Advice please - should I rehome new ducks

[Miss Lydia]

Okay we need Amiga to chime in since she has Runners this is a hard one for me.

 

[Jen1979]

Well I'm glad it's not just me who's finding it a difficult one hehe

@Amiga any ideas?

 

[Amiga]

Well, well, your dark Runner's voice is right on the edge . . . . the first video, that last uh uh uh sounds female and I was wondering if it came from the darker one. There is variability in the female's voices - Einz is very high pitched, Zehn is piercing, Elf's voice is very low.

Do they make more noise when you offer them treats?

The dark Runner does not sound unequivocally male, I can say that. But there is no drake feather.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well, well, your dark Runner's voice is right on the edge . . . . the first video, that last uh uh uh sounds female and I was wondering if it came from the darker one. There is variability in the female's voices - Einz is very high pitched, Zehn is piercing, Elf's voice is very low.

Do they make more noise when you offer them treats?

The dark Runner does not sound unequivocally male, I can say that. But there is no drake feather.

Might still be too young for the drake feather A. I didn't think it sounded like most drakes I hear but since I don't hear drakes quacking [Muscovy] this one is making it hard. and maybe still too young to say.

 

[needlessjunk]

I think if you give it another week you will know one way or another. I remember one of my boys sounded a bit like a girl for a few days and then his voice just dropped. It can go either way though. He/she doesn't sound like a boy but doesn't 100% sound like a girl.

 

[Jen1979]

Thanks everyone

They are so nervous and skittish at the moment @Amiga that they panic even when I give them treats. They won't touch them until I'm gone. They seem quite terrified of humans. They are fine when the other ducks come up to their fence though. The guy we got them from was lovely, but strangely wasn't all that knowledgeable (he had no idea at all how to tell the ducks apart by voice, he only knew by drake feather). He spent a long time showing us all his first prize show ribbons from their parents but hadn't handled the ducklings much at all. I don't think they got much human interaction up until this point.

I'm trying to offer them treats and sit quietly outside their pen a few times each day so they hopefully become less skittish. Even if we need to rehome them, I'd still like to have laid some ground work for someone else.

I think they are a bit too young for the drake feather yet. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they're only really 8 or 9 weeks. The dark one still had tiny bits of fluff coming out of it's neck. Our almost 8 week old doesn't have that anymore...

 

[Jen1979]

Well, well, your dark Runner's voice is right on the edge . . . . the first video, that last uh uh uh sounds female and I was wondering if it came from the darker one.

Oh forgot to say, I just went back and listened, that last noise is actually coming from one of my adult ducks who was a bit upset that she might be missing out on being a movie star. She thinks she's the next big thing. She's probably on the phone to her agent about it right now.

 

[Amiga]

Oh forgot to say, I just went back and listened, that last noise is actually coming from one of my adult ducks who was a bit upset that she might be missing out on being a movie star. She thinks she's the next big thing. She's probably on the phone to her agent about it right now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh forgot to say, I just went back and listened, that last noise is actually coming from one of my adult ducks who was a bit upset that she might be missing out on being a movie star. She thinks she's the next big thing. She's probably on the phone to her agent about it right now.

Well she had us all fooled she'll make an awesome drama queen

so now all eyes are glued to this ones tail to see if any feathers begin to curl. AND they better not.

 

[Jen1979]

Well she had us all fooled she'll make an awesome drama queen so now all eyes are glued to this ones tail to see if any feathers begin to curl. AND they better not.

Shhh she'll hear you, shes already put in a petition to have her name changed from Marshmallow to Marilyn Quackroe. She's busying herself in a corner of the yard right now, I think she's setting up an autograph station.

Yes, the brown duck should think girl thoughts and keep that tail flat. Maybe I'll decorate their whole pen in pink rose petals and sit out there talking about tea parties and feather styling.