Sexing Rouen Ducks--6 weeks

[my sunwolf]

It's hard to believe that my babies are already 6 weeks old!

I know that you can sex ducks by listening for the quack or other honking sounds in the ducks and the peeps and silent hissing from the drakes. So far, only one of my Rouens has quacked when I've picked them up (at 3 weeks old), and so I tagged her with a leg band.

Now, as I look at them, I've noticed that some of them have a greenish sheen to their head and tail feathers. The girl with the leg band has a dull sparrow-brown color on both her head and tail. Could this mean that I have 5 drakes and 1 duck?

Here's a general shot of everybody:



Here's a closeup of their heads:


Can y'all spot the girl I think is a duck from these photos? And do you agree that the "head color" theory is a good way to sex Rouens?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Miss Lydia]

My guess? they are precious

 

[chickens really]

Look like Hens to me. They don't all begin to lay at the same time...

 

[Cwood13]

I'm new to ducks and this is the first time I'm raising them. I have six. They are five months old and have gotten one egg a day for the last six days. So, I can assume I only have one female but I'm not sure. I need help identifying them. Here is a picture of them.

 

[Squiggs]

by this age of 5 months

Oops! I didn't even notice she mentioned their ages...

Yes, at 5 months this is what the familys' Rouen looked like. Very different indeed!

 

[my sunwolf]

Sorry all, I meant to come back to this thread! The method was absolutely 100% correct, there were 5 drakes and 1 duck, as you can see in the photo below:



I ended up keeping the drake in the center with the greenest head.

 

[Cwood13]

The one in the right front has a white ring around it's neck and long white feathers showing in the back. I did notice that five of them have blue feathers and one does not. I really don't know how to tell the difference between them other than what I've read.

 

[Squiggs]

My family has 2 year old a Rouen hen with a partial neck ring too She had them confused for months!

I'm going to guess they are all hens except for the one on the far left with his face turned. I think that duck may be a drake based on the dark unbroken black stripe on his head, the sort of dusty less penciled look of his feathers overall, and what appears to be a more greenish bill. However, it's not always a perfect indicator since the hen I mentioned also had a dark stripe when she was young.

 

[Cwood13]

Here's a couple more pics. A little closer look.

 

[Cwood13]

No, not really. Some of them are kinda quiet and others are loud. Not sure if it's normal but some of them do this weird quacking thing while they bob their heads in a cross cross manner. But they always seem to know when I'm outside even if they don't see me. Then they really start quacking.