Aussie Spot ducklings- What sex are they?

[hcppam]

Quote:
I'm with lovesgliners.

 

[sianara]

Quote:
I'm with lovesgliners.

I agree, they are lovely. They are friendly, personable and small weighing approximately 2 lbs give or take a few ounces.

They are reputed to be good parents which is why I chose this breed. Also, two blueheads offspring can be bluehead, greenhead and silverhead ducklings which is pretty cool.

One thing I've noticed about their parenting skills is the duck is wonderful, protective and teaching but the drake, not so much. When they were really small he tolerated them but would snip at them occasionally if they got too close to him, his food, his water etc. but he was very protective of the duck. That pattern of behavior hasn't changed at all. I notice the duck will swim with the ducklings but the drake will swim alone in another pool and if he and the duck are in one of the pools together he will chase the ducklings off. He doesn't hurt them but they are very leary of him.

 

[sianara]

I dug out some pictures of them from October 2009 and now that I'm looking, both of their colors seem to be off...

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

there ya go...That's more of what they are supposed to look like.
Yep defiantely a pair of blue heads, and yes like all " blued" birds, they will make all 3 color, normal, blue, and silver (splash)

I just have never seen an adult male in eclipse plumage that totally looses all head color . Mine get pretty drabby, but still have some head markings. That boy there looks just like a 100% hen....that's what was looking odd to me.

It is a bit early to be that far along, mine are just starting to drop a few feathers , but in on the GA/FL line too.
If you got them from David, rest assured they are some of the best money can buy though.
No worried on the molt, different areas , differnt climates, etc start at different times. Pretty much when they are done with their breeding, the male will do it.

and no, late FALL early winter is when they start to get their breeding plumage back, so he should be coming back out of it by then and be like your Oct pics there.

beautiful birds!

 

[sianara]

Quote:
(Who am I talking to Aubrey or Aimee?)

I got some good pix today after sitting in their yard for over an hour in 90 degrees

What was lovely was after about 20 minutes or so they relaxed and went about their business. They walked within 2 feet of me and looked at me as they went by but they didn't RUN by

which is progress I guess. I took several videos as well as these photos and will upload them with a photobucket link in a separate post. (click on the thumbnails for a larger, clearer view).




Is this two males or female on left and male on right?




Top father
2nd down female?
3rd down female?
bottom male?




female on right?
male on left?
or both females?




female?




back male?
middle male or female?
front female?

These three ducklings are small, medium and large in size. Following your advice on bill sexing it looks as those the small one is female and the large one is male but I'm up in the air about the medium one. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) it's female...

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
(Who am I talking to Aubrey or Aimee?)

I got some good pix today after sitting in their yard for over an hour in 90 degrees

What was lovely was after about 20 minutes or so they relaxed and went about their business. They walked within 2 feet of me and looked at me as they went by but they didn't RUN by

which is progress I guess. I took several videos as well as these photos and will upload them with a photobucket link in a separate post. (click on the thumbnails for a larger, clearer view).



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0832.jpg[/URL]
Is this two males or female on left and male on right?


FEMALE LEFT, MALE RIGHT


[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0852.jpg[/URL]
Top father
2nd down female? YEP
3rd down female? THINK MALE
bottom male? YEP



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0857.jpg[/URL]
female on right?
male on left?
or both females?



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0884.jpg[/URL]
female?



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0836.jpg[/URL]
back male?
middle male or female?
front female?

These three ducklings are small, medium and large in size. Following your advice on bill sexing it looks as those the small one is female and the large one is male but I'm up in the air about the medium one. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) it's female...

Aubrey


yes , I'm in the same boat just from looks alone on them. The one solid billed one is defiantely a male. The one with the darker head and definate mottled bill is a hen.
The middle one, I'm like you not 100% on. Colored the same as the males, and the bill spot looks to be fading a bit.

A couple more weeks on them will be a definate help. They sure look nice and healthy though.
we'll just have to see on that other one. After the nex pics I'm leaning toward it being a male too, just not showing much hen coloring, too much white, not a dark enough face etc.

 

[sianara]

Here's a link to my photobucket account of a few videos.



http://s1131.photobucket.com/albums/m551/sianaraspix/

 

[sianara]

Quote:
(Who am I talking to Aubrey or Aimee?)

I got some good pix today after sitting in their yard for over an hour in 90 degrees

What was lovely was after about 20 minutes or so they relaxed and went about their business. They walked within 2 feet of me and looked at me as they went by but they didn't RUN by

which is progress I guess. I took several videos as well as these photos and will upload them with a photobucket link in a separate post. (click on the thumbnails for a larger, clearer view).



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0832.jpg[/URL]
Is this two males or female on left and male on right?


FEMALE LEFT, MALE RIGHT


[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0852.jpg[/URL]
Top father
2nd down female? YEP
3rd down female? THINK MALE
bottom male? YEP



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0857.jpg[/URL]
female on right?
male on left?
or both females?



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0884.jpg[/URL]
female?



[URL]https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/1824_dscn0836.jpg[/URL]
back male?
middle male or female?
front female?

These three ducklings are small, medium and large in size. Following your advice on bill sexing it looks as those the small one is female and the large one is male but I'm up in the air about the medium one. I'm hoping (fingers crossed) it's female...

Aubrey


yes , I'm in the same boat just from looks alone on them. The one solid billed one is defiantely a male. The one with the darker head and definate mottled bill is a hen.
The middle one, I'm like you not 100% on. Colored the same as the males, and the bill spot looks to be fading a bit.

A couple more weeks on them will be a definate help. They sure look nice and healthy though.
we'll just have to see on that other one. After the nex pics I'm leaning toward it being a male too, just not showing much hen coloring, too much white, not a dark enough face etc.

Hey Aubrey,

I think this week I'm going to try to "tag" them all on one leg with colored ziploc ties so I can keep track of who is who (put on with enough room to grow over the next few weeks but not enough to get snagged on something). I'm suspecting the middle one is a male mainly because it's so much larger than the female even though it's not as large as the definite male. Yeah, I guess you're right I'll just have to be patient and wait a few more weeks to see what it is for sure.

BTW I noticed today my drake Bo doesn't have his curl feather anymore. I'm such a bad duck keeper, I didn't even notice that until today

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

haha,
yep sometimes things just get past use.

Looked at my drakes good yesterday, they are pretty much like yours now too.

If you do catch them to band them, you'll know sex by voice. They are plenty old enough to either QUACK or not when you grab them up. If they have that old raspy Donald Duck sound to them, they are boys. If it's that load honkin quack it's a girl.
You can also vent sex them while you have them if you want to try that. It's pretty easy, will be happy to walk you threw it if you'd like.

 

[sianara]

It's been a few weeks now so I just took some more pix. I think the "undecided" one IS female

What do you think Aubrey (or anyone else for that matter)?


Left to right, the third one is the undecided... (Dad is the 4th from the left)



The one in the middle is the undecided...



(In the middle of the pic) Siblings: Female (undecided), Female and Male?



Siblings: left to right- Male, Female, Female (indecided)?



The two in the middle: Left Female (undecided) and female? (Dad on left outside and Mom on right outside)