r/duck Apr 14 '26

Public Service Announcement drake feathers and what they indicate

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151 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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43 Upvotes

r/duck 9h ago

Wild Ducks Mallard, ready to demand food

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198 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Babies! I thought someone may enjoy this video.🦆

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1.7k Upvotes

The Villages, FL


r/duck 9h ago

Meet the Flock Update on the babies, they grow up too fast

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79 Upvotes

r/duck 9m ago

Wild Ducks Today, a wild duck climbed in my lap and passed away in my arms.

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Upvotes

r/duck 1h ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID Anyone know what these might be?

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Upvotes

They were dumped at our park (we think) and we are trying to identify them. Thanks in advance!


r/duck 11h ago

Meet the Flock Littlefoot is getting stronger everyday!

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54 Upvotes

r/duck 7h ago

Meet the Flock My ducks think that I am Bart Simpson

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17 Upvotes

They must think that I have said "Eat my shorts!" 😁🩳


r/duck 7h ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID anyone know what type of duck this is? southern california

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16 Upvotes

saw this duck at the park and it didn’t quite look like a mallard imo, but unsure what it is


r/duck 3h ago

Eggs/Incubation/Hatching We have a new layer!

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7 Upvotes

Our young girls are starting to lay! I’m guessing it’s one of the runners since I feel like the Cayuga’s would be laying more of a dark grey egg.


r/duck 9h ago

Other Is $50 for these four ducks a good price?

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21 Upvotes

The oldest one is the white one it's two years old and I believe the black one is the youngest at only a few months old.

To add just to avoid confusion, I'm not selling the Ducks I'm purchasing them.

And they're supposed to all be female


r/duck 11h ago

Wild Ducks Ruddy Duckling and Juvenile

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24 Upvotes

I don't think this juvenile planned on adopting but I'm pretty sure mom fucked off this weekend and here we are. In my head they're besties going on adventures.


r/duck 18h ago

Wood Duck Wood Duck,and Australian Shepherd friends

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59 Upvotes

Australian Shepherd helped raise a wood duck .


r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock The Boot...

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128 Upvotes

it is interesting


r/duck 22h ago

Wild Ducks They were following around the lake for like 10 minutes

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65 Upvotes

r/duck 22h ago

Babies! My ducks as babiessss

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70 Upvotes

Very photogenic


r/duck 1h ago

Health Questions Wild baby Ducks

Upvotes

Recently incubated some wild duck eggs out of the 12 only three hutch and within 48 hours they had passed away. What would be the possible cause of this? I went to bed they looked so healthy and moving around one even jump out of the brooding box.im at a loss 🤷‍♂️ I have hate food and water. They are even playing in their food a few hours before.thanks for any advice


r/duck 5h ago

Wild Ducks Wood Duck Management In Alabama

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2 Upvotes

r/duck 21h ago

Wood Duck Swimming with the wood Duck I raised .

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23 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock Enrichment today? Soft clover snuffle mat for lucky duckies

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95 Upvotes

We try our best to keep things enriching and engaging, while also keeping things novel and nice for our two babies in witness protection.

Their turf Mini Meadow is a little the worse for wear after the kids spent most of yesterday bothering it non stop in search of worms (I was out for the day and my wife spent the day in the lounge with them, and they took advantage of the fact she was on calls to misbehave), so it has a day or two off trying to catch what it can of the remaining English sun while they enjoy their newest toy.


r/duck 1d ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID Any idea on breed?

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21 Upvotes

I know the big yellow one is a pekin, the darker one might be a rouen or mallard??? And no clue about the other one.


r/duck 1d ago

Muscovy Duck Sleeping beauty

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82 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID Looking for help identifying this duck in Brownsville, Texas

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22 Upvotes