Muscovy gender at 2 & 3 months

[bullrunslabs]

First time Muscovy mom here. I currently have 7 at 3 months and 10 at 2 months. The blues and blacks are the older ducks. The lavender and chocolates are the younger. Of the older ducks, they are all the same basic size and of the younger, there is a blue barred who I believe to be a drake but the rest I am not sure about. Any help? When do their caruncles really start coming in on drakes vs ducks? Thanks in Advance

 

[chickens really]

@Miss Lydia

 

[CarliJo]

I noticed with my girls, they started developing the red line for the caruncle actually faster than the boys. What I had read about feathers was absolutely true. The flight feathers came in much faster on the females than the boys, and the boys grew faster than the girls. I couldn't totally tell in comparison but for example, the 'runt' that was obviously the smallest of the group was the same size as everyone at 1 month and clearly the largest (male) than the rest here at 3 months. Also I could never tell on the thickness of legs, but the boys clearly have bigger feet.

 

[bullrunslabs]

I watched the wing feathers and there were four that feathered faster on the blues and blacks and were smaller, but now they are all the same size and looks so similar! I wasn't sure when to start watching for caruncles either. I also got 4 "1.5 y/o hens" who are tiny! Only one lays eggs so far. I am not sure if they are really 1.5 and small or still young... They are about the same size as most of my two month olds and maybe, maybe, 1/3 of the size of my year old drakes. But they do have caruncles. I didn't know if there is that much variation in size among bloodlines. My 2 & 3 month olds come from a lady who shows and works really hard to breed true to standards, though showing means nothing to me. I have no clue about the others.

 

[learycow]

Hard to tell on the blues laying down in first two pics but leaning towards drakes on all three.
Single black is female. Then next two single blacks are males
The lavender and chocolate look like females and the lilac at the end is a male

Caruncles really depend on the genetics. Some will get them right off. Others won't get a lot until they are 9-12 months old

 

[bullrunslabs]

Thank you. I will need to figure out how to mark the blues to keep them seperate. They are starting to interact with my two confirmed drakes on the outside of the fence. They react the same to Huey and Louie as my four hens do. I am learning so much about them. They are interesting creatures!

 

[bullrunslabs]

Ju

Hard to tell on the blues laying down in first two pics but leaning towards drakes on all three.
Single black is female. Then next two single blacks are males
The lavender and chocolate look like females and the lilac at the end is a male

Caruncles really depend on the genetics. Some will get them right off. Others won't get a lot until they are 9-12 months old

Does this help at all for the blues? They are standing. With the black you felt is a drake.

 

[learycow]

Ju

Does this help at all for the blues? They are standing. With the black you felt is a drake.

Yup, look like all boys in that pic

 

[bullrunslabs]

Yup, look like all boys in that pic

I feared so. Haha. They are handsome. I don't know how we will decide who gets to stay. I am afraid they will hurt other is we have too many drakes.