Mallard duckling already showing signs of being female when she is under a month old????

Question

My mallard duckling is under a month old and is already half covered in female colored feathers. She is very small still, and my other ducklings ( Cayuga ) didn't start getting their feathers till they were much over a month and they ( Being almost a month and a half older than my Mallard ) still dont have as many feathers as my lil mallard does.

My other mallards didn't start showing signs of diffrent genders till they were almost 4 months old.

Why is this lil girl any diffrent?

Answer 1

Each animal is different and grows and matures at different, yet similiar times.   That's why this little girl is different.

Answer 2

mallard ducks are very easy to tell the difference between the sexes. ur female is showing her s*x because that is natural. some show earlier but others take a while. that's usually depending on the food they are fed. and their diet.

Answer 3

I had a rouen Duckling with is basically a bigger version of the mallard (look them up they look alike!) and he got feathers early...we thought he was a girl he was brown and everything just like the girls are but then another month later his head turned green and he was a boy!!! Some duck get there feathers sooner some don't.....Its a bird thing.

Answer 4

All mallards (male or female) do grow in "female" feathers during their first feathering. Then they go through a molt, usually in the fall, that is when they get their "male" feathering. I went through this with my first couple of ducks. The male and female mallards both got the same feathers, so I was confused. But you just have to wait.

Feathering speed usually comes from the adults, and in chickens people actually breed them to get fast feathing speed, so it really just depends on their genetic factors.

I have noticed that I can pretty much tell s*x after about two weeks. I know that people say the voices aren't well enoughed developed, but in the over 40 ducklings I've raised, I have been about 70% accurate with voice sexing early on. I guess you just get an ear for these things.

Answer 5

This happens with many pets. I have 2 hamsters and my 2nd hamster acted older then my other older hamster. They do this for no reason. I am quite not sure but very many animals do this!

Answer 6

since theyre wild they grow diffferent than domestocated!   females are smaller than males and have a sharp voice.   males have curly tails and soft quacks!   i cant remember, but u shuld look up wheather male mallards have hen feathers as juviniles!