I had 2 babies but they died and as babies they were EXTREMELY messy. I lived in Fl and had some wild ones in the neighborhood, They minded their business for the most part but I have heard of them chasing people when they were in heat. I never seen that for myself. They were messy as adults too. You could always tell where they were because they deposited large loads of poop. kind of disgusting really. But now that I think about it we never had any problems with mosquitoes or flies. Not sure if the area was sprayed or not but I did live VERY close to the water. Also I do not remember them being particularly noisy.

Hold a loaded gun to my head and you might convince me to take some Muscovies.

We have about 11 or 12 of them, in a pasture & by 2 ponds. They do a good job with flies & bugs (ticks) etc. They do better as young ones IMO but they still eat them as adults. Now if these same ducks were by my house & where we walk frequently, I suppose I might be writing reviews similar to the above.

Any duck will make a mess with water, and poop all over the place-muscovies are no different. Small confinement will mean a mess with any breed of duck.

Muscovies are quiet, not making loud quacking noises. Some also roost in trees. Ours are fairly friendly, and will follow us if we have a bucket of grain. Otherwise there isn't any chasing at all.

A lot depends on how and where you will be keeping them. Also how many you keep. If you choose to let them hatch out full clutches, you will soon be overwhelmed or overstocked with muscovies (like the wild ones in FL). Remove the eggs before they hatch.
IMO they are a nice breed, are beneficial, and are large enough to put on the dinner table if you are so inclined.

Brendasue

I had both Muscovies and Mallards on my acreage with a small stream running in my front yard. The Muscovies were messy, the drakes were aggresive and multiplied like rabbits. I hated the things, loved the mallards. Any flies they might eat couldn't make a dent in the ones that were attracked by their mounds of poo. I finally gave them away to anyone who could catch them.
Cooper

Ok, now I have more questions! I live in Pa, could these birds become 'wild' and survive by themselves, even in winter? I read they are the only duck that is indigenous to the Americas. Are they good at foraging for themselves? I had seen a few 'wild' ones around a park a few years ago. I also read they are great broodies and mothers, so I guess I could use them to hatch out other duck eggs as well maybe. Also, I have 2 african goslings that I'm going to let free range, and they take HUGE dumps, so not sure if their craps are as big as theirs or not. It is something to consider though, so maybe I'll be able to persuade hubby to build the coop over the hill away from the house, down in the gully where we have small seasonal stream.

I butcher some of my guineas, so it would be nice to have some muscovies to eat too, especially if they help with these $#@@!!%^$ flies around here, they really suck.
I guess I could keep them penned up if the poop gets too deep....

Do they taste different than mallards?

Ah, I don't know if they could survive by themselves-maybe in your climate but not here. Ours free range during winter, but we feed them as we get a lot of snow and ice. We've never had a problem of exterior freezing like they say is common.

I'm for free-ranging, keeping them close tohome with a little feed, but I don't think I'd let them go completely wild. Supposedly they can hatch up to 3 clutches a year. Crossed with any other bred of duck & the offspring are mules (sterile) as they are not derived from the mallard.

We bought ours both locally & from Country Hatchery in OK. They had a 3 month waiting list when we ordered. Prior to that we bought from Brian Shulte-Shulte Waterfowl. I understand he sold out though.

I havn't eaten them myself so I don't know how they taste.

Brendasue

They sure are ugly. We have them all over the condo complex I live in. (Florida) The ducklings are cute and look NOTHING lilke a grown Muscovie. Today I saw a mother with 23 ducklings following her. Unbelievable.

They are big ducks thus big poo.Just like dogs .You won't get a tiny turd from a great dane,they eat 6 cups of food a day so 6 cups in 6 cups out. I imagine that is the way it is in most of animal kingdom. What is nice is that when ducks poo in the water the fish eat it,it is after all grain and insects.
Yes they are ugly and we might add owning Muscovies to the things not to talk about like religion and politics LOL!
I thoght they were a tropical duck though,quite plentiful here in Florida but most are friendly BUT,,,,,,,,like dogs and people - some are NOT.
Right now I am raising 11 NON muscovy ducklings and they are PIGS! They have brought in more flies then they could ever eat.
But they are so entertaining and fun that I deal with it.

Well at least the droppings are soft and it is easy to was away with a hose. More than I can say for a dog. It just looks so disgusting to have it all over the place.

Here is an ad that illustrates how people view them in Florida:
Free Muscovy ducks and their hacthlings located at 2302 Maki Rd Plant City, FL 33563-Kentwood Park Condo. I am the president of the Homeowners Association and hereby give permission to anyone willing or wanting to trap and remove the ducks for your personal use. Come by the property and help yourself to any or all ducks you can see.

Here is something frm the other side:
One of the main reasons they were brought here several hundred years ago, is to help keep down the mosquito and bug population, and that they do, and do it well. There are billions of insects on a acre of land, and the muscovy ducks are worth their weight in gold at eating mosquitos and insects. They eat the mosquito larva right in the water, and they nip in the air and eat the ones flying around. They love roaches and eat them like they are candy, they eat flies, and maggots and do a lot to keep down the fly population. They even eat those rolly pollies that you find under rocks and all around the outside of your house. They have a bad taste, and most birds won't even eat them, the Muscovies are one of the few things that will eat them. I have even seen them eat ants, they eat every bug they see. But what even makes them more valuable is they love spiders, and they eat even the poisonous ones, the Black Widow, and the deadly brown spider that is worse than the Black Widow. Muscovy Ducks have saved many peoples lives from spider bites and people don't even know it. They go under the bridges and picnic tables where kids play, and reach up in the corners and crevices and eat the spiders, along with other insects, making them more valuable than people will ever know.