A boy named Stella??

[Jill102]

Hello again! As I've mentioned, I'm new to being a "duck mom." I was told I have a boy and a girl. Over the last two days, I've noticed a more pronounced feather on my "girl" duck. She was born in March, I'm told, and thus in October when she came to us, it was presumed her sex feathers would have "come in" by then. Now I'm guessing I actually have two boys! Can anyone confirm when you can tell the boys from the girls? And if I'm seeing things?

Something else I should mention, the boy we thought was a boy all along no longer has such a pronounced tail feather. It's like their switching places! Is this normal?

I have one picture here and some more pictures, from different angles, here in a Picasa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/ZonasPictures/ABoyNamedStella?feat=directlink

THANK YOU!

 

[GrannySue]

What do they sound like? Mine let me know within weeks who was the girl by her quacking.

I have a pompom (crested) like yours I think except she's a runner. Is the pompom slightly crooked?
I have a dog called Stella, btw. She's definitely a girl, LOL.

Here's Yvonne with her jaunty beret;

 

[nettie]

i have a girl duck named victor... he tricked us... he's bigger, does the standing on and pretending to mate thing with his female duckie friend, and he has a squeaky quack... then when he should have gotten in a curly feather, he laid an egg. lol.... so we just tell him he's a special boy who lays eggs... we don't want to hurt his feelings...

 

[rainplace]

The one without a crest has the drake curl.

 

[Jill102]

Thanks for the responses! That's what I was afraid of... LOL... now the one WITH the crest HAD a very pronounced curl and no longer has it as prominently. Why is that? And is it unheard of to have two drakes getting along? Up until now they've been the best of friends and I'm worried that will change.

 

[chickygirl2]

2 drakes will get along if there are no gals to fight over.............

 

[Parrotchick]

I got a "pair" of Polish chickens that were several months old: Stella and Stanley (Kowalski). One day we noticed Stella had spurs and wondering if in our newbie-ness we got the male and female backwards. Sure enough, Stella stared crowing within the week. But Stanley also turned out to be a boy. Stella is now the #2 roo on the flock; Stanley is rock bottom in rank, poor guy- he is such a pretty boy.

As for your question: I have 3 Pekins about 7-8 months old: one medium sized hen (Pong) and two drakes (Sal who is big and Midge who must have some call duck in her backround). Sometimes the drake feathers are obvious; other times not so much. But difference in their quacks is always obvious and has been since they were a couple months old. The hen quack is loud and deep; the drakes' are squeakier and wimpier. My hen makes a racket in the morning she and her guys want to leave the pen but she is generally pretty subdued in her tone the rest of the day. The drakes often editorialize, especially when they are guilty of duck misdeeds, such as eating my flowers or going to the neighbors'.

I wish all my animals got along as well as these three, even though there are two boys to one girl. They are such a happy peaceful family and I have never seen a moment of disagreement between any of them. I had Pong since she was several days old. Her mate of unknown gender died mysteriously and abruptly in their duckhouse when they were about 6 weeks old (no trauma whatsoever, no signs of illness, though I know birds being prey animals mask symptoms). After making an off topic post on a whitewater kayaking site of all things, I was able to find Midge and Sal. They had been bought as Easter ducklings for little kids and when they got big, they were released into a river that's an estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Amazingly, they weren't done in by ospreys or motor boats. I caught them and brought them to my place on the side of the mountain. I wondered if they would miss all that water, but they adjusted immediately.

Sal and Midge take turns with Pong, but generally they are very respectful of her. I don't see them trying to mate her that frequently and it seems quite consensual when they do. All three take turns leading the way or being the "spokesduck." Sal has the best eye on the sky for possible predators and Midge can fly. I don't know if I've been extra lucky with my ducks. but I guess it just goes to show that there are no absolutes. All you can do is try, and have a Plan B in case it doesn't work.