Mallard Duckling

[jordynmartin]

It's been over a week since I got my mallard and he hasn't grown at all. The yellow one I got with it was grown a lot... Should I be worried? What does this mean?

 

[jonhpdx]

Has it been eating? Pooping? Drinking water? Sometimes small ducklings like mallards have problems eating dry food when they're so young, have you tried adding some of it's food to a small bowl of water? My young ducklings seemed to prefer eating it like that, even though they didn't have many problems eating the dry food. Have you been giving it any vitamins like niacin? If you haven't, you might want to consider finding some niacin to add to their water at your local drugstore. I've heard electrolytes also help young ducklings that are struggling.

Hope any of this helps!

 

[kmlady518]

IM no duckling expert but if your yellow duckling is a bigger breed like a Pekin I would imagine the growth rate would be dramatically different. Mallards are one of the smallest breeds so that could be why.

 

[jordynmartin]

How can I tell the sex of them?

 

[kmlady518]

You can't tell unless you vent sex them which Is best done at a few days old and it can be harmful to the duck if you don't know what your doing. I have five mallards they are about four weeks had them for three they are starting to feather. At 6 weeks or so they start to quack which means it's a girl or they get a low raspy voice meaning it's a drake. Mallards all look the same when they feather the drakes don't have the green heads at first. You'll have to wait it out like I am. IM dying to know

 

[jordynmartin]

I heard that the drakes have an extra toe on their leg. I'm not sure if that's true though...

 

[desertdarlene]

No, all ducks have the same number of toes, but hind toe(s) are often clipped in domestic ducks.

Pekins have a very fast growth rate in regards to size. They are bred as meat ducks and have been selectively bred to grow very large very fast. They are also much larger than mallards as adults. Mallards are a bit slower to grow in size, but will probably feather out sooner than your Pekin and mature faster overall.

 

[kmlady518]

Um all my ducks have the same number of toes. I've been on byc constantly reading and getting info and didn't read that anywhere. Did you see the forum ultimate list of duck treats and food or something like that since your new to ducks like me IM sure your researching a ton if you look at where I've posted you should see the title it's an awesome list about what duck and ducklings can eat.