Mallard changing sex?

[AmourIsAGoose]

About a week or two ago, I was looking in my quack shack(duck coop!!). Until something caught my eye.

I was looking at my ducks, my oldest four, and one didn't look quite right. It took me a moment to realize that my female mallard, Quackers, look like she had male plumage!!

She has green speckles all around her head, better slowly turning her head green, she has a partial white ring around her throat, her tummy is turning white, and her chest is brown!! She looks nothing like my other female mallard, French Toast!

So the question is, can ducks, for specifically mallards, change sexes? She looked completely like the common mallard hen, until about a week or two ago!

What is going on with her? Or him?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

How old?

 

[AmourIsAGoose]

How old?

Almost 16 weeks! They'll be 16w on Saturday.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Almost 16 weeks! They'll be 16w on Saturday.

Is she quaking? Male's get female feathering when they first feather out and then grow in their male colors layer

 

[AmourIsAGoose]

Is she quaking? Male's get female feathering when they first feather out and then grow in their male colors layer

I vent sexed her, she was, well, a she!

Everybody in my coop quacks, males & females.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I vent sexed her, she was, well, a she!

Everybody in my coop quacks, males & females.

Male mallard or mallard derived breeds don't quack like female ducks do

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I was told when you vent sex if you see a penis it is a male but if you don’t, it is either a girl or you didn’t do it correctly. I suspect the later.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Agreed with the above, almost certainly just a male you misgendered molting into his nuptial plumage. This is the perfect age for ducks to be getting the male plumage, too.

While it’s possible for female ducks to develop male-like plumage, it’s rare and typically happens much later in life due to a hormone imbalance. They can’t actually change their sex and are still considered female.

 

[TheDaringDucks]

Seconding what others have said that mallards all start out with brown colorations like hens, but then the drakes will eventually molt and gain their beautiful breeding colors. Sounds like there was just an error when you sexed the duck earlier.

I have mallards and after studying their progress closely, I have found there are actually a few key signs you can look for if vent sexing is proving difficult or unreliable. These methods are suitable to use after the first molt (4–8 weeks old), but prior to the second (around 15 weeks). It is also easiest if you have multiple mallards of the same age to compare using these methods.

• Bill Color: Young Drakes' bills turn a sort of greenish olive color, whereas hens have warmer subdermal pigmentation in their bills. Later on, this will become far more distinct with the drakes' bills turning smooth, vibrant (almost neon) yellow and hens get mottled orange and black bills. Also, drakes may have some mottling, but on average it seems to be less than their hen counterparts.
  Example:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Size / Build: I have found that all of my young drakes have a blockier build compared to their hen sisters of the same age, even early on. The drakes are all just a little chunkier, with a bit more pudge (despite getting the same diet and being arguably less voracious than their sisters). This difference is subtle, so finding an example is difficult. It is easiest to tell in person, comparing ducks you are familiar with.
  
  
• Wing Pattern: This seems to be a little-known subtle difference between mallards, but it shows up even in very young ducks in their juvenile plumage. The shoulder feathers on drake mallard wings are very smooth in coloration (almost to the point that it is hard to distinguish individual feathers). But a hen's wings seem to have faint but distinct outlines around each feather. This difference becomes more stark with later molts.
  Examples:
  
  
  

In any case, best of luck with your drake!