Can anyone help us to understand what to expect with Holderread order?

[Learningstill]

Learningstill: I plan on separating them early next year. Ill make sure I get purebred eggs before having the ducks hatch em. I plan on getting some Adult Pilgrim Geese this week to keep the ducks company. I also hope I can get adult Muscovys to help hatch out some eggs if the Ducks don't. Your ducks look amazing btw. I wish I woulda got some TSQ ducks now that seeing how nice yours look. What do you plan on doing with your duckies?

Well, they are actually my 12 year old daughter's fair project. She started and runs her own farm! Since starting she decided to go with the endangered theme, so she plans to breed them and sell them. That is part of the reason I was asking how you plan to separate the breeds. I have breeding pens planned, but I want to do it right or closest to. Please post pictures of what you use when you finish...

Thanks, they do look nice.... Sorry about the lack of modesty When comparing the TSQ and REG stock, I think out of the saxony and silver appleyard, the saxony are the closest looking when compared, the silver appleyard look quite different. Their chests, heads, and some color variations are different; whereas, the saxony color is slightly more or less rich, and their eye markings vary.

 

[mamdoe]

You can try the grab and walk away method Around their age, we grab one duck and walk away from the rest. If it honks or peeps loudly and a ton it is a duck if it peeps quiet and raspy and less it is a drake. This is usually pretty accurate. Otherwise, the drakes heads are more gray and the ducks is brown. Best of luck! You could also post some photos and someone will respond.

Thanks for the tip! I have tried this and think that I do have one Silver Appleyard duck and drake....but still feel so unsure! How old are yours in the pics? I keep looking and tryin to compare. Here is a pic (not a great one) of the SA I'm thinking/hoping is a girl..what do you think?
Also, is it the bill color that gives it away for the welsh harlequin? I have 4 two TSQ and two regular, at this point they all look the same! I keep trying the grab method, but then can't tell which one I picked up as ducklings I kept the 3 I thought were girls and the one TSQ that I assumed boy.

 

[Learningstill]

Thanks for the tip! I have tried this and think that I do have one Silver Appleyard duck and drake....but still feel so unsure! How old are yours in the pics? I keep looking and tryin to compare. Here is a pic (not a great one) of the SA I'm thinking/hoping is a girl..what do you think?
Also, is it the bill color that gives it away for the welsh harlequin? I have 4 two TSQ and two regular, at this point they all look the same! I keep trying the grab method, but then can't tell which one I picked up as ducklings I kept the 3 I thought were girls and the one TSQ that I assumed boy.

I do not see any of your pictures. Our ducklings were about a month and a half in the photos. Regarding the welsh...their bill color difference only works for the first few days of life. Their feather colors change as they feather out. The drake will have a darker head like ours in the photo. Well you should be able to hear the differences soon if you cannot now, unless they are all the same gender.

 

[Ruralpearls]

UPDATED PHOTOS!!!

TSQ Silver Welsh Harlequin (pair)




Silver Appleyard TSQ pair

2 in foreground TSQ, 2 in background regular stock also a pair!

2 in middle are drakes, 1 TSQ and 1 Reg.






Saxony (TSQ- lighter two in the middle) (all ducks no drakes

we wanted 1 drake)






(Please ignore the black poo. They are not sick or anything; they have been eating a ton of mulberries!)

 

[Learningstill]

Ruralpearls, this is not our first set of ducklings, so we have been through the gender guessing before and paid close attention to differences and similarities, such as the voice. If the quack is quieter and raspy then it is a drake; If it is loud and a honk it is a duck. We have had 100% accuracy with this alone. Also, certain breeds their are differences some may slight and some more drastic, but we document those as well and that helps us later. We try not to depend on vent sexing because we have a harder time.

If you notice, both our TSQ and REG silver appleyards have a color difference in their heads. The girls heads are more brown and the boys more slate. That is the biggest difference we noticed. We have not given them as much attention due to our busy schedule, but we plan to examine them closer soon. We also ban their legs and keep track of our progress, so we know if our hypothesis holds up. I posted varying ages of them for reference as well.

I wish you the best with your babies. How many do you have?

 

[Ruralpearls]

Ruralpearls, this is not our first set of ducklings, so we have been through the gender guessing before and paid close attention to differences and similarities, such as the voice. If the quack is quieter and raspy then it is a drake; If it is loud and a honk it is a duck. We have had 100% accuracy with this alone. Also, certain breeds their are differences some may slight and some more drastic, but we document those as well and that helps us later. We try not to depend on vent sexing because we have a harder time.

If you notice, both our TSQ and REG silver appleyards have a color difference in their heads. The girls heads are more brown and the boys more slate. That is the biggest difference we noticed. We have not given them as much attention due to our busy schedule, but we plan to examine them closer soon. We also ban their legs and keep track of our progress, so we know if our hypothesis holds up. I posted varying ages of them for reference as well.

I wish you the best with your babies. How many do you have?

Hmm, that is so interesting to know. I have five regular SA's plus two Golden Cascades. This is my first time owning ducks and I am all a puzzle about their gender. The SA's are making sort of a strange honk while my two GCs are still making the 'baby duck' noise. I will have to pay more attention to the color of their heads. Thanks so much for the advice

 

[jeffreypresley]

Ours were all healthy beautiful birds and hove done very well. They have excellent customer service though during the busy season will give you short answers...

 

[Learningstill]

Ours were all healthy beautiful birds and hove done very well. They have excellent customer service though during the busy season will give you short answers...

What did you order? Did you get them on your expected date? If not, why? Please share photos of them....
Thanks!

 

[jeffreypresley]

I ordered

and Runner ducks as well as Dewlap Toulouse. All arrived on the expected date and were healthy birds. I'm selling some now because I have too many, but they are great birds!