Still wondering...

[Runa101]

When do male Muscovy ducks get bigger than other ducks? We have 3 Muscovy ducks, 15.5 weeks old, and they are all still smaller than our other ducks, all full grown, Welsh Harlequins and a Black Swede. If they're males, should they be bigger by now? We did have to clip their wings a couple of weeks ago because they were flying quite well. So now they're stuck safe at home, but we still don't know if they're boys or girls!

 

[sourland]

At that age drakes should be about 25 % larger than the hens. You may very well have 3 Muscovy hens. A picture would help with gender ID.

 

[Runa101]

I posted some pictures of them here:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/919717/muscovy-ducklings-males-or-females/10

They are about 12 weeks old in those pictures, 3 Muscovy ducks and a Welsh Harlqeuin in the foreground, other ducks in back. they're still smaller than the Harlequins and Black Swede, but I don't have any more recent pictures. I'll try to get some in the next few days and post them. Do the 12 week old pictures help at all? They all do seem to be the same sex, all the same size.

 

[Onlyducks]

I was going to post a picture to show the difference but the editor refuses to allow me to do so—no button. Maybe later. Yours do look very much like all females.

 

[Runa101]

All females would be very nice. We use a lot of duck eggs but have no desire for any more ducklings.

 

[Onlyducks]

These are two pictures of my five females and one male. The size difference is not quite as obvious in photos as when just looking at the ducks. My male also has the much more caruncle on his face than the females. These were supposed to be adult birds when I got them, but some of the females did get a bit larger after I had them for a few months.

 

[Orca5094]

Definitely 5 females and a male. Maybe he's just a small male?

 

[Onlyducks]

He could be a small male. He is smaller than I have read the males would be. When I bought them, I wanted five females. The breeder gave us the male for free—he had way too many males and wanted to get rid of them. This was the first one he caught, so that's one we ended up with!

 

[Runa101]

Thanks, those are very helpful photos! I hadn't realized how different the caruncles were on
male and female, and the male's neck looks thicker too. How old are your ducks? All three
of ours look more like the females in your pictures.

 

[Rachele anne]

Is there anyway to tell when there a week or 2 old