What is the name of the male duck. How to correctly distinguish a duck from a drake: characteristic signs and effective methods. The difference between the male voice

Ducks and geese are water birds. There are a lot of them and they live all over the world. These birds have dense plumage that helps keep them warm, and webbed feet that are well adapted for swimming.

Duck- this bird is small in size with a short neck and tarsus, covered in front with transverse shields, it comes from the order of new-palatine, order of anseriformes, family of ducks. In total, there are about 110 species of these birds in the world. The coloring of ducks can be both monotonous and several colors. The most common ducks are white or gray in color.
All types of ducks have a weight of 2 to 5 kilograms, depending on age. They have short legs, on which they waddle amusingly when walking. On the paws are three webbed front toes and a free back toe. Most species of ducks live in fresh water. They feed on insects, worms and other plant food. Male ducks are called drakes. They have bright plumage that attracts females. Feathers of females are beige-brown.

Peking ducks can be found in villages and villages. Males have an impressive weight of 4 kg, and females - 3.5 kg. They can lay up to 120 eggs in a year. Young ducks gain weight in just 60 days.

One of best ways rearing ducks is duck(hen), which, together with the brood, swims in the pond, looking for natural and naturally clean food, teaches and protects the ducklings.
The most common ducks are: Mallard, Gray duck, or half-mallard, Pintail, Sviyaz, Teal cracker, Teal whistle, Broadnoska, Red-headed dive (blue black), Crested duck, White-eyed dive.

Goose belongs to the class of birds, the subclass of neopalates, the order of anseriformes, the family of ducks, the subfamily of goose and the genus of geese. Geese are usually larger than ducks and have longer necks. Geese have rather large beaks, with which they pull grass out of the ground. The beak of ducks is flatter - it is convenient for them to catch food from the water.
Geese, unlike other birds, have a beak that is colored orange or grey colour. The beak has great height, but its width is not large, the end of the beak is expressed by a nail with a sharp edge. Along the edges of the beak are small teeth. Geese have a neck, but it is not as long as swans, they also have high legs painted in orange or gray, and paws are a bit like flippers, which allows them to swim on the water.

geese have a lot of feathers and down. The main difference between males and females is only in the bone outgrowth (“hump”) at the beginning of the beak near the bridge of the male, as well as a slightly larger body size.

Almost all species of geese cackle or make murmuring sounds, hiss when threatened or irritated, and may bite. The most common are geese: wild geese, gray geese, goose, Canada goose, White-fronted geese, White geese, White goose, Red-breasted goose, Black goose, African geese.

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Very often we meet wild nature or in the household of different birds, but it is not always possible to determine not only their breed, but also their gender. Although it is sometimes very difficult to do this, there are still various signs that make it possible to understand whether we have a male duck or a female in front of us. And it is about the male sex of ducks that you will learn below. After all, they are beautiful birds.

First of all, you need to understand that ducks are waterfowl and are considered old relatives of swans. A few centuries ago, hunting for wild birds but not only because of sports interest, and also because of tasty meat and high quality down. If we talk about male field this bird, it is called a drake and has a number of small differences from the female.

Although drakes, like ducks, differ from their distant relatives in their smaller size. After all, their body length is no more than 35 cm, although musky drakes this figure fluctuates around 85 cm. And all this is shown in the photo below.

Their average weight about 3 kg, but everything, of course, depends on the species. The down of ducks, and in particular drakes, is very thick and dense, so they tolerate low temperatures. Also, these birds quickly get used to their habitat, and because of the structure of the neck, they can easily dive and swim. Therefore, most drakes get food under water. Another distinguishing feature of this type of bird is that, due to their special flight, they have the opportunity to settle in places that are not accessible to others.

Appearance

It is worth noting that the difference between the female and the male is mainly represented by different plumage colors. Drakes differ from females in their brighter and more colorful feather colors, while ducks are painted in more gray and camouflage shades. It is also worth mentioning that their size is slightly larger, and the beak is not only yellow, but also red, blue and black. A male of any kind has a necklace around his neck. white color, at a time when shades of feathers can be yellow and green.

