calling all duck experts question about pekin ducks????

[rb roosting]

I bought 6 pekin from tsc 6 weeks ago, was just wondering?????
1. how long til they start laying
2. how do you tell male from female
3. when could i put some in freezer if i have to (hope i didn't offend anyone

)
4. why are they so messy lol thought i lil humor was needed after ? #3
Thank you in advance

 

[Crazy4cochins]

Thats where i got my pekins
I can tell the boys from girls by the curl in the tail - means it's a boy. but mine are still 2 young for that. but one I think is a female she is very loud and quacks alot. The 2 runners I have I am not sure of yet ones tail looks girly but i am waiting a while longer.
I have 3 adult ducks i got a week before the babies from a friend.( 2 pekin and 1 runner.)
The female just went through a molt and it's been about 13 days and i have 10 eggs

as of today.
The previous owner said she will be a year in july.
they grow fast!! They are nasty little poop machines , I will never ever brood them inside ever again!!!

 

[1lpoock]

1. How long til they start laying?

20 to 30 weeks of age

2. How do you tell male from female?

At six weeks you can tell by their quacks. Females quack loud while males have a whispery, raspy quack.

3. When could i put some in freezer if i have to?

12 to 20 weeks of age

4. Why are they so messy lol thought i lil humor was needed after?

Ducks love water...period. They eat, sleep, poop, and poop some more

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
#3 most Pekins go off to freezer camp as soon as they have their full set of feathers usually 7-12 weeks.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

We process pekins on a regular basis, and tend to shoot for 7 weeks and 2 days. If we miss that, then we will try 12 1/2 weeks because pin feathers can really be a problem. I tried that once, and it was a nightmare.

I have added a reference from Metzer Farms.

From http://www.metzerfarms.com/ProcessingWaterfowl.cfm?CustID=40751

As waterfowl have so many feathers, you want to pluck them when it is the easiest to get them all out. This is when the feathers are all mature and there are no pin (or immature) feathers. For ducks this is at about 7, 12.5 or 18 weeks of age. For geese it is normally at 9, 15 or 20 weeks of age. If you try to process between these "windows of opportunity" you will encounter large numbers of pin feathers that may double or triple your processing time and effort.

 

[rb roosting]

cool thanks for all the help I got alot of good info. Thats why I love this sight, maybe they outta change the name to simple poultry raising for simple people (meaning me of course lol) thanks again guess me and my wife need to decide how many to keep ????? If not all they are pretty funny to watch