Need an experienced Muscovy eye ...

[Snakedoc]

I have been squinting at these ducks for weeks now and keep flip-flopping between every possible configuration of sexes (both boys, both girls, that one's a boy and that one's a girl, other way around ...)

I'm sure this will be super-obvious to someone more experienced looking at these ducks than I am, but despite having looked at just about every "What sex is this Muscovy?" thread online, I still can't sort them out!

I have six more in the brooder, and at about four weeks old, they seem SCREAMINGLY obvious. Four are massive, stout, cumbersome, while two are petite, refined, almost graceful (almost). Textbook! These guys, though, have me baffled. This leads me to suspect that whatever sex they are, they are both the same sex ... Though that could be wrong, too.

I'm humbly requesting the input of those with a more experienced eye for these ducks than I have ...

For what it's worth, the duck on the right in the pictures makes a little hoarse quacking noise when chased, while the duck on the left makes almost no noise whatsoever.

I apologize for the direct links; I don't think my post count is high enough to embed photos.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v717/SerpentNirvana/Ducks_zps7d4485bc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v717/SerpentNirvana/Ducks2_zpsae35e58d.jpg

Lefthand duck:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v717/SerpentNirvana/Otherduckface_zps27b41d5b.jpg

Righthand duck:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v717/SerpentNirvana/Blooperface_zps1556f26a.jpg


Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Luminide]

I can't exactly claim tons of experience, but I can say I've been looking into Muscovy sexing a lot this week. They both look and sound like males to me. I'm taking into account their voices, crests, and foot/leg size.

 

[Snakedoc]

That's been my inclination, for the most part ... I think I just keep hoping I'm wrong. :/

 

[Luminide]

I can understand the feeling. I'm currently hoping/trying to disprove the highly likely scenerio that 3 of my 4 muscovy ducklings are male, too. :/

Wishing you luck, though. Maybe we'll be wrong, and they'll just be really stocky females instead. Dx

 

[Going Quackers]

Well i'll do my best, it's hard online, pics mess with your perspective.

How old are those? honestly they look like drakes to me those legs are far to thick, feet to large.

Here are some pics of my newest boys they turn 13wks wed/thursday







An earlier shot they were about 10wks you can see their sister in this one



She's the second blue starting at the white and well he's actually green but you cannot tell lol

The thing with 'scovies is the size, the males outside females pretty quickly by about 3-4 wks you see it if you've see enough of them, most know here i have.. i get a lot of drakes lol

Now the noise you got has me wondering though, drakes DO NOT quack, ever! they make baby babble but soon hiss these boys almost do @ this age but not full on it's broken, the girl however has a full on quack if you grab her... as i said hard to tell online with young ones, but usually again size gives it away i could tuck my almost 13wk old duck under my arm, those boys? fat chance.

 

[Snakedoc]

Going Quackers, I love your blues!! And thank you for posting their pictures; that's a very helpful comparison as your guys are about the same age as these two.

Yes with my little ones in my basement, the difference between the drakes and ducks is VERY obvious. (I only wish it wasn't four drakes and only two ducks ...!) Because I'm fairly sure these guys are the same sex, I have nothing to compare them two. I was sort of thinking of waiting until my other six babies grow up a bit before making any decisions; that way I have some other Muscovies to compare ... *Especially* because I only have two females otherwise.

I have heard at least one of them hiss, but they don't hiss often. If chased, though, the older one (blue head) makes a very faint quacking noise (nowhere near as loud as a Mallard-derivative, but still a definite attempt to quack). It sounds like a Mallard with laryngitis

One thing that makes me think they might be drakes is that I had female Muscovies as a kid, and as I recall they made that little "purdle" noise even as adults ... I've never heard these guys make that noise. Plus, I used to carry my favorite duck around with me, and I don't recall her being NEARLY as heavy as these guys!