Sexing silver appleyard ducklings

They may very well all be Silver Appleyards.  A small percentage of the ducklings hatch out in a darker color.  That doesn't indicate the sex though.

I agree.  I raise silver appleyard call ducks.  I had 2 hatch last week, one being almost as dark as the grays and one much lighter.  They can vary in color when hatched.  It doesn't seem to be a sex linked thing either.

I too just got my first Silver Appleyards.  They are about 4 weeks old now.  They all vary in color a bit but now all but one have developed a dark black bean on their bill.  One's bill is completely yellow.  Will this change as they age?  Does it determine sex at all?

All birds will genetically try and revert back to their mallard genes. The "Rouen" looking duckling is the expressing more mallard genes. I have had one of these in the past. You can raise them but they will not meet the breed standards. The ducks will look more like a mallard and Rouen even though they are Appleyards. If it is a drake, it will look just like a mallard drake but with the body of an Appleyard. I would not recommend breeding this one as the gene will just be expressed and you will get farther away from the standard Appleyard look. The one I had happened to be a drake. He looked very different from the other Appleyard drakes I had. I am sure the ducks would lay as much as the standard looking Appleyards. I am also told that the meat tastes the same.

Sometimes the Appleyards will express whiter colors. These ducklings don't have the black mohawk but do have the black colors on the tail. These whiter Appleyards again won't meet breed standards but they are very beautiful! They look like they have snowy owl plumage. They have the same characteristics as the standard Appleyard but with whiter plumage.

I hope this helps!  Sorry it doesn't help sex the ducklings! The only way to sex the ducklings without vent sexing is the same way you can sex all other ducklings. Look for the colors at 6 weeks and listen for the quack vs raspy noise.

Thanks so much for your answers.  Its helped a great deal!  As the ducklings have gotten older (around 5 weeks now) one is developing the reddish breast as I've seen in pictures of males.  Is it safe to say he/she is a drake?  At what age can you typically see coloring differences?

I would like to know this too... I have 7 that are 6 weeks old and now think that they are all females.    Of course I wanted to have at least 1 drake.  Same thing with my Saxony.

I remember seeing the dark color feathers come in on the face at around 8 weeks for the drakes. These will be dark grays and dark browns and green.  Usually these colors occur first near the bill. I also pay real close attention to who whistles and who quacks. The female Appleyards seem a little noisier than the female Saxonies. I recommend sitting, watching, and listening to them alot. Eventually you will be able to hear the quackers.

Hope this helps!

I'm looking to hatch out some Silver Appleyard eggs soon (still working on a trade for some), it's good to know that there are other folks out there raising them, and that vent sexing (or waiting until 6+ weeks) is really the only way to tell them apart :-)