is this the first time they have mated, I usually noticed they mated every day, and after i first introduced the male, I waited two days, just to be on the safe side, they were all fertile.

Well, see here is why I'm asking.

We had 3 boy muscovies amd we took them behind the mall to the river, because they were ALWAYS bothering the girls. (Don't worry, the boys are very happy there and we go feed them all the time!)

Anyway, before they left, Jake (ur muscovy girl had babies with Snowflake, one of the boys we carried to the river). All of their eggs got broken but one. Finally her egg hatched and it was a boy and we named him JRose.

JRose is about 5 months old now and he has been trying to have babies with Jake (his mom)

jake has started back laying eggs, but if they might be JRose's babies I don't want them to hatch. But, if they might could be Snowflake's babies then I would like to let them hatch.

We carried Snowflake and the other 2 boys to the river about one month ago. So, could the eggs that Jake is laying now be from Snowflake maybe?? thanks! I hope this isn't too confusing!
Genny

My unedumcated guess is 'NO' but i lov the question...

Wait a minute, you released your domestic ducks into a river? thats something that you are never supposed to do, go get them back. Make another pen or find someone else to take tham or enjoy some duck soup, but releseing domestic animals is not in any way good for the environment.

Also, they are probably jroses chicks if they are fertile, but jakes laying is not mating dependant.

Not only is it bad for the environment, it's bad for the ducks themselves. Domestic ducks cannot survive when turned loose, and will eventually become predator fodder. I agree that it's irresponsible on several levels to release domestic ducks.

Well i guess you two sanits answered about the enviourment and all that BS but sinse you know so much .........how about the fertile eggs? That was the question, or did I misread the post?

Giventake, I never claimed to be a sanit, I just saw something of great concern and commented on it, thanks tyo reffering to the environment as BS, I'm sure that any day now the world will stop working the way that it has since recorded history and become just like you think it should be, infact, Its written down in my datebook to happen next tuesday. Also, if you will notice I actually did answer the question.

I didn't mean to get you guys mad at each other :(
Brendan and Patrick, thankyou for being concerned about my ducks, but My mother has let pet ducks go into the wild when she was a little girl and they seemed fine.

I didn't want to set my boys free, but it was the best thing to do I believe. They are sweet boys, but they won't come up to people and let you touch them and they are afraid of dogs. It's not like they are big babies that trust everything, like I think you believe.

If you could just see my boys at the river, I think you would feel differently about the whole situation and realize it's not nowhere as bad as you think it is. Many people do this and it's better than doing as you suggested Brendan " having duck soup" I carried these 3 boys to the river because I love them and want them to have a good life. If I thought they weren't happy or if I thought they had a lot more easier chance of getting caught by a predator than the rest of the ducks then I would bring them home, but I think they have just as much of a chance at surviving than any of the other ducks do.

Thank-you Giventake for your help. I guess I wont let the eggs hatch since they are probably JRose's babies. I just don't think they should hatch--just the thought of a mother duck having babies with her son?? LOL

Brendan and Patrick, thanks for your concern, but I'm going to leave my boys at the river. I go see them several times a week and they hang out and interact with all the other ducks there and they seem happy. If I thought they were unhappy and sad I would definitely bring them all home, but they seem happy and that's what anyone would want for their ducks. My girls are happy here at home where they can walk around without the boys following them and the boys are happy at the river where they have that big ol' pond and 30-40 girl ducks to chase after!

Believe me, If I thought my boys were in real danger they wouldn't be at the river, they would be home with me in their little house.
But, back to my original question--I guess I'm taking the eggs. I don't guess I'll let them hatch. I wondered if I did would something be wrong with the babies?? Like they could be deformed???

talk to you later
Genny

Genny, I understand that you are concerned for your ducks, and that you may not want to see them turned into soup, but letting them go is still wrong, no matter how happy they are or how often you may go to check up on them.

There are tow possibilities here, either you life in Florida, and you let your muscovies go with another flock of ferrel muscovies, in which case you are contributing to a problem that costs florida millions of dollars each year, and endangers floridas native ducks. Or you are not in Florida, in which case your muscovies are chasing around native populations of ducks, mating with them and producing sterile mule ducks (that continue to compete for food but do not pass on the genes of the ducks native to your area) and if you are somewere cold your ducks are doomed anyways because muscovies do not migrate. and no matter were you are your ducks are possibly carying parasites (and don't try to pretend that your ducks don't have em because they are happy and healthy, birds generally don't look sick even when they are seriously ill).

In summation, your ducks are probably not in danger, but the river is, and you don't have the right to put that river in danger.

Brendan,

I'm not in Florida, I am in Alabama and it's not cold here. And no, I believe my ducks are even healthier than wild ducks. I don't think I'm putting the river in danger either. There may be some people that agree with you here and some may agree with me. But, I don't think you have the right to tell me what to do with my ducks. It isn't againts the law here to release pet ducks. And, they are not competing for food! There is a gigantic river out there and there are millions and millions of fish and bugs for them to eat.

I'm not trying to be rude or smart, but I simply asked a question about some eggs, I wasn't asking a question about my boys at the river.

Genny

You're right, I don't have the right to tell you what to do with your ducks, if you want to dress them up in funny outfits its your perogative, if you want to sing them to sleep at night its your perogative, if you want to sell them to a russian circus its your perogative. I do however have the right and the responsability to protect native waterways. It may not be against the law to relese ducks in private ponds and parks (with the okay of the owners), but the laws against releasing into wild waterways are federal, and there for apply to Alabama aswell.

