Ducklings on the way

[eggybritches]

On the seventh (ish) seven eggs are due to hatch. I'm way excited, especially seeing as how I've decided to keep one. I know that I should keep two, but I'll raise it and love it as my own and it'll bond with me and whatnot, and then I'll introduce it to my flock of three when it is old enough.

My problem is I really NEED a female, and I'm terrified to vent sex.

How would I go about sexing ducklings? Do you think I should put up a help ad in craigslist? I'd be willing to pay $10 or so if someone could just flip my ducklings upside down and say boy or girl for me.

Maybe one of y'all in Central Florida know how to vent sex? There would be $10 or free runner ducks in it for you. /wink wink nudge nudge

 

[CityChicker]

You can try to find someone to do it for you. Even the experts though only get it right about 90% of the time. If you absolutely must have a female, it might be easier to just order some sexed already than to try to find someone local to do it. It is a little more than $10, but you can also do DNA sexing on ducks. It is easy to do and very accurate, but it is expensive enough that most people wouldn't bother to do it on domestic ducks. Avian Biotech is very reliable though and has done it with ducks. They are located in Florida too, which might save some time on mailing samples. With a duckling, you would probably have to do the egg shell method which I think is about $25. http://www.avianbiotech.com/

If you have the colors to do it, you could also do a sex linked mating. What colors are the parent birds you have?