Aylesbury, Muscovy, Wigeon & Bahama Pintail

In the wild, ducks that are hatched in trees or high buildings are able to fall long distances without harm.

To avoid the fox ducks head for water, or fly (but Aylesburys cannot fly more than a few feet). Wild ducks have very strong breast muscles, so are very efficient flyers and can cover very long distances in migration.

We have kept Aylesburys as pets on the Moat for about 15 years. Most of the ducklings hatched at this farm are bred from these.

These, like all ducks, are promiscuous. Mating is abrupt and fairly violent. Incubation is 35 days, after which the young can swim immediately. They reach maturity within a year, unlike swans and geese that take two years and are then monogamous for life.

Bahama pintail ducks do almost everything as a couple or as a group. Their bonding is unlimited in the wild since they need each other to survive.

Springing into flight from the water’s surface, Wigeon ducks require no running take-off.

The Muscovy’s name derives from muskduck, (not Russia!), and it was originally a native of the South American tropics, then domesticated there by the Indians, before being brought to Europe by the Spanish. They were found to thrive in the colder climate.

They are, like swans and geese, in the Anatidae family, a clean family, of which Noah would have taken 7 pairs onto the Ark.