Color sexing ducklings?

[3LilBirds]

I want to get a couple of duckling and am wondering are there breeds that can be sexed as ducklings? I want to get two females for egg laying. That's I'd appreciate any info!

 

[Kevin565]

Some Welsh Harlequins can be sexed at birth but this has been bred out in many strains. If you want two females I'd suggest going with Metzers. They can ship as few as two ducklings I believe and offer sexing on their ducklings

 

[LilyAshley11]

I want to get a couple of duckling and am wondering are there breeds that can be sexed as ducklings? I want to get two females for egg laying. That's I'd appreciate any info!

The males have the feathers of the tail to up, and the females down

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Tail feathers up and down are not a way to tell.

As Kevin mentioned buying from Metzers and ordering sexed ducklings. Or getting older ducks locally that are known females.

 

[Chicken Crazy12]

Some chocolate Ancona ducks can be sex linked. You have to have the right breeding combination to do so but when done correctly all chocolate ducklings hatched will be females and all black ducklings hatched will be Males.

 

[Oregon Blues]

All of the large size ducks can be sexed when they hatch. They can be vent sexed by someone with experience. So, yes, you can buy sexed female ducklings if you find a seller who knows how to vent sex.

Bantams are not normally vent sexed. With those you have to wait and see.

The very best way to get 2 ducks (that's the females) for egg laying is to wait and buy juveniles who are old enough that it can be certain what sex they are.

You can buy 2 female ducklings from a couple of different hatcheries, but if you just have 2 shipped the shipping costs are very substantial.

 

[3LilBirds]

THank you everyone.

I've never ordered chicks or any animal for that matter through the mail. What are some of the thing I would want to do and should know about?

 

[redrobynlane]

we got ours from Metzer and have had really good luck. our girls are only 6 weeks old, so it's still too early to tell but we have welsh and rouen and love them both. I just ordered 10 more in cayuga, blue sweedish and black sweedish!

I would NOT order just 2 ducks. They will ship them in a set but if one dies you are left with a single duck which can be VERY stressful on the duckling. I'd order at least 3 and that way if one does happen to die, you still have a set. And honestly, 3 isn't any harder to care for than 1 or 2. We have 10 and other than more poop and more food, it's all the same care as for 2 birds. They will replace birds if they die within the first 24 hours but even one week makes a HUGE difference in the size of a duck, and during that week you are waiting your baby is all alone and could very well die from loneliness or stress without a friend.

Ordering through Metzer was so easy. They have amazing phone help or ordering online is simple. you choose your breed and how many you want, they tell you the pricing and you can select male or female or straight run. They will give you choices for your hatch date and then they ship that day, and you'll get them 2-3 business days later. I ordered 10 the first time, had one pass away the first night. They sent out her replacement a week later, along with a travel friend, but the friend died. So for me, it was hard because I had 9 ducks that were older and 1 brand new. The size difference was AMAZING! But because of it, I also had to keep her seperated for almost 3 weeks because she was just so tiny and they picked on her because she was small.

Now, they are all in a big house together and I have no issues.

That's just my story. So, order at least 3. I found it's not hard to rehome ducks, though.. so if you want to save your self money, buy 10( to meet their minimum) and sell the rest on craigslist to get your $$ back. Ducks are so much fun!!!