Buff Orpington Ducks? Sex?

[Debbie292d]

We have a pair of approximately 6-week-old ducks that were more or less dropped off here when they guessed they were two weeks old. We've had them a month. They are our first and only ducks. I could never tame them up. They are not very sociable. If I open the gate and walk in, they head for the hutch. I am disappointed, but perhaps it's the breed? They called them "Bluffs." Finding no duck breed called bluffs, I looked up buffs, and came to the conclusion online that they were buff orpington ducks.

But for sexing them, I couldn't find much other than that males should have darker breasts. Neither do, but one has browner wings than the other. Otherwise, they look identical.

Does anyone raise these and know?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Are they quacking yet? Females will be louder. I don't think they have their adult plumage yet. The males should get a darker head, and yellow bill from my reading. They do look like buff ducks, but I've never owned them.

 

[Debbie292d]

Are they quacking yet? Females will be louder. I don't think they have their adult plumage yet. The males should get a darker head, and yellow bill from my reading. They do look like buff ducks, but I've never owned them.

Both quack pretty loud when we come near!

 

[BoundlessLove]

Female ducklings will develop a quack that gets louder the older they get. Males will start getting a quieter low raspy sound. It is much quieter/softer than the female quacking sound.
By eight weeks old it will be much clearer to tell male or female.

 

[BoundlessLove]

I only have Blue Swedish and Black Swedish right now. Have had Pekin ducks in the past. Never had Buff Orpingtons, but they are pretty.

 

[KathiQuacks]

Beautiful birdies!! These are Buff Orpingtons, yes. They look a tad older to me, around 7-7.5 weeks old.

Ducks are naturally pretty skittish and need a bit of work to come around. I’d recommend working them up to hand feeding & hanging out near by as much as you can. Limit touching or handling - most ducks do not enjoy it. And let them be the ones to approach you. Good chances they’ll come around. I’ve taken on a few flighty adult ducks who have turned around entirely & now trust me a lot.

As for sexing, voice comes in first. Girls will start peep-honking at around 1.5-3 weeks, progressing into a loud, defined quack by 6-8 weeks. Boys will keep a raspy, baby peep-peep for a while and will not get their adult rasp until 10-12 weeks.
Then bill color comes in at about 6 weeks, I believe. For Buffs, pink bill is female. Orange could be either. Yellow is male.
Then plumage last. Ducks are born with nearly identical plumage. The males won’t start getting their dark heads & breasts until 8+ weeks of age.

 

[Debbie292d]

Beautiful birdies!! These are Buff Orpingtons, yes. They look a tad older to me, around 7-7.5 weeks old.

Ducks are naturally pretty skittish and need a bit of work to come around. I’d recommend working them up to hand feeding & hanging out near by as much as you can. Limit touching or handling - most ducks do not enjoy it. And let them be the ones to approach you. Good chances they’ll come around. I’ve taken on a few flighty adult ducks who have turned around entirely & now trust me a lot.

As for sexing, voice comes in first. Girls will start peep-honking at around 1.5-3 weeks, progressing into a loud, defined quack by 6-8 weeks. Boys will keep a raspy, baby peep-peep for a while and will not get their adult rasp until 10-12 weeks.
Then bill color comes in at about 6 weeks, I believe. For Buffs, pink bill is female. Orange could be either. Yellow is male.
Then plumage last. Ducks are born with nearly identical plumage. The males won’t start getting their dark heads & breasts until 8+ weeks of age.

Thank you, Kathi! I don't know how I missed your reply as I had been watching for answers! Thank you!

I'm leaning they're both females at this point, as both are loudly honk quacking at us, but shortly, time will tell.

I've been working with them a little bit as far as when I feed them ferment or mash, they have a special dish that sits empty until I put something in it, and when they see me go by it with my bucket, they try get close, back off, come close, back off, lol. I may get 'em to come closer soon. It's been kind of a game. Weird they'd been this way since we got them and we handled them a lot, letting them bathe in our kitchen sink, then when they got too big for that, downstairs in the bathtub. When we could put them outside, now they're used to my hubby's voice and honk loud when they hear it. He's the one who daily dumps their water bin and refills it for them.

They're getting a new pen in the next couple of days, then we'll try letting them free range a little bit. I've had them out a couple of times and they head right back in. They're a little shy to be out of their domain I guess.

Thanks again for all the helpful info!