How do you tell the difference between male and female Muskogee ducks?

Answer 1

Looking at an adult duck's plumage can help you decide. Female ducks generally sit on the nest, usually on the ground. Nature, very sensibly, gives female ducks camouflage to protect them, and their nests from predators. Their feathers are generally a nondescript brown or grey, so that they and their nests blend in with their surroundings, making them hard for predators to spot. Mallards, the most common duck in the northern hemisphere, are a case in point; male mallards have a dark green iridescent head, a grey body, a brown breast and black feathers on their rears. Females and youngsters, who have lost their yellow duckling fuzz, but are not mature, are mottled brown. Mallard ducks and drakes both have a blue patch with a white border on their wings. In most northern hemisphere duck species, drakes and ducks have markedly different plumage. Even in Southern Hemisphere species, generally drakes' plumage is distinguishable from females. Most domesticated duck breeds in the northern hemisphere descend from wild mallards; the only exception is the Muscovy duck.

In Muscovy ducks, the area between the eye and beak is more elaborate, prominent and swollen looking in males. Muscovy Drakes are significantly larger than ducks. A female Muscovy duck's plumage is smoother and less fluffy and heavy. Muscovy drakes strut proudly and ducks walk in a more delicate and ladylike fashion.

Look at the feathers at the tail base, drakes generally have curled up feathers, on their backs, at the base of their tails. Some poultry keepers call these the male feathers. Female ducks have straight tail feathers. The difference in tail feathers, between ducks and drakes, occurs at around four months old.

Adult ducks and drakes, in most species, sound different too. While the males are generally showier than females, females are usually noisier than males. From around eight weeks old, ducks and drakes sound different, ducks quack loudly, as Children's Books say they do, and the sound is hard, whereas drakes make a softer rougher quack. Hold the duck gently by its tail and it will quack. In Muscovy ducks, drakes hiss, when they quack and ducks give a full-throated quack.

Ducklings are very difficult to sex. Experienced poultry farmers and keepers do so by squeezing the ducklings and looking at their genitalia. However, you can seriously injure or even kill ducklings, by holding or squeezing a duckling wrongly, which is why you should leave this method to an expert.

Sight and hearing are the best way to tell ducks from drakes. Noticing differences in your adult ducks and drakes using your sight and hearing will help you tell the difference between them. If you keep ducks, leave the intrusive methods for sexing ducklings to the experts to avoid injuring or killing the birds.