all I want is 4 (but sexed) CALL DUCKlings

[Hattiegun]

if I order straight run , and only 4 babies, would my chances be high of having to many boys..
I would take all boys or all girls or 3girls 1 boy.... I am hand raising them to try and make them
as pet friendly as I can and I would hate to have to get rid of any cuz of gender... and I dont
want any more than that for awhile... efowl will sell me only 4 but they wont sex them

I cant find anywhere to get 4 sexed !! any ideas ???

 

[call ducks]

sorry , i will tell you this , that the changes of finding sexed call ducklings is , thin most plaecs WILL not sex them till they have there 2nd set of fethers

 

[Hattiegun]

thanks... so if I order 4 then.... what do u suppose my chances are
on boys v girls..?? do u mostly get boys ,,,,, seems like everyone always
gets to many boys and have to rehome..

 

[houndit]

It really depends. I got half and half on our Mallards. Then I got 7 males out of 10 duck on the Campbells. The good thing is male ducks usually get along well. If they fight they do not hurt each other like chickens.

 

[call ducks]

the 50% male 50% female is how they hatch but not nasserly how they get taken out of the hatching tray, but male calls get tgether just fine with a nother male

 

[Hattiegun]

Im just worried about them ummm over-indulging with the girl (s) if there is say
3 boys and 1 girl.... or even 2 : 2.... would 2 and 2 be okay.... ???
(I am a newbie) thanks

 

[duckluck]

Last year was a very drake-heavy hatch year for most people...you want to try to always have more females than males. The drakes get pretty scrappy otherwise, unless you have strictly drakes. I know that isn't what you wanted to hear, but it is the truth, unfortunately...let's all hope for a lot of pullets this year...

 

[bemba]

I have a method of sexing ducklings that is roughly 90 percent accurate from 3 days old . It is vent sexing..... hold the duckling in your hands facing away from you so you have its vent facing you, then place a thumb either side of the vent VERY VERY gentle open the lips of the vent (sort of peeling back) if its a boy a little maggot sized penis will pop out, and if a girl ...well obviously nothing comes out! I had to get the guy who told me this to show me before I was really confident to do it..... if done very gently and carefully this poses no risk to the ducklings.... and the best thing is I can sell my ducklings with 90 percent accuracy of sex..... the more i have done it the more accurate i seem to get.

 

[Parrotchick]

Wow, that's a great success rate. Was it just call ducks you sexed? I asked an old friend of mine to help me find a female muscovy duckling. She has a PhD in wildlife management, specializing in waterfowl. She works for Fish & Wildlife and has been sexing and aging ducks, geese, etc for over 20 years as part of her research and management of birds throughout North America. She told me that she could not with absolute certainty help me pick a female. She said that when she does the vent test, if she finds a penis that the duckling is obviously a male. But sometimes they "hide" their penis, which makes it difficult to discern male from female, even for the most experienced hand-literally.

So I certainly don't want to dispute your success. Have you sexed a whole lot of ducks? Different breeds? Is there a better time of day or circumstance which gives better success/accuracy? If you don't find a penis, do you back back and re-check several times to increase your certainty?

I'm wondering because I'm still hoping for some young muscovy females to bond with and I really wanted a couple of call ducks this year as well. So anything that would get me to closer accuracy in sexing ducklings would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I agree, it's more difficult to be certain you've found a female duckling when vent sexing, you don't know for sure if there's no penis to see or if it's just harder to find. Vent sexing can be a bit unnerving, the lil' ducklings are yeep-yeep-yeeping their heads off and you are trying your best to be gentle while prying so much into their personal business. I've only been doing it for a little while and have been accurate most of the time. Only once so far have I identified one male as a female.

Some folks prefer to check them when they're a bit older, at 1 or 2 weeks. They're more difficult to handle but their parts are larger & easier to see.

It's a handy thing to know how to do but you have to leave room for error. I wouldn't tell anyone I could guarantee identifying a female, but maybe I could give it a good guess. I was relieved when my 2 Pekins both began to lay, I checked them myself at the feed store and wanted to get 2 girls.