I’m confused about my ducks gender

[u/biglittlesis_04]

We have 2 ducks. Mine is Swim Shady and my brothers is Shaggy 2 Duck. Shady has a very loud and clear quack and a pin straight tail and I’m confident that shady is a girl, Shaggy kinda looks like they have a straight tail and they’re still not quacking very loudly they still have kinda a peep voice. This is my first time having ducks and they do live inside with twice a day monitored outside time. We assumed shaggy was a boy when we heard a raspy voice but their tail is confusing us so bad. Please help lol.

[u/Cute-Scallion-626]

It’s sex rather than gender. In this case, it really is “what’s between their legs” that matters.

[u/anaxjor]

As others have said, male prolly just has not gotten his curl yet... but also, I really think people need to rely on tail curls less for ID. Girls can get drake curls, boys can molt them, it's really not reliable.

I have like 3? or 4 girls right now with drake curls. (Yes, really, and yes they are definitely girs.) And one of my males molted and is missing his.

So, if you tried to judge our flock on tail curls, you'd be WAY off. Voice is the way to go. (Or dna.... there's always dna testing if you're unsure for whatever reason - too young, breed/species makes it difficult, whatever.)

[u/bogginman]

off topic... did you see the home security cam video of the e-bike sitting in the living room whose battery caught fire and burnt the place down. I did.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Loss334]

love the names.
my partner didnt allow me to name
one of mine Michael Quackson :/

[u/the_real_mx_p]

I’l was confused about mine until I was an adult , give it time

[u/pishipishi12]

Drake feathers come in late. I'll def say raspy or quiet is a boy at this age! I would move them outside full time if you can. They're going to get gross and stinky.

[u/pawpaw-memaw]

second photo: front looks like a girl and back look like a boy to me. source: i own f/w runners and their coloration tends to differ by sex

[u/anaxjor → u/pawpaw-memaw]

Also chiming in to agree with this. Have also had male and female f/w runners as well and, well, yeah.

[u/AutoModerator]

If you have questions about the species of a wild duck or the breed of a domestic duck, please include a clear image or video. If you have questions about the gender of a domestic duck, please include a video with the sound of the duck quacking (the quack test) and showing the duck's tail (the drake feather test). Ducklings cannot be sexed by drake feather or quack test until at least six weeks of age. Muscovies cannot be sexed by drake feather or quack test at all (males huff, females coo). It helps to state what country, state or province you live in as the advice you receive will depend greatly upon where you live. Also, check out our WIKI INDEX with more topics duck husbandry.

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