Mallard or Rouen?

[infiniti]

I truly think you have a male and female....If they were both males, both would have the green on the head. But I am probably the last person you would want trying to help you sex a duck. LOL. I have 3 rescues myself and one purchased drake. He was supposed to be a Mallard as well, but I have my doubts. But the others, well they started getting their adult feathers, it was pretty hard to not see which were male and which were female. The males all got the green heads, and the females all turned brown with no green in sight Other than the tops of the heads, they all look pretty much the same though. Their bodies are all brown right now. Except for the grown drake I have. He is graying out after moulting, but was colored out when I got him. I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you even more...

 

[infiniti]

I can't really see in the picture...which one has the green on it's head?

 

[cymbaline]

If these babies were "rescued" from the "wild" then the chances of them being Rouens are nil to none. About the only way that a Rouen would be out in the wild is if he escaped from a farm. They are not flyers, so if one did escape a farm, the chances of surviving in the wild are very little. Don't get me wrong, they can fly a little bit, but they were bred to become a heavy bird produced for meat so they can't go much distance at all. Plus, the Mallard drakes look like the hens in the "off" mating periods. Unless these babies came from a store, they are most likely Mallard.

They were rescued from someone who got them from a pet shop who thought 3 week old babies could survive in the wild without their mother in freezing temps.
Not sure where the pet shop gets them though.

He can fly just a little now, but not very high or very far at all. Often he'll "fly" out of my arms and pretty much crash-land...silly duck. I know that they all look like girls to start with, but his belly is now turning gray just like a male, and I think I see some green finally starting on his head in the past few days.

Maybe I will weigh him soon and compare that to usual weights for Mallards and Rouens. I don't know why it matters, lol, I guess I just want to know.

 

[cymbaline]

I truly think you have a male and female....If they were both males, both would have the green on the head. But I am probably the last person you would want trying to help you sex a duck. LOL. I have 3 rescues myself and one purchased drake. He was supposed to be a Mallard as well, but I have my doubts. But the others, well they started getting their adult feathers, it was pretty hard to not see which were male and which were female. The males all got the green heads, and the females all turned brown with no green in sight Other than the tops of the heads, they all look pretty much the same though. Their bodies are all brown right now. Except for the grown drake I have. He is graying out after moulting, but was colored out when I got him. I hope this helps and doesn't confuse you even more...

Bullwinkle is just barely starting to get green on his face now. The pic I posted is a week or two old though and you definitely couldn't see it then. He's always been a bit behind Rocky in terms of feather development. Females don't have gray bellies though; males have a nearly solid chestnut-colored breast and silvery gray bodies in addition to the green head. See my pretty Louie-boy? He was already starting to change back to eclipse plumage at this point though, hence the tan patches on his cheeks and the brownish look to the gray body.

 

[Marwan]

beautiful

 

[cymbaline]

Ok, this is a pic from yesterday evening. You can see how they're both changing, just at different rates. I think I even see the beginning of the white neck ring on Bullwinkle, actually. And he's still much larger than Rocky, always has been. I really am going to weigh them when I get home - I can't believe it never occurred to me to do that before.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok, this is a pic from yesterday evening. You can see how they're both changing, just at different rates. I think I even see the beginning of the white neck ring on Bullwinkle, actually. And he's still much larger than Rocky, always has been. I really am going to weigh them when I get home - I can't believe it never occurred to me to do that before.

gorgeous

 

[malong]

Hi,
I have 15 Rouens. I've raised them from babies and they have always had a kiddie pool to swim in. Last week we got a 10ft wide, 3ft deep, round polyresin stock tank that looks like a big kid pool. We dug out the area with the Bobcat so only a 3 in lip is above the ground. There are blocks inside to help the ducks get out easily. They will not go near it. We don't know why. It has been a week. They love water and they loved their old kiddie pool. The new one is light blue like the old ones. I've tried putting their food next to it; put decoys in it; put the old kiddie pool next to it and filled it, and nothing works. They will not go within 5 ft of this pool. Does anyone know why and what I can do? It has been in the upper 90s here all week but they could care less.

 

[cymbaline]

Hi,
I have 15 Rouens. I've raised them from babies and they have always had a kiddie pool to swim in. Last week we got a 10ft wide, 3ft deep, round polyresin stock tank that looks like a big kid pool. We dug out the area with the Bobcat so only a 3 in lip is above the ground. There are blocks inside to help the ducks get out easily. They will not go near it. We don't know why. It has been a week. They love water and they loved their old kiddie pool. The new one is light blue like the old ones. I've tried putting their food next to it; put decoys in it; put the old kiddie pool next to it and filled it, and nothing works. They will not go within 5 ft of this pool. Does anyone know why and what I can do? It has been in the upper 90s here all week but they could care less.

You'd probably get more responses if you created a separate thread for your question instead of posting on this one, FYI.

I had babies that were scared of the pool for a while until they got used to it, but that doesn't sound like that's what's going on with yours. Mine also won't get in if it the water is too hot from being in the sun; they'll wait until it cools off. They also wouldn't go in for a long time while I was filling it with the garden hose - they were terrified of that thing! They're still not big fans of it, but they'll at least walk up and get a drink while it's in there. Those are my only experiences, hope it helps.

 

[cymbaline]

My pretty boys, all grown up, helping momma garden (which means eating my marigolds, lol).
I finally got around to weighing them a while back; Rocky is about 2.5lbs and Bullwinkle is about 3.5lbs, so he is about 30% larger, and definitely on the high end for an adult male mallard. Little feathered chunky-butt, haha.