Females, on the other hand, choose their future couple, based on how bright the duck's beak is and it is desirable that it be yellow. Another feature that is inherent only to male ducks is that they have a special crest, which is also designed to draw the attention of the female to this particular male and make her the future mother of his ducklings.

habits

During the period when the time comes to build a nest and have offspring, drakes attract the attention of their future females precisely with the help of their colorfully colored feathers. It is also worth noting that despite their silence throughout their lives, during the time when the drakes are looking for a female, they behave quite loudly.

Special distinctive quality

In drakes, unlike other bird species and males, one can see features not only in appearance and behavior, but also in anatomical structure birds. It is in the walls of the cloaca that the drakes have a large penis, which you don’t immediately recognize, since it is modified, but quite impressive in size.

It can also turn outward, but this happens only during nesting and during the mating season. Although it is this organ that makes the flight of a bird difficult and complicates its life, because its size is sometimes equal to the length of the body of a male duck, no matter what kind it is.

Value in nature

In addition to the fact that drakes are engaged in the fertilization of their females, they practically do not carry any special significance, except for excellent and healthy meat and warm thick fluff. At what such that it is used in the manufacture of clothing. Although it is worth noting that some species of male ducks are used to make a homeopathic remedy for sick and people in need.

To many poultry farmers and residents countryside it is important to be able to distinguish a drake from a duck. At first glance it seems that this is impossible. This is especially difficult to do with newly born ducklings. People who have been growing this bird for a long time can quickly and without errors determine the sex.

There are a lot of recommendations and tips on the Internet on how to distinguish a drake from a duck. When it comes to the practice itself, it becomes clear that in fact, there are not so many differences, especially when it comes to chicks. Let's find out what methods are used to identify gender in ducks.

Indians. Duck or drake?

The main advantages and difference in appearance

Why is it necessary to distinguish ducks by gender? In fact, experienced farmers do their farming by gender.

What is taken into account:

• female ducks do not tend to fly away, unlike males, they are not in conflict;
• males have strong immunity;
• the male duck is more enduring than the female, more resistant to disease;
• drakes have much more weight than females;
• egg productivity will depend on the sex ratio (1:4) - there should be more females.

According to sexual dimorphism, ducks differ in their plumage. Like many animals, the female does not have a bright color, most often it is a gray and dull color of feathers. The male, on the contrary, is gifted by nature with bright and colorful colors to attract the opposite sex. The drake on the neck has a long and bright crest. One of the differences is the beard, which female ducks are deprived of.

The tail is also slightly different. If you look closely at the very tip, you will notice that in males the feathers are twisted up (usually such a tail is in the Peking and Bashkir breeds), while in females the tail is straight. Feathers in males are already twisted from 3 months. The drake weighs almost twice as much as the female. So, if the male has a weight of about 5 kg, then the female is up to 3 kg. The forehead of the drake is wider, and the beak resembles a triangle. Females, on the other hand, have an extension of a trapezoidal character.

Additional external differences females from males:

• the beak of the drakes has a growth located upwards;
• forehead bones are more massive in males, widening from the beak;
• the head of females is rounder than that of males;
• the neck of females is shorter and thinner;
• body of females narrower;
• leg muscles are not as developed as in males.

It so happens that external differences are practically not noticeable. This will depend on the conditions of the birds and the diet. It even happens that females are larger than males. It is also not always possible to indicate the exact gender of ducks by plumage. The color depends on the species and breed. For example, domestic ducks are characterized by the same color, both for males and for females - white.

The behavior of males and females: what is the difference

In a flock of ducks, you can see that the weaker sex is not a leader and always goes somewhere on the side or behind. This happens both in flight and on a walk. Poultry farmers often notice aggression from drakes. Dominants often fight for food or females with other males. Experienced farmers have learned to distinguish a drake from a duck by its voice: the loud quacking of the female is difficult to confuse with the hiss and whistle of a duck.

