are they both drakes? lots of pics on page 2

[prov31gal]

is this true? ive had ducks for about 6 months now. 2 ancona ducks, spot and patches. they live with and in amongst our chickens and are very happy. (they are racist though, just a little, because they wont snuggle up with the chickens at night or eat with them). i had hoped we had at least 1 girl. my 8 year old told me boy ducks have a curl on the tail, and i said that wasnt true, that it was just a story. but is she right? if she is i think we have 2 boys. uugghhhhh.
ones curl isnt as curly as the other , ill post a pic later. but no ones layed an egg yet, and they are 6 months old.

 

[DuckyMom]

It most breeds this is infact true. Although sometimes feamales feathers get bent, and sometimes males curls dont appear til later in life or can just b a small bend simmaler to a females bent feathers! Its not a sure fire way to judge breed but it still usually shows true.

 

[Olive Hill]

Yes, male ducks have a "curl" on their tail. It's called a drake feather. If both of your ducks have a drake feather, they're both drakes. Your 8yo is right.

Another thing to judge by is their voice. Female ducks quack, drakes make a low, raspy noise.

 

[teresa-78]

Hiya, yes male ducks do have a curl on their tail... I got 6 i day old runners and 4 turned out to be male, and all 4 have a curl on their tales...

 

[katharinad]

She is right about the curly feathers on male ducks. Another way of telling is their quack. Males sound like they have a sore throat and don't get out a loud quack at all. Its more the level of us talking. Females on the other hand quack so loud that it sounds like someone is calling out loud. You can clearly hear the difference when you grab them.

Be careful when adding female ducks to two males. The males can start to compete and fight each other. Adding 2 females is also not enough to stop two males from gang raping. You should have at least a ratio of 3 girls for one male. That still does not guarantee that they will not fight over ranking issues. I have 8 girls and 1 boy, and they have been very nice together since I've gotten rid of 4 boys. You never know how many boys and girls you end up with when you hatch your own eggs.

 

[prov31gal]

gang raping,huh.
thats an interesting choice of words.
and since you did choose those words over all other possible words, im assuming its pretty accurate.


anyway, geez, it looks like im stuck with a bunch of drakes that i cant even eat because my littles have become so attached to them! so , i guess dh is going to be building a huge gigantic duck pen for the 16-20 lady ducks im apparently getting this spring! or, and here is an idea, maybe well get 4 or so and the novelty of new baby duckies will be enough to numb the littles love for one of the drakes and then well just keep whomever turns out to be a girl and eat everyone else.
uuuhhhggggg,

 

[FenDruadin]

Yup, gang rape is an accurate choice of words.

And I've learned never to doubt my 9-year-old's knowledge of nature and biology. He's nearly always right.

Smart little girl you've got, and she's paying attention.

Sorry you ended up with just drakes--luck of the draw stinks sometimes.

Good luck!

 

[prov31gal]

Quote:
ay least i know im raising smart kids! yay! go homeschooling and fostering a love of independant study! whhooo!

now i just need to work on myself.

i think you are absolutely right, i will never again poopoo my daughters knowledge of nature and biology. but im never gonna hear the end of it. I TOOLD YOU MOM!

 

[FenDruadin]

Aha! I should have known she was homeschooled. That's exactly the sort of thing homeschooled kids learn on their own, lol. Mine are homeschooled too. Not saying it's better than all alternatives, but it works for us, and does make it easy to foster independent learning. My kids never cease to amaze me.

 

[prov31gal]

alright guys, im going to post some pictures of these ducks and a video of them as soon as my husband comes in here and shows me how to get pics OFF the camers AND ON to the computer. im still hoping one is a girl. so get ready,and in about 10 minutes tell me what you think and let me in on all your secret ancient duck wisdom!