Muscovy

Such a beautiful animal. When my white Muscovys (Muscovies?) spread their 6' wings to fly, they are both graceful and majestic.

The Muscovy duck is by many people's account, the best tasting veal and the best tasting duck you can buy. Comments have been made like:

A very tender Turkey taste - and larger than smaller turkeys in your supermarket.

At 5 months, it tastes like veal (but as I found out, you have to cook it right - fairly hot - to get the correct taste.)

At the suggestion of a couple friends (one who raises her own Muscovies) and my own preferences for the taste of 'range feed' animals and veal, I have gotten into raising a few Set up for Muscovlings per year. Like piggies, my emphasis is on taste, after all, I'm raising them for my family and I to eat - and I love to eat great food - especially if there is no more work to get great food vs oK food.

I've been asked if people can buy some, the answer is - maybe. I have a tight limit imposed by the county, on how many animals I can raise at a time and, as a virtue of being located in the cold North (Calgary area) I obviously can only raise range feed animals in the summer! So I can only realistically get one or two crops of Muscovy veal per year though I'm keeping some to overwinter as my breeding stock.

So, my excess Muscovies will be available on a first come first serve basis. To secure your Muscovies, you first check if I have some available (as of this writing, the answer is no) then you provide me with a 50% down payment. While I fully expect to be able to deliver if, due to circumstances beyond my control I can't, I will of course return your money and give you first right of refusal on next years muscovys (meat) or muscovlings (young ones for you to raise yourself). Then, when I know what day they or the meat will be ready, I let you know and we arrange for delivery. If you buy from me 'this' year, you'll also get first right of refusal for next year.

Now, enough of the business end, on to the interesting information:

There are 3 types of ducks, by most accounts,

1. Wild ducks. These come in various quantities for eating, some wonderful, some terrible. Read any good hunting book that describes the various ducks and how they taste. I've read that most (other sources say 'all') of the ducks hunted are from the Anas family of ducks.
2. Standard domesticated ducks. Genetically bred from Mallard ducks aka Anas platyrhynchos. According to more than one source -all domesticated ducks other than the Muscovy (below), come from Mallard ducks The most common complaints about these ducks is they are very greasy and very bony. My personal experience has been 40% fat and 40% bone and 20% greasy tasting meat. Now to be fair, standard domesticated ducks are broken into 2 categories. Both have the above characteristics, but they are split into ducks raised for egg production and ducks raised for meat production. Obviously, if you are keeping a duck for its lifetime production of eggs, if it tastes bad at the end, it is no big deal. Just don't eat it!
3. Muscovy domesticated ducks, aka Cairina moschata. Compared to other domesticated ducks, it is much larger, lean and closer to a turkey in terms of bone to meat ratio. The flavour is declared wonderful by most people. It doesn't produce as many eggs though, so it is not a good egg production animal

Some people have said that the word 'duck' does not properly apply to the Muscovy because of its characteristics and the fact it is a Cairina not an Anas. So lets look at the Muscovy compared to the real (wild and domesticated) ducks:

• It is willing to to nest in a tree (no other 'duck' will)
• The meat is more like veal than a real duck. (Ducks taste more or less like duck!)
• They can breed on land and water (true ducks need to be in water to breed)
• Now here is perhaps the most important: It doesn't quack (it does make some sound, but not much, more like a soft cluck and not a quack). Think about the common phrase 'if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck'. Maybe the people who came up with this phrase weren't focused on what a duck was as much as they were focused on saying that a muscovy is not a duck.
• All other ducks can interbreed together and out comes - a duck that can produce its own children.
• Occasionally you can force a duck and a muscovy to mate,but the result is a mule (technical term, not either of the 4 legged varieties you're probably thinking of). And as a mule - you can try all you want, but it is never going to have its own children, if you want another one, you've got to start again with a duck and a muscovy. (Interesting tidbit - a mule deer is not a real mule - since it breeds true. I think this comment fits here - a duck that is not a duck and a mule that is not a mule)

We have different animals that are similar: A chicken and a turkey. A cow and a buffalo. An emu and an ostrich, And I have no real problem accepting that a duck and a Muscovy are the same type of pairing. But, since it does look very much like a duck other than perhaps the mottling on its head, and many people call it a duck for practical purposes, For the young, you can use the term ducklings or muscovlings.

