Muscovy gender

[Amberjones29]

Can anyone help me with genders? I haven’t heard any of them make noises (hissing) so I can’t tell which one or if all of them are drakes.
Duck #1 is peanut
Duck #2 is butter
Duck #3 is jelly
Yes, their names are peanut, butter, and jelly.

 

[The Ranch Girl]

Peanut girl
Butter boy
Jelly boy.
And I love the names lol, so cute!

 

[Amberjones29]

Peanut girl
Butter boy
Jelly boy.
And I love the names lol, so cute!

So I probably need another hen so over breeding doesn’t take place?

 

[The Ranch Girl]

So I probably need another hen so over breeding doesn’t take place?

Probably, I don’t know if it’s the same with ducks but with geese you want 2 females per male. I’m sure this would apply with ducks too. But hey atleast you have an excuse to get more

 

[Miss Lydia]

Actually it's better for the females if it is 4 females and up if possible.

 

[fowltemptress]

With muscovies you'll want four or five hens per drake, at least.

Are they all the same size? Amongst my muscovies there's always a significant size difference between males and females, starting at a very young age.

Edit: adding some pictures, because I always understand pictures better than anything else.

One thing I really look for is differences in the size of the feet.

The bird circled in red is male, and the one circled in green is female. The male is somewhat larger than the female at this age, but the size difference is really noticeable in the feet.

This is a clearer shot of the feet. Male on left, female on right.

And a shot of older birds. The female on left this time, with a male on the right. You can see the body size is also drastically different at this point. My girls are about half the weight of my boys.

And a final shot of two young birds from behind to show the size difference. Female on left and male on right. Males also tend to have tails that are more rounded and less pointy in shape than females, but I never go off of that because A: The size difference has always been a dead giveaway, and B: as you can see from this picture, a lot depends on how the bird is carrying its tail when you happen to be looking at it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Usually by 4 -5 weeks, it's pretty obvious who are drake and duck by size.

 

[Amberjones29]

With muscovies you'll want four or five hens per drake, at least.

Are they all the same size? Amongst my muscovies there's always a significant size difference between males and females, starting at a very young age.

Edit: adding some pictures, because I always understand pictures better than anything else.

One thing I really look for is differences in the size of the feet.

View attachment 3796418
The bird circled in red is male, and the one circled in green is female. The male is somewhat larger than the female at this age, but the size difference is really noticeable in the feet.

View attachment 3796419
This is a clearer shot of the feet. Male on left, female on right.

View attachment 3796420
And a shot of older birds. The female on left this time, with a male on the right. You can see the body size is also drastically different at this point. My girls are about half the weight of my boys.

View attachment 3796424
And a final shot of two young birds from behind to show the size difference. Female on left and male on right. Males also tend to have tails that are more rounded and less pointy in shape than females, but I never go off of that because A: The size difference has always been a dead giveaway, and B: as you can see from this picture, a lot depends on how the bird is carrying its tail when you happen to be looking at it.

I’m pretty sure they’re all the same size. That’s why I’m so confused

 

[Miss Lydia]

How old are they @Amberjones29

 

[fowltemptress]

I’m pretty sure they’re all the same size. That’s why I’m so confused

If that's the case, I'd be inclined to assume they're all the same sex.