Breed identification of day-old ducklings

[Beanfox]

Update... Maggie appears to be a Muscovy duck! We aren't 100% sure yet but here is more information about her:

She doesn't get into the water and bathe or swim, though she occasionall steps into the large water bowl but immediately gets out. She doesn't have a "bean" at the tip of her bill. Her coloration has changed since she was a tiny baby. She has a lot of black spotting in her bill where she had almost NONE when she first came home. Also she has a lot of spotting and peppery pattern that wasn't there when we brought her home. She seems to have long tail feathers forming, much longer than her sibling that is a Campbell duckling.

Here she is less than a week (or about 1 wk) old.
View attachment 3781439

3 weeks old, close-up, grainy photo clearly shows color difference in legs vs feet (orange/pink), and her bill change. I say her because I believe it's a girl, but I could be wrong.
View attachment 3781443

Here she is at 4 weeks old.
View attachment 3781440

It's my understanding that Magpie ducks don't change coloration at all. She has added peppery flecks under her eye and on her bill. Her feet are changing to be orange

Oh, according to this page it appears that this is a male muscovy because the bill doesn't have the ridge and is wider and flatter?

Also, the body proportions appear to be male. Oh dear.

Males have a wider U-shaped tail, females have a narrow V-shaped tail. Yep, we have a male muscovy! Well, I have to figure out what we are going to do before he starts trying to mate with our females. We don't plan to raise Muscovy. We considered keeping her if she was a female because I hear they tend to go broody and make good mommas. But... We don't need a male.

I would say this is a Magpie! I have 4 Magpies, all of which look different. Their coloring did change, as well as their beaks. They progressively got more black spots on the beaks. One is also named Maggie (the one that’s majority white)

 

[NewJourney]

I would say this is a Magpie! I have 4 Magpies, all of which look different. Their coloring did change, as well as their beaks. They progressively got more black spots on the beaks. One is also named Maggie (the one that’s majority white)

It's been a while since I had posted this thread. Yes, my girl is a Magpie. Because of her I have since purchased 6 more Magpie ducklings. She's so adorable!

I love the photos you took of your magpies. They are too cute! Thank you for sharing <3

 

[Beanfox]

It's been a while since I had posted this thread. Yes, my girl is a Magpie. Because of her I have since purchased 6 more Magpie ducklings. She's so adorable!

I love the photos you took of your magpies. They are too cute! Thank you for sharing <3

Oh jeez, I read the ‘Mar’ as ‘May’.. sorry about that!

They really are great ducks! Awesome to hear you got some more of them!!

 

[NewJourney]

Oh jeez, I read the ‘Mar’ as ‘May’.. sorry about that!

They really are great ducks! Awesome to hear you got some more of them!!

No worries! I don't mind updating the thread with more current info.

These are the six additional ducklings I had purchased (as day-olds). They are about 8-10 weeks old here (I think).


Here is a more recent photo of Maggie. Front and center, my Maggie-girl. She's so beautiful. I'm excited to see all of my Magpies grow up and fill out. I love how calm and friendly they are. They are still weary of me and won't generally come up to me unless I'm handing out treats but they don't necessarily flip out if I walk too closely to them while they're resting. It's lovely having them in my yard.