Difference in duckling colors?

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TigereyedGypsy

TigereyedGypsy

In the Brooder
Mar 14, 2016
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Are any breed of ducklings sexable by color? I have mixed breed mallard ducks. The parents mostly look mallard and I have no idea what they are mixed with. The ducklings all have the same pattern, but some are noticeably lighter than others. Instead of black markings, they have grey. I took a few pictures, but it is harder to see the difference on camera.
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I don't know about seeing, but I had a half mallard duckling that looked like a mallard but only gray. Here he is as a baby
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He grew up to look like a mallard with a dark gray head
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You cannot sex ducks based on color unless its a first generation golden 300 hybrid (not really a hybrid though since they can reproduce) i forget what hatchery they come from but females are darker and males usually have lighter marking.
 
buff goose guy is right about the hybrids. Those can be sexed by down color at hatch with males being shades of black and females shades of brown.

Welsh harlequins can be sexed with 90% accuracy at hatch by their bill color. Females will have light colored bills and males will have dark. But this is only true for the first 1-3 days of age, then the colors change on them.

You can also make your own sex links with some breeds (such as anconas) by using selective colors to breed. A chocolate male over black females will give you chocolate female babies and black male babies. Same if using a chocolate male over blue females.
 

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