Indian Runner Ducklings Boys or girls?

[psycoforsilkies]

So my ducklings will be 1 month on feb 15th, I have know idea how to tell if they are boys or girls, anyone know? Or know when i will be able to tell?

the 2 together the black one is smaller

 

[jdywntr]

If they were both born on the same day than the black may be female because of the size difference. When I had runners, some started quacking at around 7-8 weeks but there is no 100% way to tell unless you vent sex or wait for the tail curl. They sure are cute though.

 

[psycoforsilkies]

What does tail curl mean, I am new to ducks! The yellow one is almost a whole size bigger than the black one

 

[poultry09]

some time even when they are this young you can pick them up and the female will already be louder than the male(they will still be quiet but you should be able to tell the difference) if they both sound really quiet then they are most likely males but if they are loud they will most likely be female i have used this technique and it has worked fairly good.

 

[Amiga]

The easiest way for me, and this began at about three weeks or so with some of my runners, is the WAK!

Females are much louder than males. Males' sound is described as a mumble, whisper, peep, or hoarseness. The girls can yell.

There's a web site with boy duck girl duck sounds. http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm

They also explain curling tail feathers.

 

[jdywntr]

What does tail curl mean, I am new to ducks! The yellow one is almost a whole size bigger than the black one

When most species of male ducks (drakes) mature they get one or two tail feathers that curl. For runners that would be 8-12 weeks (typically). Start listening to the sounds that they make. When they start maturing they will stop peeping and females will start quacking. Boys make another noise that is hard to describe but they are quieter. Again, if they are from the same hatch then you probably have a boy and a girl because of the size difference but it is still a ?

 

[psycoforsilkies]

Thanks everyone was hoping for a boy and girl pair, maybe I got lucky, when the get out of baby duck jail, they will have free run of my silkies day time free range area, Wea re in process of putting up the new fence and adding bird net (Hawks & buzzards here) , already have a splash pool for them too. we are gonna bulid them thier own little house in the yard too. Have been trying to decide if I should plant them some plants like pampass grass and stuff?

 

[jdywntr]

I kicked mine out of their indoor brooder today at 10 days old. Ducklings =

but the cuteness overrides that. More power to you if you have been able to keep them closely confined for this long.

 

[psycoforsilkies]

They were in in door brooder till 3 weeks, I have a 8x12 brooder room in my garage. Now they are in my outside brooder in my shed I have 4 brooder cages in there I use for broody hens or sick chickens etc. I have them in a kiddie pool in there with a little puppy fence around it. I do cover the sides and part of the top at night with a blanket, and they have a light a 90 watt, the shed stays about 60 at night so it isnt too hot in there and they dont sleep right under the light all the time mostly in thier box they have in there. I will say they sure do make a mess with the water, its a good thing I stay home. To clean up after them. I will be glad when we get all of our fence and net up so I can put them in there with thier new house! I will have a light in there to for night and cold days. We have had some cold ones kind of crazy was 22 when i got up the other morning. And now is going back up to high 70's crazy weather!

 

[galgo98]

Be careful with the size difference. I had a runner duckling last year that grew like a weed in the beginning compared to the rest. I thought for sure it was going to be a big boy. After about 3 months, the rest caught up and "he" ended up being a girl! Now, she is just an average size runner, and the two boys are bigger than her....