sexing mallards

[Apyl]

I fail at the voice thing. Maybe mine are all girls. When do males get their 'drake tail feathers'?

Not sure about the drake feathers. I've been trying to look it up but I'm not getting a consistant answer. I'm wondering if it occurs after their first molt?

 

[fowl farm]

I thought I read somewhere it was eight weeks? But I forgot what the website is and I'm really sad because it was helpful.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Drake feathers are not reliable.

If the bird has drake feathers, he is male. But if he doesn't have drake feathers, he could still be male. Drake feathers can get pulled out and some drakes don't have drake feathers in their eclipse plumage.

With mallards, the nuptial plumage on males makes it a certainty they are males. But they are only in nuptial plumage part of the year.

Voice sexing works year round, after they are old enough for the voice to change.

 

[fowl farm]

Well, some of mine have voices, or maybe it just sounds like some of them still young voices and they are males?

 

[hdowden]

voice sexing is hard but i can tell a slight difference which is getting easier to hear as they get older. my guess is they wont get their drake feathers until their adult plumage come in (again just a guess)

 

[Nsampsel]

I have 2 little drakes that we swore for the longest time were a pair because they were the same age but 1 was so much bigger. They are now about 2 1/2 months old & are just coming into their adult feathering. They are starting to get VERY green around their faces starting at the beak & working slowly out. They have always had very soft voices. The first feathers I noticed a difference in were the tail feathers tho. Their tails were rimmed in white & steadily got lighter tan. Now they are getting the greyish feathers at the edges of their tails on their bodies & their bellies. The underside of their tails are also turning grey.

The 2 rouen/call mixes that I just got yesterday are definitely male & female. They are about 2 months old & the female definitely has a much louder, harsher quack. The male now has a hoarse peep when he quacks. He still sounds much like the ducklings only with a bit of a rasp to his peeping. They have the rouen coloring, which is pretty much the same as the Mallards, but neither are showing any feather changes yet. There is just a hint of white around the drake's neck, but that may be from the call parentage.

None of the 3 drakes have their drake feathers yet, but the 2 Mallards look like they each have a feather or 2 that is thinking about curling. They are still pretty early into the molt tho.

I will try to post pix later.

 

[hdowden]

im not going off of size and the first differences noticed are in their wings and voices

 

[Nsampsel]

I did notice that the rouen mix hen's wing feathers were coming in much longer than the drakes. I didn't have a Mallard hen of the same age to compare with my 2 drakes. I can definitely see a difference in the rouen mix pair that is just 2-3 weeks younger tho. Their coloring is still nearly identical but what a difference in voices!!!

 

[Apyl]

I have 2 little drakes that we swore for the longest time were a pair because they were the same age but 1 was so much bigger. They are now about 2 1/2 months old & are just coming into their adult feathering. They are starting to get VERY green around their faces starting at the beak & working slowly out. They have always had very soft voices. The first feathers I noticed a difference in were the tail feathers tho. Their tails were rimmed in white & steadily got lighter tan. Now they are getting the greyish feathers at the edges of their tails on their bodies & their bellies. The underside of their tails are also turning grey.

The 2 rouen/call mixes that I just got yesterday are definitely male & female. They are about 2 months old & the female definitely has a much louder, harsher quack. The male now has a hoarse peep when he quacks. He still sounds much like the ducklings only with a bit of a rasp to his peeping. They have the rouen coloring, which is pretty much the same as the Mallards, but neither are showing any feather changes yet. There is just a hint of white around the drake's neck, but that may be from the call parentage.

None of the 3 drakes have their drake feathers yet, but the 2 Mallards look like they each have a feather or 2 that is thinking about curling. They are still pretty early into the molt tho.

I will try to post pix later.

lol You've got to share a pic. I can't even imagine a little call duck managing a rouen lol So are the babies big or little ?

 

[Nsampsel]

lol You've got to share a pic. I can't even imagine a little call duck managing a rouen lol So are the babies big or little ?

They are actually just a tiny bit bigger than my Mallards, not by much tho. Will try to get a pic in the morning as it's starting to get dark here & they are heading into the box for the night.