How old are they? Females quack and males are raspy. The other way is if they are old enough the males will have a drake or curly tail feather.
http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm
I'm in TX so I'm don't know about keeping one side open. I would imagine it will be good with the 1 side open. As for the pool, just as long as they are still able to dunk their heads in water you don't need the pool. I feed my guys chicken grower since we don't have duck food anywhere around...