I've got Muscovy ducks that are about 12 weeks old (I'm guessing) and about, I guess, five pounds. Pretty big and they've got most of their feathers except for the big wing feathers. I'm supposed to have two hens and one drake. How can I tell which is a drake and which are hens? They seem to be the same size, same size feet, same size noses and lips.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), July 06, 2000

Answers

I also have muscovies and in my experience, the drake gets about 1/3 to 1/2 size larger than the female. The male also develops larger and more warts on its face. Unlike other ducks where a couple feathers on the male's tail sometimes flip up, these do not. It sounds like you may need a little more time to tell the difference. Did someone sex these at birth and that's why you are supposed to have two hens and one drake?

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), July 06, 2000.

Both of my male muscovies have red rings around their necks (although they are mature). Both of them are also more talkative than the hens. I have never seen one of my hens try to ride the drakes (males ducks?). If the hens are being riden, they may have a spot of feathers missing from the back of their necks. Before long the male, if you do indeed have one, should become noticeable different from the females with a crest and in size.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 06, 2000.

OK, the guy I got my ducks from told me that an old timer told him that if you hold a baby duck by its feet and it hangs its head straight down, it's a hen but if it curls its head back upward it's a a drake. He held two of my baby ducks like that and they hung their heads down and he held the other one like that and, sure enough, it curled its head back up. I don't know anything about them but that's what he said. I hope I have three hens because I'd like the eggs but don't want a bunch of babies running around all over the place. Thanks for your replies.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), July 06, 2000.

If you eat the eggs, you won't have any babies running around, regardless of whether you've got a drake in the lot or not. Enjoy!

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), July 06, 2000.

A female duck is not a hen it's a duck and a male is a drake

-- Grant Eversoll (thegrange@earthlink.net), July 07, 2000.

Joe, I would give the ducks a little more time to grow and mature. the drake will be a lot bigger than the girls. If they stay the same size then you got all the same sex! the Drake does get way more red skin over the head and bill. By the way they can fly which can be a blessing or a curse. I would be sure they know they get fed at one spot and the same time everyday. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), July 07, 2000.

Joe:

If you haven't had duck eggs before, you are in for a treat. The shells will be much harder than chickens. The yoke will be about twice as big and, at least for mine, very, very much of a dark orange in color. The white will have far more consistency. Some people may say they have a much stronger flavor than chicken eggs, but then I think store-bought eggs don't have any taste at all. When they start to nest, which is on a shelf in my workshop, I take out eggs for several days until I am ready for them to start to build a nest. For it, I use the bottom of a cardboard box about 12" x 18", about 2" high to keep the eggs from falling off the shelf. All of the ducks seem to lay in the same nest until one decides enough is enough and broods on that nest. I have seen one duck get on top of another and lay an egg on top of her. Then another nest is started.

Even if you have three female ducks (even if they aren't called hens), I would still get a male as I think it would help stimulate them to lay eggs. Besides, would you want your daughters to stay virgins all of their lives?

You may find you like duck eggs so much you will want more females.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 08, 2000.

Hi Joe, Good luck with your muscovies. They are great for keeping the mosquito population down. You won't have to wait long to be able to sex them. We used to call our male "the rapist". He was after the famales constantly. I even had to intervene when he would go after the hens in the water. He would have drowned them! Keep watching them, Joe. The hens will be the ones running like hell. Kim

-- Kim Scales (barkinbarnyard@rrv.net), July 09, 2000.

If your primary interest is duck eggs, there is a breed called the Golden 300, which is suspose to lay up to 300 eggs a year. I'll e- mail you information on them since this forum doesn't seem to accept cut and past from Microsoft Word. One delicacy among some Asians is duck eggs which have been partically incubated, then hard boiled. They sell in Asian markets for several dollars per dozen. You will also find duck eggs are larger than even Jumbo chicken eggs.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 10, 2000.

-- You will also find duck eggs are larger than even Jumbo chicken eggs. --

Shucks, my Turken chickens lay larger/heavier eggs than the market's jumbos. And Leghorn eggs are really large, too. Duck eggs are much larger than these!

-- Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 10, 2000.