Can you help identify ducks gender?

[Motherofbirds]

Hi friends,
I am a first time duck mom and was wondering a couple things about duck gender… My babies are about 8 weeks old, so I am aware it’s early but still appreciate your opinions.
I read that girls quack and boys make a quieter sound. I hear the 2 Cayugas definitely quacking.
One of the Runners may be quacking (unsure) but the Khakis and the other Runner are definitely quieter.
Also read that the color and size can help figure out the gender, well…
The 2 Khakis look exactly the same, one Cayuga is definitely smaller than the other and one Runner has slightly darker colors than the other.
The other thing I read is about the “male feather” and I definitely don’t see it in anybody.
My biggest concern is the male to female ratio, so my last question is, at what age do I need to do something about it?
Thank you for pitching in

 

[Duckiiess]

The khaki drake heads will start to change color pretty soon which is a giveaway for them... the khaki on the right looks like a drake to me here but can't tell 100%. I don't know about runners, but the cayuga males will be larger and more colorful.
If you hold them/ make them kinda uncomfortable they'll either quack or rasp at you.. I marked my cayuga drakes with zipties around their ankles for quick identification going forward- loose, just tight enough not to fall off.

 

[Duckiiess]

What age do you NEED to do something about it? Maybe never, each flock is different. You have plenty of time before they start to breed though, the khaki colors will be really apparent around 14 weeks, they probably won't start breeding for 18-20 weeks.

 

[Motherofbirds]

What age do you NEED to do something about it? Maybe never, each flock is different. You have plenty of time before they start to breed though, the khaki colors will be really apparent around 14 weeks, they probably won't start breeding for 18-20 weeks.

Thank you for your reply, it‘s very helpful

 

[JustCallMeMaple]

If you really want to know if they quack you can separate them one at a time and see if they quack or make a heavy smokers attempt at quacking.. I posted my khaki to color check and guess and got back hen x3 sure enough today I got a very loud quack. There was no mistaking the sound. I don't see drake feathers now so I'm inclined to say you are hen heavy but I can't see their back ends (doesn't include some getting plucked or molting out) but it's early. Until they show and you get the egg or see the feathers the next best is to grab one and separate it away. I hope they turn out to be what you're hoping to have (gender wise)

 

[Motherofbirds]

If you really want to know if they quack you can separate them one at a time and see if they quack or make a heavy smokers attempt at quacking.. I posted my khaki to color check and guess and got back hen x3 sure enough today I got a very loud quack. There was no mistaking the sound. I don't see drake feathers now so I'm inclined to say you are hen heavy but I can't see their back ends (doesn't include some getting plucked or molting out) but it's early. Until they show and you get the egg or see the feathers the next best is to grab one and separate it away. I hope they turn out to be what you're hoping to have (gender wise)

Thank you for your response, I am mostly worried about the Khakis being boys since they don’t quack… hoping they will be late quackers

 

[cheezenkwackers]

The Khakis are definitely both boys. Only males have dark solid feathers right above their tails, females have lighter two-toned feathers. Sorry!

 

[Motherofbirds]

The Khakis are definitely both boys. Only males have dark solid feathers right above their tails, females have lighter two-toned feathers. Sorry!

Oh nooo

 

[ibarbidahl]

By looks alone you have one of each runner and khaki - and possibly 2 female cayuga. But you can't really go by looks - need to listen for that quack. All the females should be quacking by now. The drake feather wont come in until the second juvenile molt - around 14-16 weeks.

Good luck! (and when you need to do something depends on how many males, and their temperament.) Get rid of any drakes that mate too rough or are mean in general.

 

[indianaducks]

I bought mine straight run back in January and wound up with 8 ladies and 9 drakes. I slowly started sending problem drakes to freezer camp, starting around 5 months old. I also had no idea when or how to tell, but it became very apparent when I had duck world war outside my front window, and my ladies were waking up without feathers on their necks.