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I am getting mighty confused with my four ducks! I regularly get 3 eggs a day, which fits in with the one male and three females I asked for when I bought them, although I was told that it was difficult to sex them.

This morning I found 3 eggs and a soft shelled egg! They were shut in at 9.30pm and let out just before 7am.

One other time I've found a soft shelled egg just outside their shed which was deposited there sometime early evening and then 3 good eggs the next morning.

They are all doing mating dances and have been spotted doing the 'biz', though which one might be the male we can't work out. Or have I got lesbian ducks..... help!

Hi 3M. This is from a book I have.

Sex Differentiation of Waterfowl

In general, the determination of sex in ducks is somewhat easier than in geese. Drakes typically have larger bodies and heads, and a soft, throaty quack; and females have a loud, distinct, harsh quack. Also, the main tail feathers are curled forward on the mature drake but not on the duck. With coloured breeds of ducks, the males are more brilliantly coloured than the females.
Hope this is of some help.

Robin

Mine are all white! Now the one that I thought was the male, because he seemed to be the leader and has a slightly bigger head, may well be Donaldina these days because I am sure he laid an egg!!!

Mine are just coming into sexual maturity (I assume egg laying means that?) and I have been looking out for that curled back tail feather but no sign of it on any of them.

Never mind, if they are all female it would probably be better because I'm not sure if these heavy ducks can fly - and if we have a lot of babies that can't fly off to find new ponds then I think I'd be overrun, wouldn't know where to put them all at nighttime and I might have to catch some to sell, which would unfortunately mean for the pot. And they are far too cute for that!

am i right in thinking you have muscovy ducks like i have

if this is the case then telling male from female is easy
themales are easily recognised by the large red lump on his face, it is more prominant than the females also they hiss females will honk.

if you got them before 18 weeks they are totally impossible to sex. once 18 weeks they will hiss or honk if you pick them up and tickle their bellies.

it is not impossible for females to lay two eggs within 12 hours i have had them do it.

i understand that soft shell means lack of calcium in diet.

regards

maggie

No, not Muscovy, white ducks! All white. Like Aylesbury or Pekin although they are neither, just French market ducks.

I'm sorry I can be of no help at all except to say that I thought I had two Ayelsbury ducks and a drake and then I started getting three eggs a day so it was clear that there was something not right there. All their actions would indicate we had birds of both sexes. Confusingly, I sometimes get four eggs in a twenty four hour period. I am clueless, but the eggs do taste good.

Meredith.

Thanks for all your help in clearing up the 'extra' egg query. I'm pretty sure there is a male because I get 3 eggs just about every day. As they seem to be happy to lay them in a nest box in their shed there won't be any babies anyway!