One of this years girls

Magnolia

Aylesbury ducklings - on the left is "Lucky"

For those who remember, a few months ago BYP member Flogs found Matilda (above 9 Jan) for us and so we got our first muscovy. They make great broodies and mums, so the plan is to have a few muzzie girls who will hatch aylesbury eggs and be good mums to the bubs. Matilda was a bit young for that this season but makes a great auntie to the ducklings even so and is about the cheekiest bird around. Well the other day I'd been told about another girl who was very sweet and in need of a home and so Magnolia (aka Maggie) came here yesterday...

Some muzzies can apparently be quite showy when first introduced but she is much like Matilda a calm and easy going girl who takes it all pretty much in stride.

Like Matilda, also ruled by her tummy. (Hunting for scattered wheat, Matilda left and Maggie right.)

The two look a good bit different, albeit both are white and DH confuses the two terribly so far. Among the differences are Maggie's big crest!

Pretty comical eh?

And because I've been a bit slack and not posted these previously... one of Laurent with one of my Wyandotte roosters

A better picture of Lucky (foreground) pleasingly coming along on 11 Jan 09

Younger duckies taking a late afternoon siesta

Last but not least - the picture of pathetic... poor girl is MOULTING... rather seriously!

Matilda says...

"...FLOWERS?!?"

"Why are you taking pictures of FLOWERS???"

"When you COULD be taking pictures of ME!"

One of Jarrah and Penny's oldest boys, a year old on the 21st

A funny shot of Matilda... I was trying to just take a nice one when she spotted some yellowed tailed black cockatoos and did the crest raising and tilted her head up to watch them.

My younger pair of Chinese... well, in theory they are a pair... in reality she likes the Embden goose as well! ~_~;

Reason for lack of news is how sucky this season has been. I've been feeling really disappointed with it - laying is so scatty, fertility is non-existant, no one is going broody except the Embden who is partnered HERSELF with a female chinese and so nothing is going to hatch unless someone else is sneaking eggs in to her nest (don't think so).

Mou.

More Matilda

We went down to the dam today for a good splash about...

Enjoying the sunshine after a splash.Bizzaro-world Grooming Rituals

Chinese Grooming Session

Waterside Contemplation

"I is not a liddle duck! See? I is BIG DUCK!"
and last but not least...

VERY NAUGHTY BIRDS!
(Ye gads... Embden-Chinese-Aylesbury Duc-oslings anyone?)

Miss Matilda Muscovy arrived last night, picked up from the RSPCA and quite happy to be around other poultry again! She's been very calm and slipped into the routines quite easily although sometimes a bit unsure of where everyone is rushing in a big hurry. (LOL They heard the food bag crinkle.)Here is a nice full profile shot of her, standing in front of the Wyandottes near the house.

And together with the Aylesbury near their little clamshell. We'll save the dam for another day when she's more sure of where home-base is and I'm sure she'll come back out. The red on her face is natural colouring, Muscovy's have bumpy red skin there called caruncles.

A better photo of her close up, so you can see her caruncles. They get more pronounced as she gets older.

And the other unusual thing about these guys is they've got a tiny crest of sorts that they can raise and flatten depending on how they feel. You can see she's got hers slightly raised here and can see she's not pure white - she has two tiny black feathers as beauty spots.

And one near Ambrose Aylesbury, to give an idea of size difference. She is very young still, but looks so petite next to them and even smaller next to the geese!

Matilda the Muzzie

This little girl was found lost and taken to the RSPCA. Unfortunately the RSPCA seldom gets owners claiming the birds and most end up euthanized unless a shelter worker adopts them. One of the shelter workers has adopted several but couldn't keep adopting dozens of ducks, so she put up a notice looking for someone to take in this little girl before her date with the green dream.

I'd been looking for a few muzzie girls for broodies (muscovy as a breed are generally a favorite breed for hatching out eggs from breeds that don't naturally sit) and this was perfect timing... so I wrote to see if she still needed a home. As it happens, she did, so she's been named "Matilda" since she was found a waltzing (I know, I'm awful aren't I?) and I wanted to keep a M theme to go with my Aylesbury all having A names. LOL