Duckling identification

[ShelbyCiave]

I absolutely love your Ducks!!! I was so interested that they are supposed to be all Ducks and no Drakes. I am trying to sex my 6 week old Muscovy hen Mallard Drake babies. I had read that the longer heads meant boys. I noticed in some of the pictures yours have the longer head than others. I was surprised to see that and now have hopes that I don't have all males. Please keep us posted as to the sex of all of your ducklings. I can't put pictures on here so I am trying to figure it out on my own. My peepers that did not get their quacks all turned out to be Mallards in my Mallard babies. I have never had the mules or hinnies whichever they are called before and I hatched them out from my own ducks. Thanks for your pictures, they are helping me decide the sex of my own.

Thank you! I love all of them! But unfortunately, only the blue Swedish are girls… the other 4 are boys. When I received the extra 4, I asked the hatchery if they were girls also. They told me that if they didn’t have bands and I ordered girls, then they sent all girls. Turns out that wasn’t true and I have a feeling they pawned off some boy ducklings on me. One khaki had a different colored beak from the other two so that had me hopeful that it was a girl. The girls started quacking between 3-4 weeks old.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Thank you! I love all of them! But unfortunately, only the blue Swedish are girls… the other 4 are boys. When I received the extra 4, I asked the hatchery if they were girls also. They told me that if they didn’t have bands and I ordered girls, then they sent all girls. Turns out that wasn’t true and I have a feeling they pawned off some boy ducklings on me. One khaki had a different colored beak from the other two so that had me hopeful that it was a girl. The girls started quacking between 3-4 weeks old.

You are most welcome and thank you for letting me know what I thought I saw was right. My mixed ducks are quiet because Muscovy ducks usually are so I will have to wait and see. Hopefully I have at least one girl but feelings are they might all be boys. Drakes are so hard to get rid of and I do have a family that feeds their own with them but I hate to see them go that way. Thanks again for letting me know.

 

[Klala]

Awe . In the game of who's the daddy/mommy I have 18. I do know who laid what eggs so I have mom's covered..maybe lol
1 female Mallard (possible store mislabel could be Rouen)
1 female Blue Swedish
1 male Mallard (Rouen)
2 male Pekin
My guess would be mallard cute as a button, All of them!

 

[Luv Ducks]

Awe . In the game of who's the daddy/mommy I have 18. I do know who laid what eggs so I have mom's covered..maybe lol
1 female Mallard (possible store mislabel could be Rouen)
1 female Blue Swedish
1 male Mallard (Rouen)
2 male Pekin
My guess would be mallard cute as a button, All of them!

My female Mallards stayed small with only the one eye stripe. My Rouen Hens are very large with two eye stripes. That is how I could tell mine apart. Other than that the coloring was identical. I had initially thought that my Muscovy Hen mated with my Mallard/Rouen Drake to get my mixed ducklings. However now that I look at them they have the pleasant faces of the Rouen Hens and the coloring in their bodies of the Drake Muscovy. I had initially thought that my Rouen Hens were too old to be laying but I know now that they still are and think that the eggs I incubated and rescued the one other was from them. That's the only problem when we have a mixed flock. We have to put them on Jerry Springer and play Who's The Daddy???? LOL

 

[Vicktoria Giuergia]

Maybe one day! My fiancé was against the idea of getting 4 girl ducklings and 8 arrived and I thought he was going to have a heart attack! If I added more chickens too, I wouldn’t even want to imagine his reaction

Don't tell him & let it be a surprise.

 

[Vicktoria Giuergia]

Don't tell him & let it be a surprise.

 

[Luv Ducks]

I have made trips to get ducklings over an hour away on a Saturday or during the summer when I am not working and let my husband come home to the surprise of new ones. He used to work on a chicken farm and would want no part of them so I would probably be living alone if I tried a surprise like that. lol

 

[Vicktoria Giuergia]

I have made trips to get ducklings over an hour away on a Saturday or during the summer when I am not working and let my husband come home to the surprise of new ones. He used to work on a chicken farm and would want no part of them so I would probably be living alone if I tried a surprise like that. lol

You'll never be alone when you have animals.

 

[Plague]

Awe . In the game of who's the daddy/mommy I have 18. I do know who laid what eggs so I have mom's covered..maybe lol
1 female Mallard (possible store mislabel could be Rouen)
1 female Blue Swedish
1 male Mallard (Rouen)
2 male Pekin
My guess would be mallard cute as a button, All of them!

If they came from a hatchery the Mallard should be missing the back claw. Atleast the hatcheries I’ve looked into. They are also about half the size of a rouen, from the research I have done. I’ve seen pictures of some on here that had mallards, and while growing at some point I could see a substantial size difference with their mallard and others they had. Biggest tell is the eye stripes when ducklings, 2 is rouen, one is mallard. Once bigger and don’t have that stripe, I think it would really only be the size that will what you can figure them out from each other, or the back claw being removed if it was originally, I would assume it wouldn’t grow back.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Yes you are right, the back claw is removed and does not grow back as to identify them as a domestic Mallard and not a wild one. They are quite a bit smaller and the hens are very chatty. I have both Mallards and Rouen Ducks and my Mallard/Rouen Drake will mate with anything in the pen that will have him. lol