Anyone know anything about Mallards

I added two mallards chicks to my chicken flock in early April. Both were supposed to be girls. But something, call it intuition,immediatly had me wondering if one was male. As they have grown, being 2+ months old now, they both look pretty much identical. However, one is larger than the other (always has been despite being the same age) and that one make a very raspy *peeping* noise, while the smaller one has a very loud quack. So my question is....if its a boy, how soon will I be able to tell for sure.....and no I will not be venting them to check lol. Thanks in advance

HotelChicka said:

I added two mallards chicks to my chicken flock in early April. Both were supposed to be girls. But something, call it intuition,immediatly had me wondering if one was male. As they have grown, being 2+ months old now, they both look pretty much identical. However, one is larger than the other (always has been despite being the same age) and that one make a very raspy *peeping* noise, while the smaller one has a very loud quack. So my question is....if its a boy, how soon will I be able to tell for sure.....and no I will not be venting them to check lol. Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Loud quack is a hen. The other sounds like a male, but things could change due to the age. Size doesn't matter as far as sexing; I've had large hens and small drakes.

Check out this link on sexing http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm

Here are their photos. The one on the left is larger, with a greenish bill and has a raspy, soft quack. That is also the more docile one. Just recently the markings around its face have begun to change too. The one on the right quacks loudly and is more aggressive, Are they the same sex? Or is one a male?

HotelChicka said:

Here are their photos. The one on the left is larger, with a greenish bill and has a raspy, soft quack. That is also the more docile one. Just recently the markings around its face have begun to change too. The one on the right quacks loudly and is more aggressive, Are they the same sex? Or is one a male?

Click to expand...

The one on the left is a male and of the one on the right looks and more importantly sounds like a female.

You have a drake and a hen.

Well shoot. Here is a more updated photo. Sure thing, I have a boy. I have absolutely no clue how to deal with this. I purchased two girls because I have no experience with mating, chicks, or anything of that nature. Which eggs can I eat,how do you know if they have been fertilized? Help.

HotelChicka said:

Well shoot. Here is a more updated photo. Sure thing, I have a boy. I have absolutely no clue how to deal with this. I purchased two girls because I have no experience with mating, chicks, or anything of that nature. Which eggs can I eat,how do you know if they have been fertilized? Help.

Click to expand...

Well for starters you can eat fertile eggs and nothing will happen. Just collect them daily and don't let her sit on them. Once they have been incubated then you get ducklings. On to the more pressing problem is that usually males need at least 3 females to prevent over mating. In addition to the fact that you also have chickens this can be very problematic if he decided he isn't getting enough from the ducks and mates the chickens. It is very dangerous to your hens because ducks have a penis and roosters do not. He will harm and can do major damages to chickens if he mates them. I've had good luck with craigslist for finding more ducks. They don't have to be the same breed either. They are very pretty!