how do you sex ducks and geese?

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we have 5 pekin ducks 2 runners and 2 unknown we also have 2 geese the name starts an e {cant remember} . how can you sex them, they are all about 3mon. old and are starting to malt. i only want to winter pairs and the rest are for the freezer.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), August 13, 2000

Answers

Are the geese Emdens? There is a way to tell by looking at the opening to the reproductive organs. If you see something which looks kind of like a penis, it is likely male. Males will also grow to be about half again the size of females and the head may appear more masculine. You said they were starting to malt. Perhaps you meant mate. I have never seen my Mascovies hens ride each other, so the one of top is likely the male. Stromberg's (218-587-2222) carries a book titled "Successful Duck and Goose Raising". Description says it includes methods of sexing.

-- Ken S. in TN (scharabo@aol.com), August 13, 2000.

If you look at the tail feathers, the males will have more of a curve upward at the very tip of the tail than the females will. On my pekins and campbells, this was accurate about 95% of the time.

-- Leo (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), August 13, 2000.

"Malt"? Or do you mean molt? If they are starting to lose some feathers, that's molting. It'll happen at this time of year with wild birds as well as domestic chickens.

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), August 13, 2000.

I don't know about Runners but with Pekins you can wait until their voices mature. The females have a loud, raucus,quack, quack,quack. The males will have what sounds like a horn muted, sort of mbeep, mbeep, mbeep. Not a misprint- sounds kind of like that. Also by that time they should have their drake feathers as already described. Rouens (domesticated Mallards) have the same voice differences. As for Embden geese (white with blue eyes) I've never turned one upside down to squeeze it as one of the books I read suggested. Good luck with that one!

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), August 13, 2000.

With ducks, you don't need pairs, just one male for every 3-5 females. By chance, I had 9 males and 3 females, and when they came of age, it was gang rape night and day. When I got rid of all but one drake, everybody was much happier, and the ducks settled down to pop out an egg a day each.

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), August 13, 2000.


sorry i ment molting...i hear you could look straight on at a goose and on the breast area if you saw 1 pouch it was male 2 female anyone heard this?

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), August 13, 2000.

Renee, Snoozy's right about the duck "pairs". Drakes are lecherous and will mate the females to death. I try to keep 2 males to a bunch of females but only because I inevitably loose the male when there's only one. Something to do with Murphy's Law I guess. I have heard that pouch thing about geese but it hasn't always held true for me. However, in the spring during mating season, the male Embdens will get raised bumps, one on each side of the beak. These are pretty noticable if you are looking for them. And Embden males will often have 2 females but mine have not ever taken more than that.

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), August 15, 2000.

When buying geese I always looked at the legs. In males, the legs are like drumsticks, like with pants on, and the females have a sack in the middle that hangs down, not like pants. I had all different kinds and they all looked like that. That's where all her big eggs are stored I quess. Good Luck.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), August 17, 2000.

I have heard about the bumps on the chests of geese but I heard that it is only true when the geese are mature.

-- joseph (joe88b@hotmail.com), January 09, 2001.

We were actually wondering if you could awnser one of our quistions that we really really need an anwser for. I hope you reply so I can ask our quistion.

-- Tania Maree Woods and Trisha Emma-Hope Parsons (tania_woods@hotmail.com), January 14, 2001.


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