I got 4 new Muscovies yesterday. I was shooting for 3 girls and 1 boy....but now seeing them with my older 2 girls I think I got 3 boys and 1 girl. I'm looking at their feet and legs and I read the girls get their flight feathers first (right???). But they move around and my eyes are going crossed trying to confirm that 3 of them definitely have smaller feet then the one with the biggest feet. They are around 9 weeks old but I'm not sure on their exact hatch dates and I'll assume they were not all hatched on same day. The breeder's younger daughters were advising on gender when I would point one out in the grassy paddock with a flock of various ages.
And of course there was a beautiful young brown and white female with what appeared to be a hint of lavender/blue to the brown (this is my naked eye interpretation of color, don't know actual color genetics) that I pointed out as 'I want' and she wasn't for sale. .
Here we go......
I think the one above in the middle is a girl. She's the only one fully feathered with fully feathered wings.
I think this one above is a boy. Biggest of the 4. Has the biggest feet, still has fuzz above the tail, flight feathers staring to come in, and of course that wide stance.
The next 2....I'm not sure....there is the smallest one and the one same sized as the one I think is female.
The first pic is the smallest of the group on the left with the biggest to the right. Second pic is smallest again. No visible from short distance sign of flight feathers yet.
Please say this one above is a girl! It's pretty much same sized as the one I think is a girl. Has just a tiny bit of fuzz left above tail and flight feathers are more developed then 'big boy'. In first pic it's on the right (2 dots on neck) and 'girl' to the left. In second pic the 'girl' is to the right and 'big boy' on left.
Here are some group pics:
Above left to right: smallest one (gender???), 'girl', 'big boy', girl?.
Above left to right: smallest one, 'girl', girl?, 'big boy'.
Here is a pic of my 2 older girls...guessing about 15 weeks old now
My blue pies came from a different breeder. These new ones have longer tails so this is giving me the visual appearance that they are longer bodied and therefore all male. But, the blues' tails are also a little ratty on the ends so maybe they aren't as long as they should be. The 3 smaller ones of the new group seem to have bigger feet then my existing girls but then again I'm going crosseyed looking at moving feet. Or can females from one breeding stock be a little bigger than females from other breeding stock.
What does everyone else think?
And of course there was a beautiful young brown and white female with what appeared to be a hint of lavender/blue to the brown (this is my naked eye interpretation of color, don't know actual color genetics) that I pointed out as 'I want' and she wasn't for sale. .
Here we go......
I think the one above in the middle is a girl. She's the only one fully feathered with fully feathered wings.
I think this one above is a boy. Biggest of the 4. Has the biggest feet, still has fuzz above the tail, flight feathers staring to come in, and of course that wide stance.
The next 2....I'm not sure....there is the smallest one and the one same sized as the one I think is female.
The first pic is the smallest of the group on the left with the biggest to the right. Second pic is smallest again. No visible from short distance sign of flight feathers yet.
Please say this one above is a girl! It's pretty much same sized as the one I think is a girl. Has just a tiny bit of fuzz left above tail and flight feathers are more developed then 'big boy'. In first pic it's on the right (2 dots on neck) and 'girl' to the left. In second pic the 'girl' is to the right and 'big boy' on left.
Here are some group pics:
Above left to right: smallest one (gender???), 'girl', 'big boy', girl?.
Above left to right: smallest one, 'girl', girl?, 'big boy'.
Here is a pic of my 2 older girls...guessing about 15 weeks old now
My blue pies came from a different breeder. These new ones have longer tails so this is giving me the visual appearance that they are longer bodied and therefore all male. But, the blues' tails are also a little ratty on the ends so maybe they aren't as long as they should be. The 3 smaller ones of the new group seem to have bigger feet then my existing girls but then again I'm going crosseyed looking at moving feet. Or can females from one breeding stock be a little bigger than females from other breeding stock.
What does everyone else think?
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