and Cayuga, and Howard describes it in a bulletin on ducks and geese. Howard adds the qualification that it forms a distinct genus with its own peculiarities, which is why it looks and behaves so differently from the others.
How do you tell a drake from a duck?
Not by the tail: Howard notes that the Muscovy drake lacks the curled tail feathers other drakes have. Lamon and Slocum point to the knob at the base of the upper bill in the drake, and both books give the drake a heavier standard weight than the duck.
Which standard weight is right?
Neither is a current standard. Howard's figures come from an 1897 government bulletin and Lamon and Slocum's from a 1922 book. They agree on the drakes and differ by a pound on the ducks. We print both rather than averaging them or choosing one.
Why do the two books disagree about keeping it on a farm?
Howard gives his reason in the same sentence: the birds are quarrelsome and pugnacious with other poultry. Lamon and Slocum also describe drakes fighting one another, so they knew about it, and still call the Muscovy perhaps the best general purpose breed for a farm flock. The books do not settle it, so neither do we.
The books quoted here
- Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management, George E. Howard (1897; USDA Farmers' Bulletin No. 64). Full text and catalogue entry.
- Ducks and Geese, Harry M. Lamon and Rob R. Slocum (1922; Orange Judd Publishing Company, New York). Full text and catalogue entry.