Muscovy ducks (drake - top)

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In young chicks, sex is more difficult to determine. Usually only at the age of 10-12 weeks does sexual dimorphism begin to appear. For many poultry farmers, gender is an important consideration when buying poultry. Therefore, many have adapted to use a special ultrasonic device that can attract individuals of only one sex.

If you hold the duckling upside down by the legs, the female will be motionless, and the young drake will make attempts to look around. Of course, this does not give a guarantee in determining the sex, but it's worth a try.

If ducks are not properly fed and kept in inappropriate conditions, same-sex pairs can form. The dominant female can even completely copy the behavior of the drake. Males can also form pairs with each other. That is why the behavioral method of difference is unreliable.

Differences in gender

It turns out that if you really want to, you can even distinguish the sex of daily chicks. To do this, you need to take the duckling with your left hand (with your head towards you) and massage his anal passage. If a small pseudo-penis appears (about 3 mm in size), then you probably have a young drake in your hands. If nothing like this appeared, then this is a female. For female representatives, small balls (like growths) will be visible.

Duck or drake - sex determination

This method is called Japanese. It gives a 98% guarantee. But everything will depend on the correctness of doing the process. Only an experienced specialist will be able to determine the gender with this method with 100% accuracy.

When a farmer knows how to distinguish ducks by various characteristics, he begins to rationally plan nutrition, feed distribution, and egg productivity. All this knowledge affects the reproduction of birds, it is on them that development depends. meat direction or egg.

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Video: Determination of the sex of goslings (similarly with ducklings)

Many breeds of ducks are difficult to separate into females and males. If you do not delve into how to distinguish a duck from a drake by specific features, it will be extremely difficult to determine. It will be especially difficult to determine the sex of small individuals. There are character traits not only in appearance, but also in behavior.

Briefly about the difference between adult ducks by external signs

It is very important to learn how to determine the sex of ducks, as this will help to select the right ratio of females and males in the flock. Of course, the required ratio depends on the purpose of the poultry: for the purpose of obtaining meat, for egg production or breeding a new generation. In any case, the correct selection will lead to increased productivity.

What are the external characteristics of male ducks:

• bright plumage, more saturated than that of females;
• large parameters;
• the frontal bone is wide and has the shape of a triangle;
• a crest is visible on the neck;
• large beak;
• feather beard.

The frontal part of the male immediately expands sharply from the beak, but the female duck has smooth features, and the frontal part has a trapezoid shape.

Note! It is also worth knowing the name of the male duck - the drake. As a rule, they have larger parameters, but due to growing at home, exceptions are possible. Sometimes drakes grow smaller than ducks. This is due to the conditions of the contents and the characteristics of the selected diet.

The main differences between musky duck drakes and females

Muscovy duck is popularly called mute duck. This breed By outward signs differs significantly from its other tribesmen: a wide chest, powerful wings and limbs.

The name of the breed did not just come from the word "musk". It is believed that members of this species adulthood begin to secrete fat with a specific musky smell through the pores.

How to distinguish a duck from a drake

Musk birds are popular among poultry farmers for a number of reasons:

• nice delicate taste meat that is considered dietary;
• the possibility of using eggs in cooking;
• the Indian does not need to equip the reservoir on the site;
• birds are homebodies, which minimizes the risk of losing a member of the flock due to a sudden departure.

External differences between drakes and ducks

The main external differences between male and female individuals of this breed do not differ from other species and are as follows:

• Size. The male duck is always larger than the female. The difference in weight can range from ½ kg to 1 kg. The body of the drake is much wider, and rib cage more developed.
• Feather color. Drakes look more noticeable against the background of females. And this is no accident, because for the female the most important thing is to take care of the offspring and protect them, and a bright color can only attract ill-wishers. Males have a very bright color that attracts females.
• Features of the structure of the neck. Females have a graceful and embossed neck, and in drakes this part of the body is more developed: strong and wide.

