Thunder Hill Acres
Hatching
- Aug 9, 2019
- 4
- 2
- 9
Hello folks, newby here, well, sort of a newby. I have been checking and reading on this forum for several years and always found the info I needed, till now, so here I am.
I grew up on a farm. We had everything, except ducks. Apparently we did when I was really young, but I don’t remember them. Anyway, many moons later and my family decided to get Peking ducks. Well, we were told they were Peking’s, the other families picking up their ducklings at the same time as us were told they were Peking’s, and the farm seemed pretty legit. All the ducklings grew out of their yellow fluff into mostly white, but then the black showed up and we knew something was not right. Much to our disappointment it seems they were crossed with something - I suspect a Muscovy now, at some point. No matter though, the goal was to have one male and at least two females. The rest of the males would be for the freezer. We acquired 8 ducklings, unsexed. They are now about 5.5 months old. I have to admit, I find it very hard to tell the difference between them as far as the sex was concerned. None really look larger than the other, they all have big feet, we see no curly tails, some have carbuncles growing, some have much more colourful beaks, some waddle, and all raspy hiss when we pick them up on their backs. But, when they are all together, there is definite quacking going on. Now we have aggressive mating behaviour happening, one has an injured leg out of the matter, but it’s not certain if this is upon females or male dominance on one another.
Yesterday evening I found one on top of another crammed in the corner of some hay bales. There was distress written all over the scene. I separated them and shooed the one on top out of the pen, grabbed the other for a once over for damage and had an instant panicked bird in my hands who had the biggest fit ever. There was some bleeding, but it ended up being me. I secluded this bird for the night. The next morning I was treated to an angry hissing bird who had climbed high and perched up upon an eye level platform usually reserved for the chickens. No one was happy. I left the door open for the yard and went about my business.
We have some thinning that needs to happen. The problem is that in all this time we just have not been able to figure out the males from the females. We didn’t worry too much about it thinking the adult stage would clear things up, but now with the aggression, the mixed genetics and the lack of certainty within all the recommended sexing hints, it’s turning into a divisive nuisance.
I was not that aware that cross breeding could happen between Muscovy and Peking’s to be honest, but I suppose it does in mixed flocks. They all have some traits to one degree or another of both breeds. I am assuming Muscovy though here based on the colour and carbuncles on some of their faces. Going back to the farmer is a mute point as well, - and not worth it, and we won’t go back there again either.
So, with all this being said, I am asking for help figuring out who is who in this group. Here are a few pictures:
I grew up on a farm. We had everything, except ducks. Apparently we did when I was really young, but I don’t remember them. Anyway, many moons later and my family decided to get Peking ducks. Well, we were told they were Peking’s, the other families picking up their ducklings at the same time as us were told they were Peking’s, and the farm seemed pretty legit. All the ducklings grew out of their yellow fluff into mostly white, but then the black showed up and we knew something was not right. Much to our disappointment it seems they were crossed with something - I suspect a Muscovy now, at some point. No matter though, the goal was to have one male and at least two females. The rest of the males would be for the freezer. We acquired 8 ducklings, unsexed. They are now about 5.5 months old. I have to admit, I find it very hard to tell the difference between them as far as the sex was concerned. None really look larger than the other, they all have big feet, we see no curly tails, some have carbuncles growing, some have much more colourful beaks, some waddle, and all raspy hiss when we pick them up on their backs. But, when they are all together, there is definite quacking going on. Now we have aggressive mating behaviour happening, one has an injured leg out of the matter, but it’s not certain if this is upon females or male dominance on one another.
Yesterday evening I found one on top of another crammed in the corner of some hay bales. There was distress written all over the scene. I separated them and shooed the one on top out of the pen, grabbed the other for a once over for damage and had an instant panicked bird in my hands who had the biggest fit ever. There was some bleeding, but it ended up being me. I secluded this bird for the night. The next morning I was treated to an angry hissing bird who had climbed high and perched up upon an eye level platform usually reserved for the chickens. No one was happy. I left the door open for the yard and went about my business.
We have some thinning that needs to happen. The problem is that in all this time we just have not been able to figure out the males from the females. We didn’t worry too much about it thinking the adult stage would clear things up, but now with the aggression, the mixed genetics and the lack of certainty within all the recommended sexing hints, it’s turning into a divisive nuisance.
I was not that aware that cross breeding could happen between Muscovy and Peking’s to be honest, but I suppose it does in mixed flocks. They all have some traits to one degree or another of both breeds. I am assuming Muscovy though here based on the colour and carbuncles on some of their faces. Going back to the farmer is a mute point as well, - and not worth it, and we won’t go back there again either.
So, with all this being said, I am asking for help figuring out who is who in this group. Here are a few pictures:
I believe your white with black on their heads and carnucles are French white muscovy. But Muscovy don’t quack the females make a trilling noise the drakes huff and hiss. As for sexing they all appear to be the same size do you know how much they weigh? Drakes can top out at 10lb and up females 4 and up to 6 lb
