Hi I found a little mallard duckling a few days ago. It is winter here so it is very out of season. I would really like to know how to find out if it is a male or female. Are there any different markings when they are ducklings?
I dont know what age he/she is, it has still got the fluffy down, with a few feathers on the tail. I feed it mashed up cat food( the vet said that is what to feed ducklings), I also found out they like kale. Answers would be REALLY helpful!!!

My friends that live right down the street from me own ducks. They get mallard ducks each year and release them when they are adults. You cannot tell a gender of a mallard duck when they are ducklings. When they enter their "teenage" years, they start getting markings. Male's head's start getting dark and they get colorful feathers on their tail. Females don't change much they get a blue stripe on their wings. Here's a link to what a male mallard looks like (you may have to copy paste: http://kaweahoaks.com/html/duck_mallard.html

and here is a link to a female mallard (you mamy have to copy paste): http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/photo69574.htm

I hope this helps! Good luck with your ducky!

Dear sandie123,

I don’t raise mallards, but I know about them. When they are young you can vent se-x them. I recommend taking the duckling to a vet to do that. When they are older the female has the harsher quack and the male has a more low tone quack. For mallards the male will have a green head and the body colors are more prominent. Females are brown colored. Mother Nature’s idea is the males are the pretty ones and the females are not as pretty so the females are attracted to the males. As for feeding them cat in my opinion is not the best for them. But then again I'm not a vet soooo. Cracked corn is best for them when they are six months old. Worms and other bugs are good for them too. Hope this helps.

Hi thanks for the answers!

My little duckling is very noisy, so maybe its a female? Another question, what age can ducklings swim? I give her shallow baths, but not deep enough for her to swim because im not sure if she can swim yet.

Ducks are natural born swimmers. They go has early as a few days old sometimes earlier. I like to play it safe a wait 2-3 weeks. For my goose tried putting her in the water at 8 days old. She did fine. So if your duck is about 1 week old I'd say it would be fine. Just keep an eye on your duckling.Also keep the water about luke warm near 75 F. Btw where about do you live? It's gonna be 92 degrees F in Franklin TN. You can't be near here if its winter where you live. Have a good day.

Hi, do u know how long it takes for a duckling to grow up?

Six months old is when they reach adulthood.

The best way to tell what sex your mallard duck is, is to wait until its an adult. I've also heard their is a way to tell by looking at the inside of its wing feathers but I'm not a good judge at that and it upsets the duck when I do it so I just wait and don't really worry about it until the darker colors on the male ducks head start developing and eventually turn green. It takes a long time for the green to become apparent though, so be patient.
Ducks are not meat eaters but if they are hungry enough they will eat just about anything. Buying a quality bag of poultry food fit for ducks at a farm supply store will ensure your duck gets a healthy diet. A ducks favorite treat is watermelon, peeled grapes and spinach leaves also rank a distant second.
They also love to peck on Styrofoam products such as a cooler lid or packing material, I doubt its good for them but I've never seen one get sick from it and ducks just seem to love it, just make sure you let them have at it in a place you will not have to clean up the mess after they are done pecking it apart into tiny bits.
Other ways to keep your duck very happy is to build it a pond, they LOVE water!!!!! Most of all fresh water. Ducks are also very social with other ducks so getting a second duck would be best. I can't even imagine a duck or goose growing up without at least one companion.

hahhah sadly i know this there are liek a dirfferent amount of feather point things or something i saw it on dirtiest jobs and i kno how to squeeze the poop out of them!! nto saying this in a mean way but i kno nuthing about ducks and strangely i know this one