Duck Breed Focus - Welsh Harlequin

[ShrekDawg]

I have no idea but whatever it is it sure is gorgeous!

 

[Lozuufy]

Hi All,

This is my 6 week old Welsh Harlequin. Until recently I thought I had a Male but when I pick it up lets out some raspy squawks(male) followed by what I consider a quack(female).
Any ideas on whether I have a boy or girl?

Looks like a darker colored female, I have one that looks allot like that


Female is on the right, male on the left (when they were a couple months old)

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Looks like a darker colored female, I have one that looks allot like that


Female is on the right, male on the left (when they were a couple months old)

I would agree. Females can make a male-like sound. The reverse is not true. So if there was a quack in the mix, I would go with female. I am not sure if the bill is a tell on the WH (I don't have a WH drake), but my Rouen drake has the same color as the drake above and my Rouen girls have black/orange bills. Plus my WH girl has the same color bill as the one in the pic.

 

[tess36]

Though I'm not very experienced with ducks yet, I would agree too. I had two of mine I was worried about when they were about the same age, 6-ish weeks. This is a pic of them then.

They seemed to have really dark heads and they seemed to be getting progressively darker, but they also had darker chests and heavier back markings as well. I was also told that they were probably just darker girls. They were right! This is a pic of them from about two weeks ago at 10 weeks.

The same two girls' heads have gotten lighter and the coloring more subdued, though they still have the darker chests and heavier back markings.

As I understand it, as they age into adulthood, the drakes' heads should continue to darken into a very dark with a green sheen and their bills lighten into more of a yellowish. You see my girls' heads actually got a little lighter and their bills have stayed dark as well. Also, I'm pretty sure they all quack, though that is hard to differentiate when they start up as a group, and no curly tails as yet at twelve weeks.

It is worth mentioning though, I have seen several comments that the bill coloring can be misleading in hatchery ducks due to not being bred for breeding or show quality. Mine are hatchery ducks, so I was a little nervous for a couple weeks there.

 

[maruadventurer]

I would agree. Females can make a male-like sound. The reverse is not true. So if there was a quack in the mix, I would go with female. I am not sure if the bill is a tell on the WH (I don't have a WH drake), but my Rouen drake has the same color as the drake above and my Rouen girls have black/orange bills. Plus my WH girl has the same color bill as the one in the pic.

What we are seeing here is some Khaki Campbell recessive gene showing thru?

 

[Tevyes Dad]

What we are seeing here is some Khaki Campbell recessive gene showing thru?

Don't know. Metzer's WH has the same bill colors on their drake vs duck in the picture and the same with their KC, but I know for some ducks, bill color is not a good indicator, especially when they are young.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Here is a little packet of duck noises (I guess you can't attach sound files, but you can attach zip files.) All of these sounds come from ducks except kazoo1.mp3 and Whistle.mp3 which are a drake. (And the other sound you hear along with the whistle is from a duck). This was a first attempt to try to separate out the different duck sounds and it isn't very good (I looped them so they would last a couple seconds each), but I will keep trying and maybe get together good enough samples to make a reference.

 

[Zinny74]

Cheers all,

I'll have another listen when i get home tomorrow. Hope "she" is a girl it suit my plans better.
Here's a pic from 5 weeks ago she used to love picking scraps out of my beard. WH in front.

I couldn't get up without her jumping off the couch and sitting on my feet while i shuffled around the kitchen trying to make a GnT.
Nowhere near as keen to hang out with Dad now, they grow up so fast.

 

[N F C]

Cheers all,

I'll have another listen when i get home tomorrow. Hope "she" is a girl it suit my plans better.
Here's a pic from 5 weeks ago she used to love picking scraps out of my beard. WH in front.

I couldn't get up without her jumping off the couch and sitting on my feet while i shuffled around the kitchen trying to make a GnT.
Nowhere near as keen to hang out with Dad now, they grow up so fast.

Cute ducklings!

Welcome to BYC

 

[MagpieDucks]

Help! I'm trying to decide whether to get Magpies or WHs! Which do ya'll think I should get?

P.S. @Tevyes Dad I love your new Avatar!