Breed Help???

[piawacket1331]

Can anyone help me out with the breed of these two ducks? I raise backyard chickens, so naturally a neighbor suggested to her friend to stop by several weeks ago with two baby ducklings. The lady stated she found them out walking around the lake close to her neighborhood without mom and other ducks were attacking them. She believed they were Muscovys since that is what the neighborhood has added to the community lake, but did add that many people dump their unwanted ducks in their community all the time. My husband and I are wondering what breed and possibly gender these ducks might actually be?

 

[fatty and friends]

muscovy (light hen and dark drake? i don’t have muscovy so may be wrong)

 

[ruthhope]

Definitely Muscovies! Poor abandoned ducklings!! I

muscovy (light hen and dark drake? i don’t have muscovy so may be wrong)

I would love to take such ducklings but, alas, I am not likely to be near you!
It is not possible to be certain of their sex at this age. I think their behavior is the best guide before 16 weeks, but if I had to bet, I would go with light female and darker drake

 

[SolarDuck]

Yup definitely muscovy, I'd make the same guess about the sex that @fatty and friends did.

 

[piawacket1331]

Thank ya'll so much! The ducks have happily joined my flock of chickens, and quail in our backyard. We've made them their own setup and my six kiddos just love them. We're currently building a house for our future homestead a few towns over and plan on adding more ducks to our flock in the spring due to these two.

 

[Yardmom]

In muscovies there is a significant size difference between males and females. Unless the ages are different these 2 are likely the same sex (I'm guessing male). After size voice is the next indicator. As young birds a variety of sounds can be made by both males and females, but males will eventually only huff. Females can make the huffing or hissing noises, but normally only do so when agitated.