Sexing My Welsh Harlequins??

[kirstie]

I have 5 Welsh Harlequin Ducklings that are going on 9 weeks and I am dying to know if they are drakes or ducks! This is my first time raising them so I'm definitely in the learning stages still. At first I thought I had one drake (with the yellow beak) and 4 ducks but as they are feathering out I'm really not sure! Any advice would be greatly appreciated, THANKS!!

(Oh yeah and ignore the Khaki Campbell HAHA!)

 

[RouenDuck]

Well, I think that a female should have a dark bill with a yellow tip, but I don't know. Also, once we had a welsh harlequin drake that had a females bill. We had to give him away, too many drakes.

 

[starbird]

Based on the colors of my ducks when they were this age I would guess they will all be females.

 

[learycow]

You can go by bill color as a basis but keep in mind that some females can have light colored bills.

The one in the middle with a yellow bill is a DRAKE. You can just start to see the dark green feathers starting to com ein around his bill and eyes.
The rest look to be females but it's hard to tell in the pictures. If you have more that are starting to get the green feathers then those are drakes. The hens won't get that green head

 

[kirstie]

Thank you all for your feed back! I was moving them to their new pen and listened closely to their quacks! The yellow billed one is definitely a drake along with one other and 3 are ducks! Seems like good numbers to me!

 

[wendeld]

I just got.8 almost 5 week old WH is there certain.coloring that you can sex them by ? I.cant upload pictures to show or.i would. Is it to.early to tell by.color what are the color characteristics of duck and drake in the WH ?

 

[learycow]

At 5 weeks you've lost the ability to tell by bill color. That is only good for the first 2-3 days.
You should be able to tell in another 4-5 weeks by voice. They will also be sexable by bill color at that age but be careful as some females will have light bills and can be mistaken for males.

If you post some pics of them I may be able to help (I have raised this breed for 5 years so may be able to give you an educated guess at this age)

 

[wendeld]

I only have internet with my cell and it wont let me post.pictures.on here if you dont mind i could email them to you if not that is ok too

 

[learycow]

sure. [email protected]

 

[wendeld]

Learycow, i sent you an email but.not sure if you received it. Out of my 8 WH i justnoticed this morning that only.three of them still have the chestnut color on their chests(when i first had got them nearly all of them have it) as far as bill color there are.4 that have dark bills but the bill color.of the rest seem to always be changing. When i first got them nearly all of them had very dark heads now its about half and half but none of them are solid dark. They are.8 weeks old today and are still peeping and on occasion i hear a quack out of them but as for others the noise they make are still too peepish to give a.definite.drake or duck label. Can the chest color at tjis age be a definite sign ? Sometimes i think no because my khakis changed so much after they molted and got their adult.colors. My khaki drake is now 3 1/2 months.old and his head is almost.completly green but still a little brown in.him. My.buffs are 2 1/2 months.old and my drake is justgetting his head.color in now. Is there anything at the age of 8 weeks in the Wh that is a forsure.sign of duck or drake?