So Strange, I think I have a he/she duck.

[Hayley411]

Okay so both of my swede's have green bills and one has drake feathers but only one has the whispery raspy sound of a drake(one without drake feathers) the other has a definite quack. What's going on? Can a male duck get a quack or can a female get a green bill and drake feathers? I am soo confused. LOL. Help. I need to know if I have two drakes or only one. If I have two that means I need to reserve some ducks from the breeder near me.

~Hayley

 

[Sweetfolly]

Sometimes a duck will go through a "sex change" (something like menopause I guess), where she stops laying and develops male plumage (due to a hormonal change when egg production stops). Her voice would still be the same, but she'd look like a drake and wouldn't lay any eggs.

There's an example of that happening with a Runner duck on Feathersite, about 3/4 down the page: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Runners/BRKRunners.html

Maybe it's something like that?

 

[Hayley411]

Well I don't know they are only 4-5 months old now. Haven't started laying. This is why I'm so confused. LOL

~Hayley

 

[Sweetfolly]

Hmmmm....that is strange!

From what I know, a drake cannot quack - the vocal structure is different between the sexes, making it physically impossible.

Your girl probably just has some hormones out-of-whack. Either that, or she's a hermaphrodite!

 

[Hayley411]

Well that's been the running joke around here for the past week or so. Beaker the Hermaphro-duck. LOL

Fantastic

I hope it is just hormones out-of-whack and with time maybe they will even out.

~Hayley