When the musky ducks reach the age of three months, all of the listed external characteristics begin to appear, and it will be possible to determine their gender at a glance.

Important! Another very noticeable feature is the skin of birds. In the male sex, it is coarser and has a rich bright red color. It even hangs a little over the eyes of males.

How to distinguish females from drakes by behavior

When determining the gender of birds, it is worth paying attention to their behavior. The most important difference here is that the “husband” of the duck always lets his companion go ahead. This applies to both walking on water and flying. The drake is kept behind or slightly to the side. During the period when the females incubate the eggs, the males alternately let each other pass forward.

In addition, it is worth noting that drakes behave quite aggressively in a flock. They fight with other males for food or for the attention of females.

It is easy to isolate drakes during the breeding season. They acquire new plumage and treat their chosen ones with special care. New signs may appear that were previously invisible. These include a beard or mustache. To attract the attention of a female, the drake constantly revolves around them and arranges conflicts with other males. mating season ducks often passes with songs and dances.

Note! Not only the male can initiate the creation of a new "cell". Sometimes females push drakes to mate.

Of particular importance in determining the sex of ducks are the sounds that these birds make. Females have a loud voice, but males tend to hiss. Female ducks are not in vain endowed with a loud voice, because thanks to it they gather ducklings in a heap. But from drakes it is extremely rare to hear any sound.

Important! At wrong mode feeding and adverse conditions same-sex couples can sometimes form. In such unions, the dominant female completely repeats the behavior of any male.

Disadvantages of sex determination by the appearance of a bird

Of course, the method of determining the sex of a bird by appearance has a number of drawbacks. And this is not surprising, since each breed has its own characteristics and distinctive features. This applies to such features as the size and musculature of birds, color and plumage, behavior.

Also, do not forget that the listed features may vary depending on the conditions of the birds. For many poultry farmers, the color of the opposite sexes does not differ at all, and the size of the males is much smaller than that of the female.

To accurately determine the gender of ducks, you need to combine several signs into one. Such work can only be carried out by an experienced breeder.

Only an experienced breeder can distinguish

How to determine the gender of a duck

If everything is clear with sex determination in adult ducks, then how to determine the sex of seemingly absolutely identical ducklings is not. This is very difficult, because external differences ducklings don't.

How can you distinguish ducklings by gender by the most common method:

• You need to very carefully take the chick by the paws and place the head down. In this position, the female will hang calmly and motionlessly, but the male duck will twist its head with all its might, trying to examine the space.
• Even small males are quite aggressively trying to constantly get into a fight and generally behave very actively.
• At the youngest age (1 day), one can try to determine the sex based on anatomical features. The drake is characterized by a spherical expansion in the lower part of the larynx. It is located at the beginning of the chest.

little duckling

Thanks to the timely (early) determination of sexual characteristics, it becomes possible to fully develop and form the correct livestock. But not always the use of one method is enough. Experienced poultry farmers use 3 methods at once: the above-described palpation of the larynx, observation of the behavior of small ducklings and the Japanese method.

The latter method was developed in Japan in the 20th century. For him, the proportion of small daily ducklings, goslings and chickens is suitable. The method consists in a visual examination of the cloaca and the identification on the inner wall of the genital tubercle, which differs significantly in both shape and size in the female and male. Currently, this method is very popular all over the world and is called ventsexing.

Important! The use of this method by inexperienced farmers threatens to injure a small chick or become infected with intestinal infections.

Ventsexing is carried out in ducklings aged from 6 to 16 hours. By this time, they are already well dried out, the umbilical cord is healed. A longer period leads to a gradual smoothing of sexual characteristics.

To determine the gender of a duckling using the Japanese method, follow these steps:

1. take the chick and put in left hand, directing to itself;
2. do a tummy massage
3. very carefully with your fingers right hand open the anus and turn it out;
4. the female has spherical growths in this place, but the boy is characterized by the presence of a rudimentary penis.

