Drakes & Hens - Help Me Guess

[AeonsMusings]

We have 20 muscovies and I /think/ perhaps 8 drakes among them but some are just so gosh darn hard to tell with. All are nine weeks old. Some are making the classic muscovy male sound and others are quiet as can be. We will be sending all extra males to freezer camp and keeping one (either the largest or this one definite drake with a single chocolate spot on his head, hopefully that will have us having more chocolatey/pied babies and less all blacks) for breeding purposes. Lemme know your thoughts/guesses and if I need to take more pictures I definitely will. ;3

 

[Canadian Wind]

I can't tell on most of them, but...

See in the third picture, the cute little black pied in the front that looks so sassy? Look at her feet, and compare those to the one right behind her. See the difference in size? The one behind is almost certainly male.

At this age, size difference should be apparent between the males and females, too. Females also tend to have their flight feathers come in earlier.

When all is said and done though, sometimes even with everything pointing to one or another, in the end it may not be right.

And of course, this is my opinion, which may be totally off!

 

[AeonsMusings]

I can't tell on most of them, but...

See in the third picture, the cute little black pied in the front that looks so sassy? Look at her feet, and compare those to the one right behind her. See the difference in size? The one behind is almost certainly male.

At this age, size difference should be apparent between the males and females, too. Females also tend to have their flight feathers come in earlier.

When all is said and done though, sometimes even with everything pointing to one or another, in the end it may not be right.

And of course, this is my opinion, which may be totally off!

Yeah, we definitely knew the one behind her was a drake (he’s been the biggest since…well, birth xD) but we’re also stumped on what coloration he’s gonna end up. Hatched mostly black and now he’s got brown and black coming in for an odd mix.

We have some that are as long and big as known drakes with little feet is what’s tripping me up. x.x Ugh. Maybe I just need to camp beside them and start banding the panting ones.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Their colours can change so much between moults! My Sweetie was a French White, so white with black on her head. Now, she is only white. *grumbles* And I know my Barred hen is going to be losing her lovely markings. I also have a black pied hen whose head was completely black and is now more salt than pepper.

That drake of yours does have some interesting colours. Can't wait to see how he turns out! If he doesn't go to Freezer Camp...

 

[Yardmom]

Camp beside them or chase and catch just to hear them speak (or not). It sounds like you know what to listen for. I have the same thing going on with my mallard derived ducklings.

 

[Quatie]

The ones with those thick necks will likely be drakes. It looks like a couple of the white ones look like females. They just look more dainty. But it is a bit hard to tell some of those in the photos.

Beautiful flock!

 

[Canadian Wind]

The ones with those thick necks will likely be drakes. It looks like a couple of the white ones look like females. They just look more dainty. But it is a bit hard to tell some of those in the photos.

Beautiful flock!

takes notes - thick necks = drakes probably

Always learning something new here!

 

[AeonsMusings]

Their colours can change so much between moults! My Sweetie was a French White, so white with black on her head. Now, she is only white. *grumbles* And I know my Barred hen is going to be losing her lovely markings. I also have a black pied hen whose head was completely black and is now more salt than pepper.

That drake of yours does have some interesting colours. Can't wait to see how he turns out! If he doesn't go to Freezer Camp...

Don’t tell the hubs but….that drake is my favorite. xD He grew faster than all the others and he was picked on mercilessly for what I can only assume is his size—I had to spend the better part of two weeks helping him recover from a vicious feather picking and his wings are still recovering but looking sooooo much better. He has never bullied any other duck and has the sweetest disposition. Now when they try to pick on him he just puffs up and scolds them and they run off. xD Helps that he is the largest in the group, and he just comes running when I come outside which is precious. I’m hoping maybe he’ll end up a lovely chocolate pied variation.

 

[AeonsMusings]

Camp beside them or chase and catch just to hear them speak (or not). It sounds like you know what to listen for. I have the same thing going on with my mallard derived ducklings.

I’m a total muscovy newbie but I have a pretty good ear so hopefully it won’t fail me! Processing date isn’t until they’re twelve weeks so I still have some time to ID at least.

 

[AeonsMusings]

The ones with those thick necks will likely be drakes. It looks like a couple of the white ones look like females. They just look more dainty. But it is a bit hard to tell some of those in the photos.

Beautiful flock!

Thanks!

I did not know to look for neck thickness. O: I’ll have to go back and double check my “….are you a boy?” questionable ones to see if maybe they have chonky bodies but just dainty feet. xD