Im confused

[u/Silent_Badger9770]

Hi everyone, i posted a few months back abt my two ducks and got mixed answers, now they've grown and are around 6 months i think, and im still confused abt the brown one since im sure the white-ish one is a female. Now i have a question, the brown duck keeps mounting the white one and they do it but yhe brown one doesnt have the green head, like male mallards do. Does anyone know whether they're pretending for a drake or is the brown one a drake? Also the brown duck is a bit smaller than the white duck. Thank you for all your answers.

[u/aynonaymoos]

Yeah, they both look female. Hens are a little crazy and will mount each other if there aren’t enough drakes around. Perfectly normal.

[u/4NAbarn]

Even with drakes around our ducks still mount in dominance behavior (my puddle/ my food). Those both look like cross bred females to me.

[u/Manospondylus_gigas → u/4NAbarn]

I would like to add it sometimes isn't even a dominance thing, my small duck Azazel is subordinate to Beelzebub who is the top female but Azazel still mounts her, pretty sure she is just gay because she isn't interested in our male at all

[u/VegetableBusiness897]

They are both hen patterned. Mallard patterns are similar in juvenile ducks of both sexes. The second moult, sex linked changes would appear more visible, along with a sex feather. So it just be a matter of time. But here is the wrench to chick in,

Ducks only have one functioning ovary. If they get an infection that kills the ovary, they can 'turn drake'. Hens may change to a male pattern, and their voice may change. They are sterile of course, but will continue to behave as a drake.

[u/tommypickles5149]

All of my ducks are hens and they sometimes mount each other. They have that prison gay attitude lol. No men around, we gotta figure it out.

[u/Specialist-Gur-7328]

Female ducks will do this to each other.... my harlequins go both ways lol

[u/Clucking_Quackers]

At 6 months you should be able to tell based on their voices. Males make a soft raspy “wap-wap“ sound. Females make the classic loud “Quack-QUACK” sound. All the neighbours could hear our female ducks easily.

Our female ducks would mount (play trampoline on) each other. Even though we had a drake.

[u/Outrageous-Day3593]

that is their pecking order, they are both girls. and just to be a nerd im certain that the brown one is a pekin x mallard cross, as they tend to have the white neck band, and the white one is probably pekin x appleyard or something else, but shes very chonk so id def say some pekin

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