This method can accurately determine the sex of a bird, but it is only suitable for experienced poultry farmers. After all, the technology requires the utmost accuracy and experience in carrying out the inspection.

Features of sex determination in different ducks

For some breeds of ducks, the listed signs of difference do not always help determine the sex. Especially it concerns external characteristics birds.

Favorite breed

Most often, ducks of the favorite breed have a dull color of feathers, while drakes are brighter and more noticeable. They are characterized by a bright color and a crest of long beautiful feathers. In addition, males have a long beard. Their size is much smaller than females. You can also distinguish the sex by the back of the bird: the twisted tail, which always catches the eye, indicates that it is a male.

When determining the sexual characteristics of the favorites, you should also pay attention to the following signs:

• behavioral features of animals: during walking, males of any breed let the duck go forward, while they themselves remain behind;
• females in the livestock behave calmly and restrained, but males are active and arrange conflicts with other males;
• female ducks are less susceptible to diseases, but males have less strong immunity;
• in flight, the female keeps ahead of the male.

Of course, the listed signs cannot exactly guarantee that a certain representative of the favorite breed belongs to one or another gender. Accurate distribution will require the experience and knowledge of the farmer.

domestic ducks

Bashkir

An adult duck of the Bashkir breed has a dense, elongated body, which is covered with feathers and down. Paws are short, strong, painted in Orange color. The chest has a concave forward shape, the head is located on a fairly short neck. The beak of the Bashkir females is flattened and has a yellowish tinge.

Little Indo-chicks have exactly the same appearance, regardless of gender: brown color for a colored breed and white-yellow color for a white breed. Therefore, at this age, it is not possible to determine the sex by external signs.

At the age of 4.5 weeks, the plumage of the drake begins to acquire a sulfur-gray hue. The female remains brown. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish a male not only by large parameters, but also by a distinctive bright color. Thanks to these characteristics, Peking ducks can also be distinguished.

By color

But how to distinguish a Bashkir duck from a white drake, because the differences in appearance They dont have? Here you can start only from the size and voice. Adult ducks quack loudly, but the male only makes hoarse sounds in response.

mandarin duck

For mandarin ducks, sex determination is not difficult. Males can be seen even from afar, because their plumage is particularly bright. Females, on the other hand, have less bright plumage, but, despite this, they look very elegant and beautiful.

For such a significant difference there is a certain period - marriage. Upon completion, the males lose their bright color and look less defiant.

For your information! During molting, all male mandarin ducks huddle in flocks and try to hide from prying eyes.

Mallard

The difference between a mallard and any other duck is that it is able to adapt to various weather conditions. In addition, this species has the largest size.

Duck and drake are very different from each other, so many do not consider them to be representatives of the same species. It is these inexperienced poultry farmers who are looking for the answer to the question: what is the name of the male duck of this breed. Therefore, there will be no problems with determining the sex:

• The plumage of the female mallard has a discreet Brown color allowing her to camouflage herself in the wild. The tummy has a more saturated color. The beak is painted olive or dark gray, and the legs are red.
• The male mallard looks more flamboyant. The head and neck are dark green. There is also a prominent border on the neck. The breast is chestnut in color, the beak is olive, and the legs are orange.

Little ducklings are all the same and have a brown discreet color.

Determining the sex of a duck is most often carried out on the basis of external and behavioral characteristics. But this method is not always effective. After all, such data depend on the breed of birds, their living conditions and nutrition. For ducklings, this method is not at all effective, since at birth they are all the same. To distinguish a drake from a duck, you will need experience and knowledge about these birds, which are briefly presented above.

In many breeds, the differences between a duck and a drake are not obvious. If you do not know what signs you need to pay attention to, it is impossible to separate males from females in most cases, it is especially difficult to determine the sex of ducklings. However, there are characteristic features of appearance and character that make it possible to distinguish a duck from a drake. Once having learned to reliably determine the sex of ducks, in the future you can always do it without much difficulty.

