YWCA Camp Cavell
 

It is a Ducky - Duck World at Camp Cavell

Article by: Liza Zaveta
 

 

Here at the YWCA Camp Cavell Petting Farm we had two new guests this summer.  Purity and Sue are two Muscovy ducks.  Purity is the one with the all white head and Sue has a white head with black in it. They are both females and they are sisters.  Female Muscovy ducks can lay 24 to 30 eggs at a time!

 

Muscovy ducks are very gentle and they have a bit of an identity problem, they act like dogs!  When they are happy they will wag their tails and pant just like a dog does.  They will also follow you anywhere if you have food.

 

You can identify a Muscovy duck because is black and white, and they also have a green metallic sheen to their black feathers in the sun.  Their faces have a red bumpy mask to them.  The males masks are much larger than the females.  They also differ in size.  The males are much larger than the females.  The females when happy will coo, they do not make much noise and they do not quack.

 

The Muscovy duck originates from  Mexico, Central, and South America. They are excellent climbers and can climb any wire like their chicken wire fence. They can lay up to 30 eggs in a clutch and lay about three clutches a year.

 

They eat some plant life, small vertebrates (such as tiny frogs), grasshoppers, crickets, but their favorite food is mosquitoes! 

 

Purity and Sue will go home at the end of October and new ducks will come back next summer.  They belong to the Zaveta Family (Hawkeye's Family).

 

P.S. If anyone has a hard plastic little kiddie pool (or two) that they do not need we will gladly take them.  We have several animals like the ducks, pigs and alpacas that can use them to cool down in the summer!

 

Thanks so much,

Lisa

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