Did they sell me drakes? Do hens ever rasp instead of quack?

[GoatHouseProductions]

Yikes. Trouble with the gosh darn feed store.

First they sold me a khaki campbell and said it was a runner. I had a feeling something wasn't right but I thought she'd straighten out or something with age. But nope. She's definitely a khaki campbell but of course I got attached so...what to do what to do.

But now my "girls" are a couple months old, no longer peeping like babies, but they have raspy hoarse quacks! They don't sound at all like my runner hens. But no drake feathers...

I have ducks for egg production only, for us to eat! Not for breeding or hatching egg, not just for the heck of it...I don't want boys. Did I get boys? The runner is about the same size as my 6 month old laying hens, but "she" was born mid-May.

What the heck?! When do drake feathers show up, do hens ever rasp, do khakis sound drastically different from runners, and what are other signs these may be boys? If I have to re-home and raise new babies I wanna know so I can do it NOW.

 

[FenDruadin]

Ugh. Feed stores. Grrrr. Well, I won't say that females *never* rasp, but if you've got 2-month-olds that sound significantly different (raspier) than your female runners and are never quacking loudly, then best guess is that they are males. They don't develop curly tail feathers till they are close to sexual maturity.

Sorry.

And good luck...