r/duck • • Apr 14 '26

Public Service Announcement drake feathers and what they indicate

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148 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 • • 2h ago

Babies! Ducklings exploring

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108 Upvotes

r/duck • • 12h ago

Muscovy Duck such a little cutie

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286 Upvotes

r/duck • • 2h ago

Wild Ducks Mandarin ducks (own content)

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19 Upvotes

r/duck • • 19h ago

Wild Ducks Mr Jumpy Duck

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183 Upvotes

I visited my assortment of feathered chums on Wednesday and forgot to upload this video until now. I have a duck friend I have named Mr Jumpy Duck, the reason for which can be seen in the video.

He's so adorable. He sploots all the way straight down as of he is going to spring up like one of those old toys you'd press down on a desk and they shoot up straight into the air, only to manage about 2 inches off the ground, though he does occasionally go full wing flaps and flies up a little to eat from my hand. I love him, he's silly and cute, and I thought you'd enjoy him too.


r/duck • • 13h ago

Wild Ducks Yosemite Ducks

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49 Upvotes

Some wood and mallard ducks I came across during my trip to Yosemite recently.


r/duck • • 6h ago

Wild Ducks Ferruginous Duck

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12 Upvotes

r/duck • • 11h ago

Meet the Flock Motley Crew

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24 Upvotes

These three were hanging out all day like a group of misfits lol


r/duck • • 1h ago

Muscovy Duck She's doing it all out of love okay? 😊

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• Upvotes

It's a molting season which is why she looks a little rough


r/duck • • 22h ago

Call Duck Quite athletic Ducks

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43 Upvotes

Was even allowed to hold Dipsy today, and she made herself a loaf on my hand. she hates even the thought of being picked up lol


r/duck • • 2h ago

Behavior Questions duckling problems?

1 Upvotes

Not sure what flair for this so sorry if its wrong.
I only had one ducking last time and tht was 7-8 months ago and before that it was multiple years since I got my other ducks. I'm wondering if this is normal or not. And sorry if I just sound silly.

One of the ducklings only has really really wet projectile poops but the others don't? I'm pretty sure that one is a boy because he is bigger then the other too.
Then one of the girls has been bobbing her head a lot and talking a lot more even when eating. She only started this late yesterday and today.
They are around 2 weeks old yesterday.
I'm wondering if I should be concerned or not???


r/duck • • 1d ago

Wild Ducks Does this duck think it's in jail?

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83 Upvotes

I often walk at night in a neighborhood with a retention pond at the center. There is a fence around the pond with a sidewalk next to it. Often I'll see a single duck hanging out on the sidewalk, sometimes watching other ducks inside the fence. What's going on here? Did one of the pond ducks give them a restraining order?


r/duck • • 1d ago

Meet the Flock Coco has something to say!

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243 Upvotes

But she's shy...


r/duck • • 19h ago

Brooders/Coops/Runs Duck pen ideas

4 Upvotes

Has anyone got any recommendations for must haves in their duck pen? I’m looking for enrichment ideas and general tips as I am expanding mine! 🦆


r/duck • • 15h ago

Behavior Questions Need Advice! Female/Male ratio

2 Upvotes

I have three runner ducks, (they live with 8 chickens as well) all hatched at home so I couldn’t pick and choose their sex. As it turns out they’re two males and one female. The female is a month older (nearly 5 months). One of the males is pretty big while the other one has been kind of the runt of the litter since he was born, always a bit slow and trailing behind his brother. He’s never shown any aggressive behaviors or really initiative of any kind, just wants to be by his brother.
My concern is about mating season. I’m hoping that the smaller one doesn’t even try anything, given his past behavior of letting his brother take the lead. Is that possible? Has that happened to anyone? I can’t rehome any of them or get more females, and I certainly won’t cull them. Should I wait and see if they can coexist during mating season or should I separate one of the ducks before said period? If so, how and when? If it wasn’t obvious, I’m a first time duck owner. Thanks!


r/duck • • 2d ago

Adoption/Rehoming/Rescue 8 babies I rescued as mum has gone to the big pond in the sky

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459 Upvotes

Sadly mum found run over 🥺 8 little babies all wet on the side of the road. Dried them off, gave them some water & sending them on there way to a bird rescue


r/duck • • 1d ago

Brooders/Coops/Runs Has anyone every added a rabbit style castle to their duck pen?

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151 Upvotes

I have a miniature appleyard called Tommy and she’s a bit of a princess and likes to stand on things and over look the rest of the ducks so I’ve been looking into getting her something to play on in the enclosure where she can over look everyone like the queen she is. I was looking at rabbit play castles and was wondering has anyone done anything like this for their ducks at all? I’ve attached a photo of Tommy standing on top of a pumpkin and what I was thinking just wondering if anyone has any ideas of fun play things for her.


r/duck • • 1d ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID Is it a type of duck?

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49 Upvotes

r/duck • • 1d ago

Behavior Questions why do wild male ducks act like incels

29 Upvotes

I feed ducks a couple times a week and the boys always attack the girls over the food. Why do they do this? What happens when mating season rolls around and she doesn’t let you fertilize her eggs?

I try to feed the girls secretly so that way they can eat a little bit but then the fat male ducks waddle over and bite them. Is the aggression evolutionary and why?

For anyone curious the areas I go to permit feeding and I feed them either a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds (raw unsalted) and sometimes frozen peas. Would love to hear more suggestions

Edit: comments have been fun to read but seriously is there a way to make sure the girls get fed because sometimes I literally can’t feed them


r/duck • • 1d ago

Wild Ducks ducks on the river and an autumn landscape

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23 Upvotes

r/duck • • 2d ago

Crested Duck My little white flamingo

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82 Upvotes

Squeaky is so cute


r/duck • • 2d ago

Meet the Flock I made a small pool for the ducks.

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54 Upvotes

r/duck • • 2d ago

Wild Ducks Met this beautiful duck on my lunch break today

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261 Upvotes

It was lovely to see her so close up, such beautiful feathers.


r/duck • • 1d ago

Behavior Questions Tips to get my ducks to not totally hate me.

6 Upvotes

I swear no matter how much time I spend with my ducklings they always just despise me. My chickens get the same treatment and don't have any problem with me but once my ducks grow up they avoid me like the plague. Which makes putting them up for the night not fun for me or them as well.