Regarding the health issues, if you have a cold and fred has the flu and you go visit fred he may be sicker than you, but getting the cold from you will only exasterbate his flu, and besides, its not very good for you to expose yourself to the flu, but thats an issue for you.

And regarding mule ducks, you do reaslise that millions of dollars a year are being spent to bring mallards back to alabama, you are hindering that effort.

I answered your question, but this is an important issue, it needs to be adressed aswell.

Brendan, I didn't know that you were going to get so 'excited' about this and keep on and on. You've shared your opinion. The boys are going to stay at the river; I'm not bringing them home. That's all I have to say about it. Take Care.
Genny

Genny inbreding in farm animals was discouraged at least 50 years ago, created more problems than it solved. IF the eggs were fertile, it could have came from anyone of the 'boys' IF they are mature enough to mate?
Branden by chance are you are card carrying "Ducks Unlimited" member? Isn't that another name for a "whinnie rich yuppie" that thinks the tax payer owes them intertainment? I have lived in Fla. 50 years and read the paper daily, ablut the only millions discused comes from the cry=baby ducks unlimited. You keep posting slinging mud at the wall something will stick, Maybe lol

Giventake, thanks. I'll be sure to take the eggs away. JRose is old enough I believe, he's about 5 months old now.

Giventake, I am in no way affiliated with ducks unlimited, once I saw a ducks unlimited booth at a fair, but I did not aproatch and did not read any material, I am simply an environmentalist who believes that people shouldn't unlesh there problems on nature.

Brendan, I've learned long ago that you can't teach the unwilling. You know that you're right, and so do I, minority that we are. I've learned to be content with that knowledge, and the fact that I at least tried to educate. As a duck breeder for over 30 years, this subject above most others seems to attract the overly emotional. Time and time again I've seen people wanting to release their domestic birds, or "free range" them becaue they think that it will make them and their birds "happy". Funny thing is, it's those types of people who become completely devestated when a raccoon, fox, dog, coyote, etc eventually kills their precious babies, when someone who knows better rounds them up and "steals" them, or when they finally die of starvation in the middle of winter because the adoring public who once came to feed them every day won't go out in the cold. Your focus on the environmental aspects is as valid as my concern for the safety of the birds, but it's very difficult to change some attitudes.

I'm sorry Genny, but you are just plain wrong to release those ducks into the wild. Your mom was also wrong when she did it. I am not a member of Ducks Unlimited (although I am a member of BASS) but what you are doing is not good stewardship of the planet. And that is our responsibilty, according to the bible.

It is also bad for duck hunters in Alabama. Not to mention the obvious fact that it is TERRIBLE for the ducks. Build a pen, buy a kiddie pool and keep those ducks at home if you really love them so much.

Sorry to be so harsh but I keep ducks (and chickens and turkeys) and it is just flat-out wrong to treat them the way you are, however well intentioned you might be.

Read the last two lines under the heading "Limitations" http://newton.nap.edu/books/030904295X/html/135.html

People release animals "into the wild" all the time.

However, especially with Moscovies this can cause problems. Here is the excerpts from an email I got not a month ago.

Another voice on the subject of animal release:

I found you on a forum about Muscovy Ducks. I am President of a condo complex's HOA in Houston, TX and we have an overwhelming problem with Muscovy ducks. I think I saw that you sell them? We have asked the city to help, but the farm that they would take them to is full. Do you know anything about this or anyone that would want them for FREE? They are turning into a very large liability for us as well as keeping the grounds constantly dirty. Any help or information you can give us would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,
Name deleted.

My Reply:
How many ducks do you have? I have a VERY small farm and can only keep 20 at a time. Plus I am in Kentucky, so transportation over state lines would require veterinary papers on each duck. Too expensive for both of us.

I wish I could help.
Kitty

The reply:
We have between 200 and 300 ducks - it's totally out of control. We have a few residents who think it's their job to feed and water the ducks daily, so they don't help the situation. But because of these people, we have to make sure that the ducks are relocated to a "safe" place and won't be killed or eaten.

Personally, I love all animals and don't want to see them harmed, but at the same time, God gave us animals as a food source - it's the chain of life. But instead of being able to sell them or give them away to just anyone, I will be spending $500 of the HOA's money to pay for a duck roundup this Friday where they will be taken to a pond on a wildlife refuge. I still have some residents complaining about that!

But with this many ducks, the poop is out of control. It's on sidewalks, cars, carports, and even the furniture around the pool. I don't know a lot about ducks, but two different residents have complained that their dogs got sick from licking duck poop off their feet according to their vets.

So I'm in the difficult position of having to control the HOA's liability toward the health and well being of people and pets, as well as placating those who love the ducks. I've even tried rationally explaining to these people that if they love the ducks so much, they really need to stop feeding them bread - from what I've been told, that's horrible for them.

I just don't know what else to do, I've never had to deal with a problem like this before.

It happens on every poultry board and other animal boards too. Its the blatantly ignorant, who have no desire to become better informed, who drive the more knowledgable persons away. Then the boards again become rife with old folks tales and nonsense.
Its probably best to let those types remain ignorant and spend time aiding those who are more gracious and amenable to education?
By the way, sibling and parent X offspring matings are very common in animal breeding, there again, it is the unknowing who believe all sorts of ill things will result from same.