I Didn't Know This, Did You?
Labels: Ducklings, Ducks, egg eating, eggs, Margaret E. Kellogg
by Margaret E. Kellogg
They say you learn something new every day, and I find this to be so true. I didn't know that it takes about five months for a mallard drake to look like a drake. Did you?
My son, Stephen, is infatuated with mallard ducks. I just couldn't understand why he thought he needed mallard ducks specifically, because they are the most popular breed in North America, but I couldn't talk him out them. Just to give you a little background, he is 25 and loves the critters as much as I do. He was the one who got us into ducks to begin with. Last year, he brought home ducks, geese and turkeys. My plan was to have some chickens and fresh eggs. Well, now we have a myriad of ducks, geese, turkeys and chickens.
Because he wanted mallard ducks so badly this year, I went to our Alaska feed company as soon as the mallards arrived and purchased four. Just in time for Easter, so he was totally delighted. Well, when they are cute little fuzzballs, they all look the same. As they grew, they all looked the same. The goal, of course, was to have a hen and a drake out of the four. Needless to say, Stephen was quite disappointed because at 4 months old, it appeared that we had obtained four hens. I told him that I thought one was a male because it did have a little green to its head and the others had only black ... but it sure still looked like a hen. I was about ready to sell a couple of the hens because we really didn't need that many without a drake.
Interestingly enough, there started to be a change in one. Its chest started turning a lighter gray. It took 5 months for this hen to reveal itself as a drake.
You can see the light gray starting to appear, and his chest was getting a much darker brown than the others. Of course, there was still the green coming in on his head. We had gotten the ducklings at the end of March, and it was mid-July before this one started changing his colors. Fascinating to me; I had to try to find out whether this happened or not, because I had read that when they molt, they looked a lot like a hen instead of a drake.
Last but not least, it takes at least five months for a drake mallard to show his true colors, but when they do, they are stunning. Below, Stephen stands proud as punch with his mallard drake, Buddy. 
at
7:57 PM
3 Comments:
Yes you are correct that the males do tend to look more like the females when they molt. Another clue to the male is that the male ducks have a curling up feather at the base of the back, kind of where the wings end when they fold back and above the tail feathers. Just like the 'duck tail' of the 50's male hair do's!
By
Andrea, At
November 15, 2011 8:35 AM
My mom purchased three peking ducks to live on their lake and they all looked the same for over a year! she thought she had three hens. we were constantly trying to spot a little curled tail feather with no luck. She got three more ducklings the next year in hopes of getting a male, about two weeks later she noticed the largest adult duck had finally gotten his curled tail feather. so now they have six, and at least two are girls, the three babies are still a mystery. and the hens do quack much louder than the males, especially when they are little.
By
Xoxia, At
November 15, 2011 9:09 AM
Easy to recognize mallard drakes from hens much earlier. As soon as their bill/beak color changes (drakes are olive sometimes with a small amount of black on the top, females are orange with a lot more black mottling all over), and as soon as their voices change (normally once they loose their down and have their first feathers (hens have a loud quack, males are a very weak whistley quack). The voice is tell tale for young PEKIN ducks also as they are descended from mallards (hence the curly tail). Pekin is the breed, Peking is the name given to it prepared by a certain way cooking method. Also remember, mallard drakes will go through two molts in the summer, first they will change to resemble the female (eclipse plumage), then change back to their full color in time for fall (breeding plumage).
By
Rattlerjake, At
November 15, 2011 6:45 PM
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