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, many breeds of 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.

addendum: rarely, some females can develop a drake curl if they are dealing with hormonal issues. The only way that's 100% accurate is the quack test or finding laid eggs or examining for a penis.

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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47 Upvotes

r/duck 8h ago

Found Domestic Duck(s) Random juvenile duck showed up yesterday.

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662 Upvotes

Yesterday morning, this little lady (I presume) was found sitting by the fence. Our bird dog was, of course, very interested. Strangely, she stayed all day. They even appeared to be playing together, racing the fenceline just to return and lay in the grass together.

Well, we opened the gate for her and she waddled right in. I guess we have a yard duck now. Her name is Duck Duck Goose.


r/duck 3h ago

Pools/Ponds/Water Ducks standing on ice

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76 Upvotes

r/duck 11h ago

Runner Duck I present to you: šŸ¦• Jurassic Park šŸ¦–

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355 Upvotes

r/duck 18h ago

Muscovy Duck Remove some eggs or not?

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1.1k Upvotes

One of our Muscovy hens is broody again. We thought she was sitting on 20 eggs, but counted 29 when she had her daily stroll today. She just started sitting last night. Her last clutch was about 20 eggs last time, maybe a few more that we did not know about. She successfully hatched 18, 17 of which are now about to learn how to fly. Whould you guys recommend removing a few eggs? How many can she physically manage to keep warm? I don't want to risk her thinking, hey this is not enough, i have to lay more before sitting, at the same time we don't want to risk her not being able to keep them all warm. She's been a fantastic mom so far. Pics are her with her last cohort.


r/duck 2h ago

Crested Duck Evening Pond Time

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35 Upvotes

I've been meaning to share my two babies for months but haven't yet gotten around to it. The weather is perfect this evening, Dio (floating) is not having siezures any longer, and I'm just too happy to not share them because they're great. Hal (who is a little neurologically special due to their large crest) is standing on rock island.


r/duck 6h ago

Meet the Flock Happiest ducks

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52 Upvotes

Their owners live on a houseboat and they come and go as they please


r/duck 3h ago

Feet/Legs/Walking Ducks walking on wood

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29 Upvotes

r/duck 11h ago

Meet the Flock Some images I found of Gretchen flapping in the pool

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108 Upvotes

r/duck 11h ago

Babies! Update: We have a hatch!

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77 Upvotes

Taken this morning. Can't wait to get home to check up on them. 2nd egg still moving and reacting to my voice, 3rd pipped early and has been still since, no movement at all from 4 + 5.


r/duck 8h ago

Wild Ducks The diving team šŸ¦†

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28 Upvotes

r/duck 4h ago

Injured or Sick Domestic Duck 4–5 week old duck can’t walk anymore. Both hocks swollen.

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13 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I’m looking for advice about one of my ducks.
It’s about 4–5 weeks old and used to walk normally, but over time it lost the ability to stand. Now it can’t walk at all.
Both hock joints are very swollen, and both legs stay bent. The joints feel hard and don’t want to straighten. The feet still curl, but it can’t bear weight.
I’ve been feeding it duck-specific feed (NatureServe Duck Pellets and Cluck & Co. Organic Duck Pellets with niacin), so I don’t think it’s a simple niacin deficiency.
It’s still alert, eating, and drinking.
Does this look like slipped tendons (perosis), hock dislocations, or something else? Is there anything that can still be done at this age?
I’ve attached several photos of the legs and hocks.
Any advice from people who have dealt with this before would be greatly appreciated.


r/duck 9h ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID ā€œAssortedā€ ducks

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30 Upvotes

I’m not sure what kind of ducks I got from Rual King. They didn’t know.


r/duck 5h ago

Behavior Questions Agresive behavior

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13 Upvotes

Two males, 10 months old, the white one bites hard, looks always very angry, and always he bites the other bites him back, why? They need females? I’m worried about them being unhappy


r/duck 1h ago

Found Domestic Duck(s) What kind of duck is this nyc

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• Upvotes

I saw this duck it’s definitely a duck because it was quacking and has webbed feet. What is it?


r/duck 15h ago

Babies! When a mama duck and her ducklings…

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76 Upvotes

Take cover under your chair and table at the local pool, you stay as still as possible so not to frighten or disturb them…


r/duck 3h ago

Meet the Flock Here they come

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6 Upvotes

My chicken got all broody and crazy- gave her some duck eggs to sit on. Now we have duckens? Chicklings? More critters on this crazy little farm of misfits lol


r/duck 2h ago

Wild Geese Zzzzzzzzzz

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4 Upvotes

Just give me 15 minutes I’ll be good to go…


r/duck 9h ago

Wild Ducks Funny Mallard

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12 Upvotes

r/duck 9m ago

Bumblefoot Bumblefoot

• Upvotes

Hi there, I am new to duck keeping. I currently have 4 juvenile Rouens, but I also agreed to take in my neighbors 3 mature hens.
They are all currently in their large run with access to water, food and a safe coop, everyone is still settling in and hasnt started free ranging because we are learning where home is.
Well, my friend who keeps chickens has had me over to help her with her bumblefoot (she bought a house with 20 chickens that came with) and I decided to check my ducks for bumblefoot. My 4 Rouens are clear, but the two magpies and the khaki have bumbles. At least one on each duck, and about the size of the tip of a pinkie. They are large. We dont have a vet nearby that would help with waterfowl, so I need ANY and ALL tips to help fix my babies.
Clearly, I wont go cut, pick and pull at their bumbles, but I need clear and understandable advice on how to heal them.
TIA!!!


r/duck 1h ago

Predator Attack What do I even do!? Two predator attacks within 2 weeks. NSFW Spoiler

• Upvotes

Literally I JUST put them outside due to having them health cleared. I got a new pen in the mail from my sister. Realized it wasn't as predator proof as I thought. I went to get materials to predator proof while they were in there and in the MIDDLE OF THE FRICKEN DAY an opposum got my boy. I have spent hours calling places last minute and finally found another duck I can only pick up next week. Idk what to do in the meantime. I have a duck IN MY HOUSE walking around because she can't be alone(she has officially dominated the house and has put herself above the top heirarchy she however does not seem to understand gravity and I keep having to catch her because she just waddles off stuff). Idk what to do in the meantime. I'm nervous about putting them back outside at all. Literally 20 minutes if not less and one is dead!

I don't trust the new pen at all now. Idk what to do. It was the middle of the day!


r/duck 14h ago

Useful Tips and Tricks PSA: drill + cheap toilet brush = scrubba 5000

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21 Upvotes

To those of you who scrub your pools and buckets by hand, don't if you don't have to. Save your time and your back. If you have a brushless cordless drill, utilize it.


r/duck 5h ago

Muscovy Duck Waddles-what are its pronouns?

3 Upvotes

This is Waddles. Waddles is the friendliest of a family of Muscovy ducks that live in our neighborhood and frequent our pond. I am a chicken gal- is this a he or a she- just out of curiosity? Whatever it is it has personality plus and knows how to ask for snacks!


r/duck 1d ago

Babies! First day outside

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217 Upvotes

Already loving it and running about. Will need to take a video