difficulty seeing khakis

[willjh]

Hello all,
I have 8 khakis who are 7 weeks old. All have full plumage. I am trying to determine who's who in the zoo but am having difficulty.
If I go by plumage/tail feathers (curl) I have 1 male. If I go by orange bills and feet I have 3 males and 5 females with greenish / copper bills. If it go by call (quack or raspy) I have 5 males 3 females. The calls is what I went by to band my males but the calls is in contradiction to other sexing methods.
Any tips or advice would be welcome.

 

[GitaBooks]

That is confusing. The tail is a sure method, bills are a less certain method (that I know of). However, I don't keep ducks, so I can't be sure.

 

[needlessjunk]

That is confusing. The tail is a sure method, bills are a less certain method (that I know of). However, I don't keep ducks, so I can't be sure.

Tails curls are not a sure method. Voice is. Take a look at this link and it should help you understand what you are looking for. Males cannot quack. But at 7 weeks males aren't usually raspy yet and are more than likely still peeping. If you are hearing honking then it's a girl. Once they are older you will hear the difference right away but since they are still young it is hard to tell sometimes. Also tail curls don't really happen till 14-16 weeks but can happen sooner. A tail curl can be pulled out or a female can rock a slight curl as well. http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm

 

[willjh]

Thanks for the info. The three I think are female sound exactly like my year old 300s. The 5 that I suspect are male have a very dry sound when they try to quack. From what I've read I strongly believe they're male but I'm going to keep them around for a bit longer to confirm as they get older. They are probably only 7 weeks old now.