Poultry of the Week: Griggstown Muscovy Duck
Posted on December 16, 2009
Domestic Muscovy Duck
The Muscovy Duck has been domesticated for centuries, and is widely traded as “Barbary duck”. Muscovy breeds are popular because they have stronger-tasting meat – sometimes compared to roasted beef – than the usual domestic ducks which are descendants of the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). The meat is lean when compared to the fatty meat of mallard-derived ducks, its leanness and tenderness being often compared to veal. Muscovy ducks are also less noisy, and sometimes marketed as a “quackless” duck; even though they are not completely silent, they don’t actually quack. The carcass of a Muscovy Duck is also much heavier than most other domestic ducks, which makes it ideal for the dinner table.
This non-migratory species normally inhabits forested swamps, lakes, streams and nearby grassland, and often roosts in trees at night. The Muscovy Duck’s diet consists of plant material obtained by grazing or dabbling in shallow water, with some small vertebrates and insects. This is a somewhat aggressive duck; males often fight over food, territory or mates. The females fight with each other less often. Some adults will peck at the ducklings if they are eating at the same food source.
Muscovy Ducks had been domesticated by various Native American cultures in the New World when Columbus arrived. The first few were brought to Europe by the European explorers at least by the 1500s.
The term “Muscovy” means “from the Moscow region”, but these ducks are neither native there nor were they introduced there before they became known in Western Europe. It is not quite clear how the term came about; it very likely originated between 1550 and 1600, but did not become widespread until somewhat later.
In one suggestion, it has been claimed that the Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands traded these ducks to Europe occasionally after 1550[6]; this chartered company became eventually known as the Muscovy Company or “Muscovite Company” so the ducks might thus have come to be called “Muscovite Ducks” or “Muscovy Ducks” in keeping with the common practice of attaching the importer’s name to the products they sold[6]. But while the Muscovite Company initiated vigorous trade with Russia, they hardly, if at all, traded produce from the Americas; thus they are unlikely to have traded C. moschata to a significant extent.
Finally, John Ray clears up much of the misunderstanding by providing a contemporary explanation for the bird’s etymology:
“In English, it is called The Muscovy-Duck, though this is not transferred from Muscovia [the New Latin name of Muscovy], but from the rather strong musk odour it exudes.”
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_Duck)
