Week by week photos of a Muscovy duckling...weeks 5, 6 and now week 7 included

[Going Quackers]

5 wks?!
That's the biggest and most feathered 5 week old I've ever seen...of any winged critter

cheers,

Woka

Well that 's what the info says on my picture? She had just turned 5wks old, These are two of the drake babies at 2mths old. All my birds hatched here and we even witnessed some

PS; i should also mention that picture probably makes her look larger than she is, overall she is a very teeny little thing but i was focusing on her feather colouring to confirm she was chocolate.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well that 's what the info says on my picture? She had just turned 5wks old, These are two of the drake babies at 2mths old. All my birds hatched here and we even witnessed some

PS; i should also mention that picture probably makes her look larger than she is, overall she is a very teeny little thing but i was focusing on her feather colouring to confirm she was chocolate.

you sure got some pretty babies out of your hatches GQ. look at how thick those boys legs are at 2 months. Tall too.

 

[Wokawidget]

My duck is way, way, smaller than yours...either that...or you have hands the size of a cherry tomato (no offence meant).

When I went back to the farm last week they had 23 of her siblings...all aged 7-8 weeks.

The larger ducklings, with T-rex style ankles, has 0 wings feathers, let alone 0 flight feathers....their wings were bare little pink limbs....not even the 1st sign of feathers where the small tufts are prickley...some were fully feathered on their backs....yet still little pink stubby wings.
When my duckling is compared to them she definately "looks" female...she is still only 1-2 cm taller than my bantam cochin and under 30% the weight of my Campbell.

This weekend she has also started making a slightly different noise...I can only describe it as a high pitched cat pur....but since I have never heard an adult female Muscovy I don't know if this is duckling speak or adult speak.

The reason I said 5 wks?! is because in all my life I have never seen a more feathered large duckling as yours. At 5 wks all the ones I have ever seen are still yellow and fluffy and are not too much bigger than my hand.

I too have been in many a position with sexing ducks and chickens...thankfully...so far over the last 2-3 years...out of 10 birds I've hand picked at 1-2 weeks old all 10 have been female, never used vent sexing....3 ducks and 7 chickens.
For chickens I use the wobble test....all roosters I have come across have two left feet and always fall off things...putting a chick on your arm and wobbling your arm seems to have a good % outcome...if the chick is clumsy and falls, or struggles to stay balanced, then it's male...this so far has been used by myself and a few people I know to correctly sex over 15 chicks with 100% accuracy.

...maybe it's just pure fluke...but it seems to work...

Ducks...no scientific method...Hmm...do you look like a Molly or a Marvin...Hmmm Molly...I'll take you

Does anyone have off hand the weight of a 7-8 week old Muscovy male and female?
Go on...you know you want to go and weigh them...(don't tell your other half about poopy duck feet on your kitchen scales )

cheers,

Woka

 

[Wokawidget]

Ok,

Just weighed my ducks.

White Campbell: 3.1 Kg (6.82 lb)
Runner: 2 Kg (4.4 lb)
Molly Muscovy (7.5 weeks old): 1.1 Kg (2.42 lb)

So I said well less than 30%...this proves that my hands should not be used in scientific studies as a measure of weight....although I wasn't far off...give or take she's a 1/3 of the weight of my Campbell.

woka

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok,

Just weighed my ducks.

White Campbell: 3.1 Kg (6.82 lb)
Runner: 2 Kg (4.4 lb)
Molly Muscovy (7.5 weeks old): 1.1 Kg (2.42 lb)

So I said well less than 30%...this proves that my hands should not be used in scientific studies as a measure of weight....although I wasn't far off...give or take she's a 1/3 of the weight of my Campbell.

woka

 

[animalz11]

Adorable! well, the hissing wouldn't be there it's too young, you should hear my 3mth olds.. they can barely.. get a hiss out, and yeah they are most definitely drakes.

The height of the leg leans me to drakelet... i'll see if i can find a pic of the single baby we had back in may.. isn't he cute? sadly, somebody killed him(likely a loose dog, not ours) but he most certainly grew into a drake..



Here is my June hatch, i got one! duck the rest are drakes see the height of those legs? The duck in the middle is obviously an adult, and the little chocolate one in the back is the lone ducklet. Just looked it up, these guys were 7wks in this pic give or take..

That white muscovy you have look so much like my girl.
You've inspired my to take photos of my next ducklings. Like that video that girl made where she took a photo of herself every day from when she was 12.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That white muscovy you have look so much like my girl.
You've inspired my to take photos of my next ducklings. Like that video that girl made where she took a photo of herself every day from when she was 12.

 

[Wokawidget]

Hmmmm...similar to that, but a little higher pitched.
I was under the impression the voice changed much later on.
Maybe it's still duckling speak.

cheers,

Woka

 

[Wokawidget]

Hmmm can't seem to edit my original posts with new pics...or edit the thread title.
She's now 8 weeks and 2 days old.
Still peeping like a duckling but for the last week she's being making a high pitched trill when she's happy to see you or knows she's going to get a treat or when she meets up with her Sablepoot best friend when she hasn't seen her for an hr or so. She sounds like the high pitched one from this vid (about 10 seconds in)

She makes this noise constantly when you put one of Netties duck harnesses on her and allow her free roam of the house.

She is by far our tamest, friendliest, playful and not phased by anything duck. She is just so laid back and full of beans at the same time.
Her back is still fluffy ducking down and her flight feathers are well over an 2 inches long.

I keep saying "her" ....but still not 100% sure.

Week 8:

 

[duckman4450]

The change from week 6 to 7 is unbelievable!!!! She is so stinkin adorable!