Good morning, everyone!
Star’s molting haircut
Our super-popular Star is molting (shedding and regrowing feathers), and Star’s head looks funny again. The feathers are short only in the middle, like a haircut gone wrong! And no tail, either. What are you going to do about that?
The boys’ red bumps
These are our male ducks. The red, wrinkly, bumpy skin on their faces is getting bigger. By comparison, the girls’ bumps are still small. Muscovy ducks are famous for growing lots of these red bumps. It’s not a disease. The bigger they are, the more strongly the male is announcing that he’s a male — a bit like a rooster’s comb, and the texture is similar too.
They’re almost grown up now, and we have four males (I think) to only five or six females. That’s too unbalanced — the females can die from it — so it’s almost time to separate the males.
Parsley, your face has stopped turning white. Her cheeks are black, and she’s gone white from the top of her head to about the back of her neck. Are you happy with that? Parsley doesn’t care at all; she’s just grooming.
Next time: the male ducks get thrown out! …Just kidding.
Meet Howl
This is Howl, the biggest duck we have. The glossy color of his wings reminded me of the feathers of the wizard Howl in a famous animated film. At first they were blue, but they’ve turned green. Still beautiful!
But what is this huge body? His head alone is the size of my hand. He’s so much bigger than Parsley — practically a swan. Male Muscovies grow their special face bumps early. By the way, he’s not friendly at all, so I’m a little scared of what’s ahead.
How much does he weigh? Definitely 5 kilos. Maybe 8? Maybe not that much. He’s very heavy. Oh, there’s still a blue feather left! His wing is as long as my arm, and it’s still growing. Terrifying. His feet are huge, and his toes look almost human — like a dinosaur’s. Please don’t struggle!
Male Muscovies can’t make a “quack-quack” sound; they were bred that way so people could keep them quietly. Instead he goes “hoe, hoe” — he’s been angry this whole time. Usually they only make noise when they’re angry or threatening. Such a thick neck… should I put a collar on him? He was the biggest from the very start, and he ended up the biggest.
He’s getting bored, so let’s let him walk. Off you go! Wow — he actually flies with that body. Beautiful. Thank you for watching Chicken Paradise!