Skip to content

Muscovy duck for tropical farming Photo: placeholder pending image-fill pass

Muscovy duck for tropical farming

Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a meat-type domestic duck of South American origin that thrives in hot, humid conditions and on minimal water bodies, making it suitable for backyard duck farming across peninsular India and the north-east. Unlike the egg-type Khaki Campbell (Khaki Campbell Duck) and the migratory paddy-field flocks of coastal Andhra Pradesh and Kerala (Duck Farming Migratory), Muscovy is reared primarily for table meat in low-input semi-intensive units. ICAR-Central Avian Research Institute (ICAR-CARI), Izatnagar maintains conservation flocks and supplies parent stock.

Origin and distribution

Muscovy is a separate species from the mallard-derived domestic duck (Anas platyrhynchos) and does not require open water for swimming. In India it has long been kept by smallholders in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, West Bengal and the north-east. Distribution under state and central rural-poultry schemes is patchy but growing under the National Livestock Mission (National Livestock Mission).

Morphology

Plumage is predominantly white or pied (black-and-white), with a red caruncled face that is more pronounced in males. Adult drakes are markedly larger than females — drakes weigh 4-5 kg and ducks 2.5-3.0 kg at full size. The bird has a strong build, claws on the feet for perching and a quiet vocal range.

Performance

Muscovy ducklings reach a market weight of 2.5-3.0 kg in 10-12 weeks under semi-intensive rearing, with a feed conversion ratio of about 2.7-3.0. Females lay 80-120 eggs per year in two clutches, weighing 70-80 g each; eggs are mostly used for brooding rather than table use. Meat is lean, dark and rich in flavour, distinct from Pekin or Khaki Campbell carcass. The breed is hardy and tolerates village conditions well.

Management

Muscovy can be reared with or without access to water; a small wallow pond is enough. Birds are housed in low-cost shelters with deep litter (Deep Litter System) at night and allowed to scavenge during the day on kitchen waste, broken grain, snails, green forage and crop residues. Supplementary grain or a duck-grower ration is fed during peak grow-out. Vaccination against duck plague and Newcastle disease (Ranikhet Newcastle Disease) is recommended where local vaccine cover allows. Muscovy is well suited to mixed homestead poultry units alongside Vanaraja (Vanaraja Rural Dual Purpose Chicken) and country chicken (Country Chicken Nattu Kodi).

See also: Japanese Quail Coturnix India, Gramapriya Rural Layer, Self Mixed Poultry Feed.

References

  1. Duck farming — Muscovy duck. ICAR-Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar.
  2. Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata). vikaspedia agriculture portal.