Common to false advertise?

[Kellymicjelly]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I have had chickens for a few years and have recently added Pekin ducks to our family. We started with a male and female, bought as chicks. We were advised to add more females to keep everyone healthy and happy and just in case we lose one, so we picked up two 8 month old Swedish Blues from a woman advertising them as female. They turned out to both be males. Rehoming them was so difficult, as most people are looking for hens. The original seller wouldn’t take them back or refund us, and it felt like we had been purposely duped.
We then found a listing for 2 Pekin hens and the woman assured us they were both female and recently laying. I had no reason to doubt it as they sounded similar and looked about the same size, except our drake wouldn’t stop picking on one of them and pushing it away. Today I separated the original pair from the two newer ducks, and the one that’s been picked on mounted the other.
I’m so frustrated, and am just curious if it’s common for *some* people who breed and sell ducks to purposefully pass them off as females to get rid of the less desired males? Any insight is appreciated!
Kelly

 

[black_cat]

I think that it's probably more common to people say that they're 'definitely' female when they actually have no idea or don't know for sure, especially when you're buying them at a young age.

 

[Aapomp831]

I Think people will do anything to get rid of roosters and drakes.

 

[Kellymicjelly]

I Think people will do anything to get rid of roosters and drakes.

It’s so sad.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I’m sorry that happened to you.

 

[Trisseh]

Mounting isn’t always only done by drakes. Hens will mount each other too. Their voices will tell you more than anything else. Do they QUACK or do they sound raspy, like a chain smoking duck? If they’re old enough to be supposedly laying eggs, their voices will for sure be a distinguishing feature. Drakes will often have a “drake curl” in their tail as well, but some have subtle ones or if they’ve molted it might not be present.

As for your frustration with being sold birds that are definitely of an age that there should be no doubt as to sex, I agree. There are definitely some unscrupulous people out there. That being said, there are also those that truly don’t know. They would not be the ones to refuse to take back their mistakes, though, in my opinion.

When I sell ducklings I’ve hatched, unless they’re old enough for their voices to have changed, I always tell the buyer that I believe specific ducklings are female, but that they may still wind up being male. I don’t sell them as sexed, but I like to be up front with whoever is purchasing them. If for some reason they absolutely cannot have a/another drake, I give them the option of waiting til 8-10 weeks of age instead or until their voice changes. They’re all individuals so some take a bit longer than others. They pay more at that point if they’re female because I have to feed them longer, but it results in a lot less unhappy people.

 

[Kellymicjelly]

Mounting isn’t always only done by drakes. Hens will mount each other too. Their voices will tell you more than anything else. Do they QUACK or do they sound raspy, like a chain smoking duck? If they’re old enough to be supposedly laying eggs, their voices will for sure be a distinguishing feature. Drakes will often have a “drake curl” in their tail as well, but some have subtle ones or if they’ve molted it might not be present.

As for your frustration with being sold birds that are definitely of an age that there should be no doubt as to sex, I agree. There are definitely some unscrupulous people out there. That being said, there are also those that truly don’t know. They would not be the ones to refuse to take back their mistakes, though, in my opinion.

When I sell ducklings I’ve hatched, unless they’re old enough for their voices to have changed, I always tell the buyer that I believe specific ducklings are female, but that they may still wind up being male. I don’t sell them as sexed, but I like to be up front with whoever is purchasing them. If for some reason they absolutely cannot have a/another drake, I give them the option of waiting til 8-10 weeks of age instead or until their voice changes. They’re all individuals so some take a bit longer than others. They pay more at that point if they’re female because I have to feed them longer, but it results in a lot less unhappy people.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply! I didn’t know hens will mount each other, I’ll have to look in to this further. This duck definitely sounds like the other females and does not have a drake feather.

 

[Trisseh]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply! I didn’t know hens will mount each other, I’ll have to look in to this further. This duck definitely sounds like the other females and does not have a drake feather.

I have 3 ducks in with a very shy drake right now; the girls are all hormonal and flirty and the poor drake doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, so when he doesn’t help a girl out, one of the other ladies climbs on top and “mates” with her. It can also sometimes be a dominance behaviour.
Sometimes it helps to isolate voices by picking them up one by one and walking away from their friends a bit. Usually that’ll get them quacking. lol. If you’re having a hard time separating out what voice belongs to which bird, this may help.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

I have had duck piles before, a female on the bottom, mounted by another female, with a male on top. Male ducks have a definite penis, you can check for it by finding a "sexing male ducks" video, or as the top duck is mounting, look for the penis as it comes out. Also, are you getting eggs? More eggs than before? If they were already laying, you could separate just that pair and see if you ever get 2 eggs in one day. That would answer your question.