Sexing Muscovy ducklings

[katiebob]

I have 5 ducklins who are 7 and 9 days old (I took from two different clutches, on 2 seperate trips to the breeder). They were of course all about the same size when I got them, but now I have 1 who is larger than the others. They are all energetic and have great appitites. A couple have petite heads, their bills are smaller and they are a smidge lighter. This makes me think they could possibly be female.
Could it be possible that female characteristics show this early or are they just growing at different rates? Thanks

 

[The Wolf Queen]

The easiest way in the babies is their feet and general body size. The bigger ones with larger feet are most likely males.

 

[savingdogs]

I was interested in this thread because I have 13 straight run muscovy who are now about five weeks old. At first we could only see that one was especially large.

Now we seem to see almost all large ducklings, large feet and only one that seems smaller with a smaller breast and shorter body overall, smaller feet. Is it possible that in a straight run we got 12 to 1 ratio? I guess I'm okay with it as long as I get one female at least, but I'm worried that one male will be too much for just one female or that my one female won't go broody. I was planning on keeping one male with two to four females to keep him happy, and have it run with my cayuga 3 females and one cayuga male.

We were not going to harvest until 12 weeks old....will we be able to sex them better by then? I'm not sure freezer camp has enough vacancies for 11 guests at the same time. And dang it, I wanted more females.

 

[onthespot]

I think the boys have bigger bills too, with a stonger profile. The girls have a smaller, dished bill.

 

[katiebob]

Quote:
I wish I could help you figure it out. Bummer if you do infact have 11 boys. That does seem a little disproportionate in male to female ratio. Hopefully you just have some big boned girls in the group. I guess you can wait and see, then weigh them. I know drakes weigh a lot more than ducks.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Can you post any pictures? At 5 wks you should be able to tell unless of course you DO have 12 draklets.

 

[savingdogs]

I'll try but I'm really lame about downloading the pictures on here. My pictures are too big.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

There is a re-size option on your uploads.

 

[savingdogs]

Okay I'll give it a try but won't have a chance until Tuesday.