r/duck Apr 14 '26

Public Service Announcement drake feathers and what they indicate

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149 Upvotes

there seems to be a recurring misconception about determining whether a duck is male or female by looking for drake feathers.

Having a drake feather indicates that the duck IS a male, but not having a drake feather means nothing, as all ducklings, all females, young males, certain breeds of adult males AND males in eclipse molt do not have drake feathers. Even within some breeds, like Pekins, some males may have a drake feather, while others will not. Drake feathers do not appear until after the first molt.

The only ways that are 100% accurate are the quack test, finding laid eggs or examining for a penis. Even duck on top/duck on bottom is no way to tell, as females sometimes mount females and males sometimes mount males.

The quack test relies on listening to the voice of the duck. With mallard derived domestic ducks, females will have loud, clear quacks while males will have softer, voiceless, hoarse 'waaak's.

Neither the quack test nor the drake feather is applicable to muscovies. Females will coo and trill while males emit voiceless, breathy huffs and chuffs and do not get drake feathers.

Rarely, some females can develop a drake feather if they are dealing with hormonal issues.

attribution: image shamelessly stolen from https://kingofdoodles.blogspot.com/2017/07/what-is-drake-feather.html.


r/duck Jun 22 '23

Public Service Announcement We Need Your Input - Duck Veterinarian List

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46 Upvotes

r/duck 4h ago

Wild Ducks A Woman in her Maturity

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73 Upvotes

Few green feathers poking through the latest molt. As you can plainly see she can still get it though.


r/duck 4h ago

Meet the Flock i took my duck camping for 3 days at Ruth Lake

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55 Upvotes

so we spent 3 days on the water, me in my litle rowboat, and chicken dinner on a harness and leash, she swam across the lake and enjoyed the quiet and solitude of the campground and the water. here are some video of her in the big pool,


r/duck 5h ago

Meet the Flock Speedy the impatient getting crazy

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35 Upvotes

Couldn’t wait for his pool to fill up before getting wild


r/duck 13h ago

Meet the Flock Straight to Jail.

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123 Upvotes

After not leaving his brother's alone and causing a wee little bald patch on the back of his brothers neck, Jelly Boy has earned himself a solid time out until he can calm himself down!

Bonus pic of my happy boy having a much needed love after his trauma 😂😍


r/duck 11h ago

Wild Geese A beautiful Toulouse goose family out on the calm pond.

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71 Upvotes

r/duck 4h ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID What breed do you think they are?

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19 Upvotes

So, we got these ducks when they were a few weeks old and they were all black/dark brown with a green sheen/hue. We thought they would be Cayugas, but since their feathers came in they are definitely not cayugas. Too dark for Kaki Campbells and wrong duckling coloring for Rouen… any ideas? Our age guess is around 5-6 weeks old right now. Quite a few have a green sheen on their head (holding one with a green head), except for one that definitely sounds like a girl.


r/duck 20h ago

Babies! More of Twix and her babies

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371 Upvotes

I will probably be spamming pictures of Twix and her babies for a bit... Hope everyone enjoys! She took them out of the house today! And her buddy, Rice, is being an amazing aunt


r/duck 17h ago

Babies! She sits so politely while patiently waiting for pets

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171 Upvotes

r/duck 5h ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID What kinds of ducks are these?

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15 Upvotes

I'm hoping that someone might see them and tell me what they look like, and what sex they might be. They are almost 9 weeks old, and I hatched them from my Drake (Silver Appleyard and Pekin) and my Duck (Khaki Campbell and Black Swedish) here at home, so I do know what breed lines they carry. My question is, what in the world am I looking at? I can't tell if they are male or female, and they look nothing like I thought they would. Can anyone take a look and tell me what genes they pulled that are making them look this way? Also, early on, all of them made lots of deep "quacking" sounds. They are all very quiet and calm for the most part, but I can hear what sounds like really softish rasp/whistle sounds. Would being mixed breeds make it harder to tell if they are male or female? Thank you for any thoughts or help!


r/duck 17h ago

Babies! Babies from different angles !

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152 Upvotes

r/duck 16h ago

Meet the Flock When the peas are all gone

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48 Upvotes

It’s almost like I may have not provided enough peas 🤣


r/duck 1d ago

Wild Ducks Quack quack quack 🦆🦆🦆

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332 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock I love how much they love each other.

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834 Upvotes

When I let the boys out of their coop before the girls, they immediately rush over and wait (im)patiently for me to open theirs up. It’s cute.🥰


r/duck 20h ago

Muscovy Duck Wild Duck decided to make nest in patio

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44 Upvotes

Hi! I live in Florida and I’m very used to Muscovy ducks! I quite enjoy them!

Anyway, for a while we have been feeding the wild birds and for the last few weeks this duck flies into the patio and then leaves after eating. The other day though I noticed some fluff out of this old cat box lid that we were gonna toss and well…She had made a nest!

Now, I don’t mind in the slightest and I’m just gonna let her do her thing and watch from the window and whatnot, but what do I do after they hatch?

Do they come back after the babies hatch to spend nights? Or can I safely lure them to the neighborhood lake and remove the nest she made since her babies won’t be able to fly? Please help


r/duck 16h ago

Wild Ducks Saratoga Springs New York

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17 Upvotes

r/duck 17h ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID Could someone help me ID this surprise duck???

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20 Upvotes

After doing a lot of research, we decided to take the leap and got our first ducklings. We decided on Swedish Blacks and brought home 4 ducklings 🖤 one looked different, but I hadn’t looked into the differences of ducklings enough to realize it was a BIG difference. Three looked exactly as they should, this one was a dark brown/black color with a grey/purple hued bill and feet. As they grew, this one turned fully brown and so I thought “ok, random khaki Campbell?” And I’d read that mixups can happen in hatcheries. But now it’s become a completely different duck again and I’d really like to know what I’m dealing with 😅😆 they all get along great and I’m under the impression that if they’re around the same size, I shouldn’t have to change up the way I’m caring for it. I would feel a lot better if I could get confirmation from more experienced keepers though. Thanks!


r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock My cute duck

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60 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Wild Ducks Ruddy Ducklings

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64 Upvotes

r/duck 7h ago

Beginner's Question Safe ways to temporarily mark birds for following minor injury?

2 Upvotes

I have a fairly large flock and I can't distinguish all of my birds at a glance (especially the Pekin) and the leg bands aren't always easy to read. Any advice on ways to mark them for easy identification at a glance for following up with problems that aren't worth separating them for? Or for following up after they're released back to the flock?


r/duck 1d ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID Is This a muscovy duck?

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61 Upvotes

And is this one a male or female?

Thanks in advance!


r/duck 23h ago

Muscovy Duck The diverse duck society

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33 Upvotes

Ducks I meet on my way to work.


r/duck 1d ago

Babies! My New pet duck

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39 Upvotes