Do Rouen ducks feathers change color?

[BaJa]

mixed breeds: 1 male, 3 female
Rouen: male

 

[TonyaS]

Thank you! Over the last few days I've noticed (since they are finally getting comfortable around here) that the two males do seem to stand guard when the other 3 are sleeping and when the 3 are up playing in the pool during the day the 2 males sleep. Thank you so much for all your help!
Any advice on if I need to do anything for them if Hurricane Irma hits us? They are free range and they do not go into any kind of coop at night because I got them wild and figured they would be much happier staying that way. My husband says they will find a place to hunker down and stay safe, that if I tried to put them inside a building somewhere that would cause them too much stress. I'm so worried I will lose them if the winds and rains are too much.

 

[KimTatum03]

yes, you got to keep an eye on ratios. it looks like you got 2 male, two female, and the Rouen Duck. if you could put a good close-up picture of them, I can tell if they're male or female by there beaks. you got some pretty nice ducks

Can you tell if this Rouen is male or female?

 

[Betsy57]

Immature drakes and adult drakes after the breeding season have eclipse plumage - more female in nature. He will eventually molt back to his nuptial more colorful plumage. Your birds are in beautiful condition. They are old enough that you should be able to 'voice' sex them. Hens will have a loud quack whereas drakes will have a raspy more quiet voice. Bill color sexing sometimes works. Drakes will have a paler/more green bill and hens will have darker bills.

I just noticed my male lost his pretty green head and band around neck. He is 1 yr old. Glad to hear he will get his color back

 

[Gardener Cruz]

Hi everyone! My family and I have slowly been starting a little farm with chickens, guinea's and ducks. We originally adopted 4 ducks when they were about 6 weeks old, they are a mix of Cayuga and Rouen. Two days after we brought them home a male (we assume) Rouen just showed up on our property. We put postings out to make sure he didn't just accidently get away from his own property but no one claimed him. He seemed to introduce himself to the ducklings and just made himself at home. A week later another duck showed up not far from our property, identical to the one we now had so we realized someone is dumping ducks where we live. The ducklings are now 14 weeks old and are pretty much the same size as the one that showed up. In the time he's been here his beautiful feathers have changed, he seems to be losing all those beautiful colors, even the white stripe around his neck. Since I'm new to having ducks can someone tell me if this is normal? Did we assume wrong that this is a male? Also, when should we be able to tell if the 4 ducklings are male or female? I have attached pictures of the Rouen when he first showed up and what he looks like now. You can also see the 4 ducklings in the background. Thanks for all your advice!!View attachment 1108698 View attachment 1108699 View attachment 1108700 View attachment 1108701

I may be wrong but I see two male and two female ducklings. And the adult male rouen. The last one that appeared on ur property was it a male or female and did u keep it?

 

[Jmcintosh23]

I have a two older rouens one male and one female and I'm gladni found this post bc mine has lost its green and now the newer ducks are starting to get their green in and now there are 5 all together and 5 females all together.. so how many males could I take away...? I was thinking about processing some ducks.

 

[Jmcintosh23]

That's just some of them. there's either 9 other 10 I'll have to take another photo.