Sexing 4 week old Muscovy Ducklings: Thoughts?

[Fluffaloo]

Hi! I recently got some Muscovy ducklings from a from a friend due to a poor hatch rate with my Ancona ducklings (only 1 hatched). I am curious to see if you guys have any guesses on if any are female or not. They just turned 4 weeks old. I have attached some pictures below. The one with the yellow bill is the Ancona and the rest are Muscovy. Any males need to be rehomed as I already have 2 drakes.

 

[Fluffaloo]

I forgot to mention, I know some people try to tell by feather growth but from what it seems Calypso (the one that looks more yellow and darker on the back, not the black one) may have some new pin feathers coming in on the wings. The (wing) pin feathers aren't too noticeable on the other ducks yet. I'm just guessing at this point.

 

[Miss Lydia]

If they are all 4 weeks old then in the next few weeks the drakes will begin to outgrow the females.

 

[Fluffaloo]

If they are all 4 weeks old then in the next few weeks the drakes will begin to outgrow the females.

Thanks for the reply. I guess only time will tell for sure. I did just receive dna results back saying that they are all male but I'm hoping that it's at least wrong for one of them. It has been wrong before.

Off-topic but if they do happen to all be male is it possible just to keep them in my backyard (4acres) with a huge stock tank of water somewhere during the daytime? My other ducks and chickens are in a 200sqft run (each) and the ducks have their own in-ground pond inside of it. Right now these ducklings are staying in the chicken run and slowly being introduced to the adult ducks. The problem is that I don't want more than 8 ducks in my coop/run and at the moment I already have 3 drakes and 5 ducks (I bought new female magpie ducklings to make up for the muscovys being "male" just in case so Im counting those). I know the ratio is less than ideal but I plan to keep a close eye on them during breeding season and separate them temporarily if necessary. I just want to see if it will work first.

The point is, do you think there would be a problem with just letting them roam the yard during the daytime? Our dogs are herding dogs (rough collies) and don't show any interest in chasing the current ducks and chickens. I even let them in the run with me.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Many on here keep drakes separated from the rest of their flock. Especially when they have many. Since you have 4 acres they should be fine. You may lose a few to flying away so you might need to consider clipping a wing if you start to see them flying.

How in the world could they be all drakes that really doesn't sound right. I can see having more drakes than females but all drakes. Wow.

Did these all come from the same place and hatched at the same time?

 

[Fluffaloo]

Many on here keep drakes separated from the rest of their flock. Especially when they have many. Since you have 4 acres they should be fine. You may lose a few to flying away so you might need to consider clipping a wing if you start to see them flying.

How in the world could they be all drakes that really doesn't sound right. I can see having more drakes than females but all drakes. Wow.

Did these all come from the same place and hatched at the same time?

Thank you. That makes me feel better. I would hate to have to get rid of them all just because they are boys.

I found the odds weird as well. Maybe they are a species that is more difficult to accurately dna test? Or maybe I have bad luck

I had been attempting to hatch some Anconas but unfortunately most of the eggs had fully developed but died before hatch. I’m assuming wet embryo due to maybe too high of humidity. I only had one Ancona hatch (another male) and needed to find him friends of the same age. One of my moms friends found out her Muscovy had 10 ducklings hatch that week and was surprised to see them running around the yard. She was trying to get rid of some so I took three in hopes some were female and could keep my Ancona company. Everyone was male. She offered to take back the males if I didn’t want them and she would raise them to eat. I have a problem eating the animals I name and raise though so I really didn’t want to send them away only to be killed. I’m fine with eating meat as long as I’m not the one raising the animal

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am the same way. My birds are my pets. I wouldn't eat my dog either lol

In a few weeks post more pictures and hopefully we'll see some females.

 

[Fluffaloo]

Thank you. Glad I’m not alone lol.

I’ll post some pictures every week to monitor progress and fingers crossed someone will be female.

 

[Sosalty]

If they are all 4 weeks old then in the next few weeks the drakes will begin to outgrow the females.

That was my experience recently. I'd observe our 6 white muscovies daily and would change my guesses when they were 4 weeks old. At 6-7 weeks I could see that 3 were larger than the other 3. I thought the drake bills were slightly wider, their feet bigger, their legs thicker, and somehow the hens faces appeared more lady? like. Also the males would bristle up their new head feathers often, the hens only occasionally. Up to 4 weeks they all stayed really close to each other. But in the weeks after would form groups or pairs away from the others. 1 drake is aggressive to people and the other drakes. He weighed in at 9lbs week 8. The middle guy gets bloodied by him. 1 hopped into wife's hand when 3 days old, was curious from the get go, accepts petting, and is always calm. He's the only drake we named along with the hens.​

Your black and mixed colored muscovies are handsome. My whites refused to go into the duck pen, I worked so hard to predator proof, right after they gained confidence in their swimming. They sleep on an 7' x9' island. I can see 'em from my window and they virtually glow in the darkness. Our homestead is packed with the full assortment of predators including mean and sneaky racoons. How do the ducklings survive? They are great divers. One can see their white bodies 2 feet under the water in the daytime. They also do a thing where they kinda flap their still developing wings and attempt to run on the top of the water. They almost achieve that with their bellies barely touching the water. For 15-20' they are fast! When they settle into a regular swim, they still might outrun their predators.
Hope you get hens.

 

[Fluffaloo]

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That was my experience recently. I'd observe our 6 white muscovies daily and would change my guesses when they were 4 weeks old. At 6-7 weeks I could see that 3 were larger than the other 3. I thought the drake bills were slightly wider, their feet bigger, their legs thicker, and somehow the hens faces appeared more lady? like. Also the males would bristle up their new head feathers often, the hens only occasionally. Up to 4 weeks they all stayed really close to each other. But in the weeks after would form groups or pairs away from the others. 1 drake is aggressive to people and the other drakes. He weighed in at 9lbs week 8. The middle guy gets bloodied by him. 1 hopped into wife's hand when 3 days old, was curious from the get go, accepts petting, and is always calm. He's the only drake we named along with the hens.​

Your black and mixed colored muscovies are handsome. My whites refused to go into the duck pen, I worked so hard to predator proof, right after they gained confidence in their swimming. They sleep on an 7' x9' island. I can see 'em from my window and they virtually glow in the darkness. Our homestead is packed with the full assortment of predators including mean and sneaky racoons. How do the ducklings survive? They are great divers. One can see their white bodies 2 feet under the water in the daytime. They also do a thing where they kinda flap their still developing wings and attempt to run on the top of the water. They almost achieve that with their bellies barely touching the water. For 15-20' they are fast! When they settle into a regular swim, they still might outrun their predators.
Hope you get hens.

Thanks for the reply! It sounds like you have an amazing set up as well.

I have some more pictures to attach now since they are just shy of 5weeks and I don’t want to forget to post them later. Calypso (the one with a bit more yellow on the head but darker on the back) seems to have more feathers than the others especially on the wings and back. Maybe I’m delusional but she also seems slightly smaller in person. I don’t want to get my hopes up but those are my thoughts. Here’s a few more pictures.