What am I.....

[jrsqlc]

I just picked up these ducks, they were given to me, but I have never seen any like them!!

They have a weird bill, never seen anything like it. It looks like they have a tooth on the front tip of their top bill.
Can anyone tell me what they are, thanks!!

 

[KansasKid]

They are muscovies and if you are talking about the black part of the very tip of there top bill that is called there bean.

 

[jrsqlc]

ok, they also look like they have a snood like turkeys do, never seen anything like it. they are cool though.

 

[KansasKid]

haha they kinda do.

 

[Caprice_Acres]

Congrats on your new muscovies! You have a group of black pieds on your hands.

The 'snood' thing is the beginning of their caruncling. Drakes are heavily caruncled, while hens tend to have a very moderate amount.

They are juveniles, probably around 12-16 weeks old. Are they all the same size, and fairly large? They look like a trio of Drakes, to me. Hens are about 1/2 the size of drakes, so if they are all large, they are likely drakes... if any are smaller, those are the hens.

The fingernail like end to their bill is just a characteristic of muscovies. I hadn't ever heard the tip of the bill being called the 'bean'... doesn't describe the characteristic very well, IMO. I call it the beak 'tab' or the beak 'nail', as it looks like a fingernail.

I notice that the tab varies with the color variety of the muscovy - chocolates have a chocolate beak 'tab', blacks/blues have a black or dark grey tab on their beak.

 

[KansasKid]

All ducks have the "bean" different colors etc. I'll try and find a diagram that shows it otherwise it is described in the APA breed standards.

How old are they?

and I'm a little confused and uneducated on muscovies, as many ducks and breeds that I've had, i have never came across them. So when you refer to the "snood" you are referring to the puffy feathers on the back of the head right? Just like someone wearing a hair net and it puffing out there hair all to the back(if that makes sence) So how are the the beginnings of the caruncles causing it?

Another question, as small as the birds are themselves(look) and as small as the caruncles are at the moment what makes you think they are drakes? (Don't take this the wrong way I'm just trying to learn as many breeds as possible from exotic to domestic)

 

[KansasKid]

http://www.autonopedia.org/garden_and_farm/Livestock/Raising_Ducks_files/F39P48.GIF
https://wikis.uit.tufts.edu/confluence/download/attachments/20422812/PartsOfADuck.jpg

 

[Wifezilla]

No...at the top of the bill where you see that bumpy red stuff. It will kind of end up looking like a mask...it wont get long like a turkey snood.

 

[Caprice_Acres]

You're right, it won't turn into a turkey snood... just someone commented on it looking like the beginning of one. It is just the beginning of the caruncling.

I guess I hadn't noticed that my welsh Harlequins had the 'bean' as well. I'll have to look for it this evening. As I said, they are my first non-muscovy ducks.

I still don't like that's called a 'bean', LOL...

 

[kylee2katie]

Congrats! I have two of my own. I think mine are girls but still not sure....Here are some recent pics:

they are sitting on top of the pen:

their favorite morning perch as soon as they are let out:

smiling for the camera:

They are the best bug control you can ever ask for!!