Ok....So, we went and aquired a whack of ducklings to develop a layer flock for next year. This is a little project of mine and my 10 year son's. He is CallDuckKid on here. I think we have around 50 of them. Now they are really starting to plow through the feed and we are thinking of dispatching of the males...as was our original intent. Our last processing date at the abbatoir is next week and we'd like to bring some of them in then, as then they would be stamped and we can sell them as heritage soup ducks. I know they are young enough to be roasters, but they aren't very meaty.
Now...onto the next question, we are having difficulties telling the boys from the girls, as this is our first time with layer ducks.
The ducks come in 3 groups and this is what we have:
Four 16 week Cayuga X Khaki (or they may be pure Cayuga) They all look the same, just like Cayugas. Can we voice sex these guys now?
Twenty six 11 week old Silver Appleyard X Khaki I was told by the breeder that the females are brown laced and the males are dark with white bibs. This is mostly true....but there are also some that are brown with white bibs. And she also said that a few of the chicks might suprise us and be magpies. We would like to keep the magpies if this is the case....and it looks like a few are magpies, but I am uncertain of some, which may be males of the cross. This breeder is on hand for sexing support via email so I'm not as concerned about these guys. Can I voice sex them at this age?
Eighteen 9 week old mixed breed ducks that my son hatched. The breeder flock was mixed khaki, welsh harlequin and runners. Some of them are definately runners and runner crosses. Some of them are as big as the 11 week ducks, and I think those are male. Can we voice sex this group?
Since I'm mostly interested in sexing the first two groups....I can post pics when my son is home from school. I will get him to post them under his name, since this is a project for him. I just wanted to start the conversation off as it would be a lot of typing for him
Thanks mucho!
Heather Feather
Now...onto the next question, we are having difficulties telling the boys from the girls, as this is our first time with layer ducks.
The ducks come in 3 groups and this is what we have:
Four 16 week Cayuga X Khaki (or they may be pure Cayuga) They all look the same, just like Cayugas. Can we voice sex these guys now?
Twenty six 11 week old Silver Appleyard X Khaki I was told by the breeder that the females are brown laced and the males are dark with white bibs. This is mostly true....but there are also some that are brown with white bibs. And she also said that a few of the chicks might suprise us and be magpies. We would like to keep the magpies if this is the case....and it looks like a few are magpies, but I am uncertain of some, which may be males of the cross. This breeder is on hand for sexing support via email so I'm not as concerned about these guys. Can I voice sex them at this age?
Eighteen 9 week old mixed breed ducks that my son hatched. The breeder flock was mixed khaki, welsh harlequin and runners. Some of them are definately runners and runner crosses. Some of them are as big as the 11 week ducks, and I think those are male. Can we voice sex this group?
Since I'm mostly interested in sexing the first two groups....I can post pics when my son is home from school. I will get him to post them under his name, since this is a project for him. I just wanted to start the conversation off as it would be a lot of typing for him
Thanks mucho!
Heather Feather
