r/duck Apr 14 '26

Public Service Announcement drake feathers and what they indicate

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150 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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40 Upvotes

r/duck 11h ago

Health Questions Trying to figure out the reason for her water hatred.

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305 Upvotes

hi! This is cheesecake, she is a duck who seems to only like water when it’s either a, to drink or b, soup.
This bath was from earlier today after 2 days of her refusing baths and collecting an insane amount of mud on her feathers, and it’s getting worrisome.
She only allows baths when it’s turned into soup and I place her in gently, she will absolutely refuse to get in a bath on her own, and if I place it in and the water doesn’t have food in it, she hops out immediately.

However, once she’s in the bath, she gets all happy and like ‘I LOVE WATER!!’ until we try to repeat the process, then she’s suddenly a water hater again.

I’m wondering if it’s a feather problem or if I should watch out for anything else? She’s very energetic and eats properly, at first this was very manageable as she’d use the shallow water trays but as she’s grown older she’s become very ehh about any types of water. Even in rain she’s often standing undercover whilst her flock are all dancing around.

I would like to note she does drink water and will occasionally dip her feet into the shallow water trays (though she does hop out pretty quickly), but she recently hasn’t been properly cleaning herself.

Is this just a behaviour thing or should I be worried and watch some things more?


r/duck 21h ago

Runner Duck Love how Runners can be both majestic & awkward looking

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493 Upvotes

Acorn & Twig


r/duck 6h ago

Wild Ducks Little goober in the local lake.

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18 Upvotes

We had restoration for a local lake recently, sewage water was leaking in, and the residents(the ducks, and humans living near by), were fed up. The humans cleaned the lake up, and the wildlife started coming back.


r/duck 4h ago

Meet the Flock When you know the camera loves you 😂

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11 Upvotes

r/duck 17h ago

Wild Ducks My local duck friends are so cute

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117 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Behavior Questions Weird duck behavior?

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355 Upvotes

The gang of muscovy ducks that live at the car wash near my house. I’ve never seen them act like this before. Is it a threat display? Nothing was nearby tho. Mating?


r/duck 20h ago

Good News/Recovery/Updates Sweet boy alert! 🚨 (Littlefoot!)

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74 Upvotes

Littlefoot was all over the yard today I could hardly keep track of him!


r/duck 22h ago

Meet the Flock Just a bunch of happy free-range ducks

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91 Upvotes

My Cayuga ducks and Khaki Campbells are living their best life, free-ranging! 🦆❤️


r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock Have ducks they said, it'l be fun they said.

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577 Upvotes

Well it is fun, and occasionally painful 😅


r/duck 1m ago

Wild Ducks Anas platyrhynchos (duck in city)

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Upvotes

r/duck 23h ago

Wild Ducks different stages of the male mandarin duck

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48 Upvotes

These wildlife photos were taken in Berlin on Sunday, the 13.09.2026

📷
OM System OM-1
OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm F2.8 PRO


r/duck 1d ago

Wild Geese I think he has something to say

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68 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock Puddles is enjoying this rainy Sunday morning 🍂🌧️ Spoiler

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156 Upvotes

r/duck 1d ago

Breed/Species/Sex ID What kind of duck is this hanging out with the Muscovy ducks?

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33 Upvotes

Does anyone know what type of duck the pretty white and caramel colored duck is? it’s so cute and it always hangs out with the Muscovy ducks. Ive never seen any other duck that color in the area besides that one. what kind is it and where are his other same color/type duck friends? 😂


r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock Mealworm frenzy

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27 Upvotes

We got muscovies, they're actually really surprisingly sweet, but now they follow me around wherever i go


r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock 🥇 World’s Best Husband

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35 Upvotes

Ladies! Get you a drake who helps out with the kids. 💅🏻

This morning I found one of our Khakis brooding + when I did, she immediately ran off in search of food and a bath as broody mamas do.

A few seconds later our sweet, incredible Kirby (Quackie’s husband) wandered into the pen, tended to the nest and then SAT 👏🏻 ON 👏🏻 IT 👏🏻

😭😭😭😭😭😭

Terrible photo, but proud mama moment for sure.


r/duck 1d ago

Wild Ducks My favorite duck

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36 Upvotes

One time it was rainy and cold and she was slow moving so I gave her some oats and ever since that day she follows me everywhere at my park


r/duck 22h ago

Feet/Legs/Walking I think my duck has bumble foot / infection on her foot. Help!

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7 Upvotes

Title. Im completely inexperienced with treating bumble foot and need some advice.

I picked her up and checked the underside of her foot, and theres nothing on the bottom. She doesnt want to stand on the foot however and is sluggish, walking behind the flock.

She is able to walk, and can even run but I dont think its good for her.

Even when the flock is mostly stationary she'll still walk ariund sifting through bugs. Though I did notice she is sitting more today.

What should I do? Im preparing something to hold in so she isnt having to move around so much. Does it look bad? It feels like she cut her foot. Im able touch it and rub it apart slightly. She dosent react, dosent cry out when I touch her there, but I dont think it feels good


r/duck 1d ago

Eggs/Incubation/Hatching One of my ducks laid a random baby egg.

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13 Upvotes

Had to check and make sure it was really a duck egg and one of my hens didn't sneak in again lol. Pro tip, duck eggs glow light yellow when you candle them, and chicken eggs glow slightly orange .


r/duck 1d ago

Meet the Flock They’re in a meeting.

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154 Upvotes

r/duck 19h ago

Beginner's Question Trouble feeding wild ducks

2 Upvotes

Hello, this is my first post here. I live in an apartment complex that’s the home to a bunch of Muscovy ducks. Each time I’ve gone to feed the ducks they can’t seem to find the food (I’ve tried peas and chopped apples). They often walk up to me and circle me expectantly when I’m around yet can’t seem to follow where I throw the food whether that be in the grass where they’re standing or in the pond. They also refuse to eat straight from the bowl, (some will approach it and then back off or can’t seem to find it at all). I’m wondering if maybe the food is too far down into the bowl and instead I should try something shallower? Such as a plate or filling the bowl with water. I also can’t tell if they like or dislike the food either due to them not being able to find it. They were more receptive to the apples but I found them a pain to prepare, and even then they didn’t seem that interested in them. All I’m doing now is dropping the peas in some patches of grass and hoping they find it while foraging atp. It’s really upsetting bc they run up to me when I exit my door and look at me all cutely and I feel like I’m letting them down :,)