New Kid Arrives
A few days ago we received this photo from our friend who’s a volunteer at the Seattle Animal Shelter.
She asked “what kind of duck is this?” and said it had been found in SW Seattle. She’s a female muscovy duck. The shelter posted her photo online and waited a week to see if someone would come forward to claim her, as she seems like she is in good health and was obviously treated well.
My guess is she had a good home, but she grew her new flight feathers after molting and flew out of her yard. Then she couldn’t find her way back home. Unfortunately no one came to get her, so today she came here. We took her to the vet first for a quick fecal test to make sure she didn’t have any parasites, and she’s all good, so she can integrate with the flock.
Muscovies do best with other muscovy ducks. They are the only duck not descended from mallards, so they don’t really have much in common with other ducks. They don’t speak the same language, they don’t quack, and they aren’t able to oil their feathers as well. Historically, they’re South American tree-perching ducks. They are considered a feral invasive species in the southern United States, and are unfortunately also used for meat and eggs.
Introducing a new muscovy duck into the flock takes a bit of time and patience. Petunia gave the new girl the business, but she’s pretty sweet overall, so she didn’t try to chase her or bite her.
She left that job to Ramona.
Here’s a short video of Ramona’s “welcome” for the new kid. It could use some work.
“What were you thinking? You weren’t thinking, were you.”
After giving up on intimidating the new girl, Petunia Peach turned to me and gave me grief for bringing a new kid into the mix.
She consulted with O’Malley and Ramona, and the three of them decided that they are going to give the new girl a hard time for a little while before letting her be part of the group.
The new girl doesn’t care though. She found the pool and made herself right at home.
She had a nice swim and got all the human and Ramona cooties off of her pretty feathers.
Tonight she’s in a pen inside the bigger pen, so Petunia doesn’t give her a hard time. She can see Petunia, but they can’t reach each other. That way they can get all the smack talk out of the way and hopefully become friends.
With the muscovies all tucked in for the night, the new girl is starting to settle in. She hasn’t told us her name yet, but as soon as she does, we’ll let you know. For now, we’ll keep her safe and warm and well fed and let her learn the ropes and the new routine.
Welcome, new kid. We’re happy to have you here at Ducks and Clucks.
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