Male or female?

Oddyse

Songster
8 Years
May 21, 2011
300
5
101
Bristol
Hey guys I have 2 khaki Cambells and I was told (when they I got them at 9 days old) they were Female, But Im not so sure anymore. Is there anything I could look/Listen for to make sure? Its been nearly 18 weeks now and no eggs, thats why Im getting a bit concerned. Also, I believe the female ducks to have a loud qwack. But I have recently hatched two new ducks and one is already qwacking louder than the two older ones. Well anyway, If there is something I could look/listen for to help me out that would be great, many thanks
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When you pick them up, listen to their quack. If females, they will be very loud! If males, they either won't quack at all, or their quack will sound raspy, almost like the have a sore throat.
Also, look at their feathering. If drakes, their heads will be darker than the rest of their bodies. My drakes have orange legs while my females have brown legs (but that's not always the case). Plus, at that age the drakes should have their sex feather. This is a feather at the base of their tail that curls.

If you can post pics, I might be able to help you better.
 
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Ok this is really starting to concern me now, they deffinitely have feathers on the tail that curl!! So these might be guys, if they are I will very annoyed at the guy who sold them to me! I will try and post pictures tomorrow. If they have curls on the tail feathers are they definitely drakes then?
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Im so worried now, if the ducks I have, which I thought were female, turn out to be males I will have to get rid of them. I really hope by some chance the curly tail feather is something else. Maybe thats why your not getting eggs either DUCKYGIRL
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Does anyone have a picture of a khaki Campbell male and female together? I have looked and looked and cant find any. All signs are pointing to the fact that they were not sexed correctly, and that they may be Males, but im looking for anything I can to tell me they are females, ANYTHING!
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Otherwise, if anyone is in Bristol, England, or close, I may have some adorable drakes that need a new home.
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Sorry my hens are still young yet to show adult feathers.....

Tail feather on my Khaki Drake at 5 months.

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My Khaki hens at 2 1/2 months. At this age, the drakes had a distinguishing line on their neck and their head were getting darker than their bodies.

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Khaki drakes at about 3 months....you can see how dark their head are getting compared to females above.
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Khaki drakes at about 5 months.

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Hope this helps, I thought one of the hens was a drake until about a week ago. Took her much longer to develop that distinctive quack.
 
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I also found this site helpful when I was trying to determine what sex my Khakis were. http://community-2.webtv.net/saraarmstrong/MamaDucksHomePage/

She has a section on sight sexing Khaki's http://community-2.webtv.net/saraarmstrong/EggDucklingHelp/

Details appear below.
There are 2 kinds of Khaki Campbells. Light and Dark.

The Darker Khaki's are a darker shade of khaki brown. The Light Khaki's are a lighter shade of khaki brown.

Now comes the interesting part, you have to look at the bean on the end of the bill. The adult males have a darker bean then the rest of their bill. The adult females have a bean that is very close to the color of the bill.

You won't be able notice the difference until 4 to 6 weeks of age. As they grow you will see a gradual change as the color deepens. Then one day it will be just as plain as the bean on there bill :)

Here are the adult bill and bean colors:
-Dark Khaki Campbell Drakes has a bluish green bill and black bean.
-Light Khaki Campbell Drakes has a yellow bill and a medium brown bean.
-Dark Khaki Campbell Hens has a slate gray bill and bean.
-Light Khaki Campbell Hens has a slate gray bill and carmel colored bean.
-I have one Lighter Khaki Campbell Hen who dosen't quit fit the standard, she has a medim brown bill and a carmel colored bean. She's very cute and sweet.

Another difference between a male and a female duckling is at 5 to 8 weeks of age. When the male's head and the neck become a shade or two darker then the body feathers. The female feathers are a uniform shade of brown.

A male is about 20% larger then a female.

Now if you think you have a good ear, the voice of a young male is different from a female. As adults the male has a raspy voice, in younger males you can sense that raspy sounding voice. But, it is a challange to detect it. In females the voice is a clear quack and in the young females it sounds like a squeeky toy.

Now, this won't work for most other breeds of ducks, because the bean may not be darker in the adults.​
 
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Thank you everyone. It looks like I have got two guys then! Which I am very angry at! I got these from a breeder who said they were two females. Now Im in a situation where I have grown to love them but will be forced to get rid of them. I will put up pictures of all my ducks today and you guys can have a guess at the sex. Thanks again for your help
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