what is the sex of my ducks?
Image by John Brandauer
Note the distinctive raised tail.
Question by dalhuny: what is the sex of my ducks?
i have two ducks and im not sure of their sex.One is very large and the other one is small.We thought the bigger duck was the girl but now am not sure.We found the larger duck on top of the smaller one and pecking at its head and its body.Can any one tell me ( a city girl) an easy way to tell their sexes
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3 Responses to what is the sex of my ducks?
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It’s all in the color. Whether you raise or own ducks for fun or business, you know that there are many different breeds that come in many diverse colors. One of the most common breeds is the mallard duck. Mallards, like many other breeds, can be told apart from each other by their color. Males are very brightly colored with green heads and a white ring around the neck, while females are varied shades of brown. This holds true for many breeds of duck, with the males being brighter in color than the female. This is not useful though until the duck is full-grown, as with most methods.
How big is that duck? Looking to the size of the ducks to determine their sex is always a great solution. Some breeds of duck are similar in size no matter what the gender, but in others it can be a great help. In breeds such as the Mallard or Black East Indie, the males or drake are larger than the female or duck. If you are dealing with these breeds or something similar this is a quick, at a glance way to establish the sex of your ducks.
Check out that plumage. Once your tiny ducklings grow to 2 months old, there will be one surefire way to tell the males from the females. Look at your duck’s tail. At the very end, there will be one obvious feather, which usually curls down in a very distinctive curl. This is called the sex feather. This feather is located on all male ducks. The feather is present even after a molt, so the season will not deter you from being able to sex your ducks.
Listen to their voices. Many breeds of duck can be sexed based on the volume and tone of their quack. Black East Indie and Call breeds are well known for this trait. The females have a very loud and clear quack that can easily drown out the drakes. The drakes will have a softer much raspier quack. It may even resemble the cluck of a chicken. The difference in voices can be told by the age of 1 month old. It is one of the earliest ways of sexing the duckling without venting it.
Venting–Not for amateurs. Venting a duck or duckling in order to sex it is the most accurate but the absolute hardest way to determine the gender. Especially if you are new to duck handling and care, this should be avoided. In order to do this you have to hold the duck upside down and open the ducks genitalia vent. Females will have a cone shaped protruding organ, while males will have a more elongated one. It takes a trained eye and a lot of patience in order to do this.
paggzzs
February 2, 2014 at 4:44 pm
if they have there adult feathers they male duck’s tail has a feather that curls and the female’s tail does not!!!
if they are baby ducklings press below the lower abdomin and wait for genitals to poke out(PRESS GENTLEY) if it doesn’t poke out then it is a girl.
mommygonemadd
February 2, 2014 at 4:46 pm
Check Feathersite.com’s duck page (below) to identify the breed. This will help you tell gender by color.
It sounds like the larger duck was trying to mate with the smaller. They could have just been establishing dominance. But before assuming that it is the drake, there are a few rules for sexing domestic ducks.
Domestic ducks are either descended from mallards or Muscovies. If muscovies, the adult male is about twice as big as the female. Muscovies have warty looking red “caruncles” on their face (see below) and are fairly quiet.
Mallard derived ducks have a loud stereotypical “quack”. The males have a raspy, quiet quack and a single (sometimes 2) curly feather on their tail.
Vent sexing (where you try to squeeze the duckling until it’s guts stick out just far enought to tell the sex without killing the duckling) is best left to experts. I’ve been lucky enough to avoid killing my ducklings, but only had about 50% success at telling the gender. Note that 50% is about as good as the “eenie meenie miney moe…” method of telling gender.
Thomas G
February 2, 2014 at 5:03 pm