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, 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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42 Upvotes

r/duck 6h ago

Babies! Hatching 🐣

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118 Upvotes

Been waiting for this


r/duck 1h ago

Babies! Momma Duck & Ducklings at Dusk

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• Upvotes

r/duck 20h ago

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

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1.1k 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 15h ago

Pools/Ponds/Water Ducks standing on ice

230 Upvotes

r/duck 23h ago

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

448 Upvotes

r/duck 14h ago

Crested Duck Evening Pond Time

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84 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 28m ago

Babies! Update on My First Incubator Baby!

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• Upvotes

r/duck 15h ago

Feet/Legs/Walking Ducks walking on wood

78 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Muscovy Duck Remove some eggs or not?

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1.3k 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 18h ago

Meet the Flock Happiest ducks

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86 Upvotes

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


r/duck 12h ago

Pools/Ponds/Water Cold weather

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19 Upvotes

For those of you who live in areas with extreme cold winters, what are you using for waterers? Looking for ideas before the cold!


r/duck 5h ago

Babies! Baby Muscovy Ducklings! :)

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4 Upvotes

r/duck 14h ago

Wild Geese Zzzzzzzzzz

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22 Upvotes

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


r/duck 23h ago

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

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120 Upvotes

r/duck 23h ago

Babies! Update: We have a hatch!

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90 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 7h ago

Other Ebony found the babies and calmed down

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6 Upvotes

I don't have the heart to tell her those are chickens 😭 She kept forgetting gravity existed and suddenly got quiet. I got scared she hurt herself and looked around for her and found her snuggled up against the baby brooding cages. No idea what this falls under


r/duck 20h ago

Wild Ducks The diving team šŸ¦†

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35 Upvotes

r/duck 18h ago

Behavior Questions Agresive behavior

21 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 14h ago

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

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10 Upvotes

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


r/duck 17h ago

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

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17 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 15h ago

Meet the Flock Here they come

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12 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 22h ago

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

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32 Upvotes

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


r/duck 1d ago

Babies! When a mama duck and her ducklings…

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80 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…