Another twist, in the early 1900's some people called the Muscovy a 'type of goose', not a duck.

In any event, You can probably guess why, for my acreage, I have chosen Muscovy ducks for meat production. I will admit, at some point I may try an egg producing duck variety after which I'll add it to my pages for whatever practical advice I can offer at that time.

Muscovy ducks were originally a wild variety. There are several different stories given as to how the name came about, and some people, with completely different stories - and I mean completely, are adamant that their answer is correct. I'm therefore going to ignore the issue entirely! (Update, I've been asked so I'm starting a collection at the bottom)

Other names I've heard these ducks given:

The Turkey duck The Veal duck Scobies Tree duck Barbary (name given to the carcas, not the live bird And of course, Cairina moschata

Back to the flavour of the meat, the color/colour is reported to affect the taste with the white ones being the best, the dark ones having an off taste near the skin. I don't have personal experience, I've just decided to go with the premium white. Cost me a bit more to get started, but that's OK. If you want to start easier and possibly at a lower cost - just don't be picky about getting the white ones

Some other nice factors about Muscovys beyond their taste:

• They are considered excellent mosquito and fly catchers (much better than tanks of propane or those zap style catchers - but then, that's not saying much.)
• They don't wander, as long as they don't see a pond nearby.
• Are reported to not make as big a mess of your garden as other birds, and they eat lots of nasty critters in the process.

Some not so nice factors about Muscovys

• There are mixed reviews. Some say They need more heat than chickens (when it gets near freezing, you need to provide heat for their feet) Others (one in Alaska) say - no way, they provide no extra heat even in the winter. My muscovies have shown no ill effects down to -20C (I think that's around 0F).
• They have claws on their feet and when they are 'playing' with you, you can get hurt. A bigger problem for little children. It is a bigger problem in part because the Muscovys are more friendly than many other animals such as chickens, and combined with their claws, their friendliness can be a problem!

Silly rumor: I read on one web site that had 'lots' of details about Muscovies that the males can't fly. Just come and watch if you think this is true. And remember that the muscovy is basically a wild duck - how do you think they get around in the wild - waddle away from the predators? No, the males can fly just fine.

Some of reasons given for the name Muscovy.

• They were first domesticated in Moscow. 'Mos-co-vy' I don't remember if a reason was given for the change in spelling.

• Smell of musk on the skin that goes away during cooking 'Musk-oh-vy'. Problems with this include that the Muscovy doesn't have a musk gland and according to many - myself included - there is no musk smell. I've heard of no one pushing this theory saying that they have smelled it.

• The duck sold by the Muscovite Trading Company that plied its trade in and around South America (likely part - see below)

• A bird sold by the Muscovy Company in the 1600's that plied its trade between Russia and England. This one seems the most likely to me because:

  • In South America, Muscovies were apparently domesticated for centuries before Christopher Columbus arrived
  • Muscovies are known to have been available in Europe since at least the 1500's
  • The Muscovite Trading company apparently was known to trade between South America and Russia
  • To attach your company name to a product was then, as now, common, so Muscovite or Muscovy duck would not be a stretch given the above information
  • There is a claim they used to be called Muscovites but Muscovy became the more common
  • A misspelling of 'Mask', given the clear facial mask on especially male Muscovies, this one at least seems a possibility
  • Sir Hugo of Trumpington gets pulled in as well, supposedly the Trumpington coat of arm contained or contains a Muscovy on it and supposedly the Trumpingtons were involved with the Muscovy company which could have some relevance

• None the less, I am simply offering the comments on the genesis of the name for information sake. I have not taken the time to check legitimately any of the so called facts regarding the name.

• A misspelling of 'Mask', given the clear facial mask on especially male Muscovies, this one at least seems a possibility

New Terra Farm -completely unrelated to me- has a lot of interesting information, while not directly related to Muscovies, I found lots of their info to be very practical for homestead style raising of Muscovies. Some of their advice is free with just your email, others at a cost. For information on both types of product, visit:Click here to visit New Terra Farm. But before you buy anything - check out their best offer:Click here to view more detailsI bought this best offer and I was really pleased with the info I got and I have made very good use of several suggestions in their information.