My female duck is now a male duck... is she going to die?

[DuckMochi]

Hi guys I haven't been here in a while but google has NOT been much help so I wanted to reach out to other duck owners for their opinions/experiences. Sorry the title is so dramatic, but that's pretty much the gist of what I am asking.

Some information, I have a female mallard named Billy, she is 7 years old, has not laid an egg in about 2-3 years, and a couple of months ago she began her transition to a male mallard. I know this can happen in some birds, so I wasn't too worried about it considering she is old and has not laid an egg in a long time, I figured her ovary just retired and her body thought she was a male. She is acting normal, happy, eating well, but a friend of mine informed me she saw an article saying that mallards who transition to male do that due to their ovary being damaged or infected with an illness, and it will ultimately kill them in a few months.

Now I don't know how true this is, but I also don't want to take a risk. Like I said, she is acting COMPLETELY fine, but I have no idea what is going on internally. Has anyone experienced transgender ducks before? Will it kill them? Any information will be helpful! Thank you so much.

Will post a comparison image below so you guys can see how she looks now vs before New billy on the left, old billy on the right!

 

[crazy chicken ladies]

I don't know all of the details, but my brothers duck did the same thing. It has lived a couple of years, so far. I hope you get better answers. Good luck.

 

[DoodlesDuckies]

Whoa whoa WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA! A female can turn into a male? Is this only of Mallard breed?

They change feather color and everything?

 

[MGG]

Hi guys I haven't been here in a while but google has NOT been much help so I wanted to reach out to other duck owners for their opinions/experiences. Sorry the title is so dramatic, but that's pretty much the gist of what I am asking.

Some information, I have a female mallard named Billy, she is 7 years old, has not laid an egg in about 2-3 years, and a couple of months ago she began her transition to a male mallard. I know this can happen in some birds, so I wasn't too worried about it considering she is old and has not laid an egg in a long time, I figured her ovary just retired and her body thought she was a male. She is acting normal, happy, eating well, but a friend of mine informed me she saw an article saying that mallards who transition to male do that due to their ovary being damaged or infected with an illness, and it will ultimately kill them in a few months.

Now I don't know how true this is, but I also don't want to take a risk. Like I said, she is acting COMPLETELY fine, but I have no idea what is going on internally. Has anyone experienced transgender ducks before? Will it kill them? Any information will be helpful! Thank you so much.

Will post a comparison image below so you guys can see how she looks now vs before New billy on the left, old billy on the right!
View attachment 3804973

Perfectly normal for older wild type duck hens. Their bodies stop producing female sex hormones because they stop laying, which makes them assume some drake plumage since male is the "default". She might even try to breed other hens, though obviously unsuccessfully. It won't affect her in any other way though.
I've seen many old hens that do the same thing. A 13 year old hen wood duck a friend of mine owned even colored out almost completely like a drake in her last couple years. The only threat here is the already imminent old age. I hope your girl still lives many more years though!

 

[DuckMochi]

Whoa whoa WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA! A female can turn into a male? Is this only of Mallard breed?

They change feather color and everything?

They can! Some even become full males where they can successfully breed hens. However, it's only female to male, males cannot turn female. I believe it can happen in most ducks, but I think it's mostly recorded in mallards just because of how common they are!

 

[DuckMochi]

Perfectly normal for older wild type duck hens. Their bodies stop producing female sex hormones because they stop laying, which makes them assume some drake plumage since male is the "default". She might even try to breed other hens, though obviously unsuccessfully. It won't affect her in any other way though.
I've seen many old hens that do the same thing. A 13 year old hen wood duck a friend of mine owned even colored out almost completely like a drake in her last couple years. The only threat here is the already imminent old age. I hope your girl still lives many more years though!

This is such a relief to read, thank you so much. I was so worried!! I appreciate the insight!

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

They can! Some even become full males where they can successfully breed hens. However, it's only female to male, males cannot turn female. I believe it can happen in most ducks, but I think it's mostly recorded in mallards just because of how common they are!

I've heard people say this, but I don't believe it one bit. I understand the issue of hormones changing feather color. But, someone please explain to me by what means a hen grows male reproductive organs? That does not happen. Has anyone done a biopsy of a "transitioned" hen and found testes?

 

[MGG]

They can! Some even become full males where they can successfully breed hens. However, it's only female to male, males cannot turn female. I believe it can happen in most ducks, but I think it's mostly recorded in mallards just because of how common they are!

No it is not possible for them to ever successfully breed. Certifiably impossible, lol. It happens most frequently in wild type ducks because they commonly live longer than heavy domestic ducks.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I've heard people say this, but I don't believe it one bit. I understand the issue of hormones changing feather color. But, someone please explain to me by what means a hen grows male reproductive organs? That does not happen. Has anyone done a biopsy of a "transitioned" hen and found testes?

Yes, they have. When I first heard this I thought the same as you. My degree is in Biology so I searched Scientific articles to see what they said about it. Sure enough, documented cases. Of course I did not find them now with a quick search but here is a bbc article explaining it: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40016817.amp

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

No it is not possible for them to ever successfully breed. Certifiably impossible, lol. It happens most frequently in wild type ducks because they commonly live longer than heavy domestic ducks.

Exactly my thoughts. I first heard this nonsense from a well respected poultry book. I was very surprised. No amount of hormones can EVER in any species, cause a true gender reversal.