what's the difference in rouen and mallards?

[shelleyd2008]

I havve 3 rouen drakes, that are for sure rouens. I have, what I thought was a rouen duck, but now I'm not so sure. She is not near as big as the drakes are, and she can fly fairly well. She is younger than they are, but she seems to be full grown. I don't have a very good pic of her, but she is either a mallard or a rouen. She has an orange and brown beak, if that helps.
If anyone has pics of the two breeds, either together or seperate, that would be great. Thanks.

 

[giffy]

A neighbor had both, I could only tell the difference when they were full grown...........the Rouen was larger and would fly very little.

giffy
----------------------
GiffsFarm

 

[nettie]

mallards are a ot smaller than rouens. How old is your female? If she's laying already and still a lot smaller than her boyfriends, she's probably a mallard or mallard/rouen mix

 

[shelleyd2008]

I'm not sure how old she is. I bought her in September, I think, or late August, and she was fully feathered, but still kind of a baby. So I would say she is under 6 months, probably around 4 or 5. None of my ducks have layed an egg yet, so that's no help. She is smaller than the rouens, but not too much, she is bigger than half their size, and they are about 7 months old. She doesn't fly 'like a bird', at least not that I have noticed, but earlier she flew from the bank of the pond to the middle, and that's a good 30-40 feet. I thought there was a color difference in their bills, between rouens and mallards? I really hope she isn't a cross, then she would be sterile, right? Or is that only with muscovies?

 

[nettie]

she won't be sterile if she's a mix... that's only when you cross breed muscovies and other ducks. Rouens from bred from mallards so you're fine.

females are smaller than males. And bigger ducks and geese tend to "fill out" throughout their first year after they get their feathers. I wouldn't worry about it. She seems big enough by your description. If you could get a picture that would be really handy.

If not, i wouldn't worry. She'll lay probably when spring comes when it gets warmer. She's proabably just a bit smaller for a rouen, that happens

 

[CindyS]

She will not be sterile if she is a cross, only if she is half muscovy. she might be a mallard if she is about half the rouen size. although her bill is not the right color for a mallard.

 

[nettie]

the size and they weird flying and the beak... hmmm.... it makes me think more that she's probably a mallard/rouen mix. She seems a big big for a mallard and flies a little too well for a rouen... and the beaks a little off color to be a mallard, lol... you got one mixed up duckie!

 

[shelleyd2008]

This is the only pic I have of her right now. You can't really see her color, but you can see her size. She is the one on the right, between the two pekins. Out of the other ducks, the females and males are about the same size as each other (2 pair pekin, 1 pair cayuga), the ducks being not quite as fat as the drakes. But they are still about the same size. This pic was taken probably a month ago, so she is a little bigger than she was, but she is still noticeably smaller than the others. I will try and get a better pic of her tomorrow.