Duck and chickens - intro

[QuackyMomma]

Not really sure if it's a girl... I should be able to know in a couple of weeks right? From the quacking sound he/she'll make? Any way of finding out earlier?

I tried to make a diaper out of a sock based on that thread and it didn't work too well... the duckling kept getting her feet tangled in the sock as it frayed at the edges. I just ended up walking around with a roll of toilet paper and cleaning up poo as it was produced. Lucky I've got timber & tile floor only.

 

[ChampionAlex]

Cute little duckling

 

[QuackyMomma]

Hmm... it's a boy! Definitely has a penis... can't believe I just looked up a duck's rear end to figure out the sex

 

[jdywntr]

The only way to tell sooner would be to vent sex it but its not something that should really be tried by the inexperienced. I've never attempted it myself.

Between 5-8 weeks old it will start to make adult sounds. It can be very difficult to determine without comparison though. Also, if it is a male it will get a curled feather on it's tail at around 4 months old. Pekin are big so you won't be able to use size as a determinant.

 

[QuackyMomma]

I'll check again tomorrow... if I see penises two days in a row... then it must be a boy

 

[QuackyMomma]

Yeah, vent sexing is what I did... there's a video on youtube, metzer farm. The guy holds the duckling upside down and then gently pushes the vent apart. That's what I did. The duckling didn't resist, it kept his/her feet stil, I spread the vent slightly apart, out came a bit of poo which I wiped away and then out came the tip of a little bit that looked like a tiny worm head... I'm assuming that's the penis. When I released the fingers it all got nicely tucked back in.

 

[jdywntr]

Well, it sounds like you've got a boy. I've watched the video a number of times just haven't gottent the nerve to try it myself. If you didn't see anything it may have been a girl but it can just not have been done accurately but sense you saw a penis, its a boy.

You may want to seriously consider getting it a female friend. Drakes will end up trying to mate with chickens if they don't have any ducks (sometimes even if they do) and this is dangerous/deadly for the chicken.

 

[QuackyMomma]

Had a closer look today with good light... couldn't see anything that would look like a penis. Weird. Maybe it was a bit of poo.

 

[QuackyMomma]

P.S. I live in Australia... but I'm training my duck to be bilingual haha, hence the weird language

 

[DenverDucky]

What a cutie I miss my ducky being that little!

Out of curiosity, what language were you speaking?