First chickens and guinea hens are the best for reducing fly problems. Since you already have the Muscovy I would keep it. they are very intelligent birds. if it is full grown you should not have to worry about it getting beat up by your chickens. At full size male Muscovies will be bigger than any chicken and females will be as big as any chicken. Also muscovies are great guard birds and if they are healthy always become top of the pecking order. However if it is young or is not healthy you should do as other have suggested and put it in a separate pen in full view of your other birds for at least a week preferably two weeks. This will allow the birds to examine each other and size each other up before they are put together. this often eliminates much of the upset in the pecking order that introducing a new bird can cause. Also any new bird that is going to be introduced to your flock should be kept separate from your other birds for at least two weeks so that you can be sure that it has no illnesses or parasites that it could spread to the rest of your flock. Also be aware that Muscovies need more room than a chicken because of their larger body size and a water bin that they can use to splash water on themselves from in order to bath. They do not need any special food and can be fed any standard layer or meat bird feed. As with chickens they should not be fed a scratch feed because they get their grit from the ground and the mix of grains in scratch feed is not as good nutritionally for poultry as a layer or meat bird feed is.I have 11 hens, and i place a female muscove in w/ them to control the fly population? She need special stuff?
If you have a fly problem then your not looking after your birds correctly!
greatpanisdead what a load of bollocks your talking.
Like the other poster said, if she isn't already a part of the flock they'll hurt her. If you can put her in a cage in sight of the hens for a week, they'll accept her when you let her out.
About the special stuff. Ducks need water in order to eat and keep clean. They make a mess of it. You don't say if your flock free ranges or is kept confined.
If you're looking for insect control, why not get a guinea hen?
muscovy r brill pets i have one, the hens might peck at her tho, unless shes fully grown,my pet is male and he dont take no shite from my other pets ie dogs and cats lizards etc, keep an eye on her, they should be fine together, if they do fight depending on how bad, u might have to seperate them.
i have 4 hens and 1 muscovy female nd they dont touch each other
eI have ducks and chickens which live happily together. One hen even hatched three duck eggs and mothered the ducklings. Ducks do need to be able to put their heads in water.
Whenever a new bird is introduced to the flock I leave in in a separate part of the run, visible to the others, for a week or two before letting them mix.
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