It is very important to be able to determine the sex of a bird, since it is necessary to correctly select the ratio of drakes and ducks in the livestock. Ideal amounts of the first and second when grown for meat and for obtaining a large number eggs for the purpose of producing offspring are different, but in both cases, the correct selection of proportions will help maximize productivity.

Drake plumage is brighter than ducks

Pictured is a male and a female Muscovy duck

drakes wild duck have bright plumage.

Characteristic external differences of drakes:

• brighter than in females, plumage;
• larger sizes;
• a wide forehead has the shape of a triangle;
• tuft of feathers around the neck;
• large beak;
• feather beard.

Despite the fact that drakes are characterized by larger sizes, when kept at home, this rule is not always followed. Sometimes the male may be smaller than the females, this largely depends on the conditions of detention and diet. The forehead of the drake expands sharply upwards from the beak, while in females its outlines are smoother, and in shape it is closer to a trapezoid.

Reference. A portable device that generates ultrasound allows you to quickly determine the sex of ducks. Empirically, you can choose a frequency on it that will be unpleasant for individuals of a certain sex. In this case, when you turn on the device, they will move to the side.

Another way to determine the gender of a duck is to observe its behavior. The drakes let the females go forward, keeping behind and a little to the side.

They are also usually distinguished by their noisiness and pugnacity. This behavior is especially characteristic of the dominant male in the population, which always seeks to emphasize its dominant position.

At the same time, he will direct his aggression precisely at other males. Ducks, unlike drakes, do not tend to conflict, they have a calm nature and try to fly away much less often.

However, by these features it is far from always possible to correctly determine the sex. If there is an incorrect ratio of drakes to ducks in the stock - and the ideal ratio is 1:4 - females can behave like males, and vice versa. Behavioral features, as well as features of appearance by which sex can be determined, appear only in the second or third month of life.

Determining by gender is the most accurate way to find out if a drake is in front of you or a duck. In this way, you can even find out the sex of one-day-old chicks. You need to take the bird and put it on its back, okay, and then with the other hand gently grasp the skin from the cloaca towards the abdomen.

The male will show a small vestigial penis, or pseudopenis, while the female will have two round, spherical growths. Despite the seeming simplicity of this method, it is quite difficult to master it, but after gaining some experience, every poultry breeder can handle this task.

The difference between the male voice

You can also determine gender by voice. Females are much more noisy, they quack sharply and loudly. While for males, a low whistling hiss is more characteristic. With the help of such easy way you can quite reliably distinguish a drake from a duck, but you should not rely on it alone.

Important. In order to definitely avoid confusion when determining gender, you should always focus on several methods.

Since differences in appearance and behavior become clearly visible only in the third month of life, determining the sex of ducklings is especially difficult task. It is best to use the method described above for this, which involves examining the genitals.

The accuracy of this method is about 99%, but in order to apply it, you need some experience. It is often difficult for beginner poultry farmers to cope with such a task. Once you know the gender of the ducklings, for your own convenience, you can attach marks to them so that in the future you will always know whether it is a male or a female.

Many breeds have their own characteristic features that are characteristic of them, by which a drake can be distinguished from a duck:

It is often very difficult to determine the sex of a duck by one or two of the above signs. In the case of domestic ducks, due to the conditions of keeping and nutrition, females often acquire certain traits of males, and vice versa. Therefore, it is not surprising that even farmers who have kept ducks for more than a year sometimes get confused on this issue.

As a result, the ratio of birds of one and the other sex in their population is far from ideal, as a result of which productivity drops, and some poultry farmers are trying to get offspring in a situation where in fact their flock is only males or only females. In order to avoid such mistakes, it is necessary to determine the sex not by one, but by several signs.

In the video, the farmer shares a simple and effective way to distinguish a drake from a duck.

After the problem is solved, a special label can be attached to the duck, which will avoid confusion in the future. With a careful and responsible approach to business, you will always know how many ducks and drakes are among your livestock, and this will allow you to get maximum amount meat and eggs.