Ducklings question (Welsh Harleys)

[nao57]

So I thought I'd put these pics up to try to get help gender checking these welsh harlequinn ducklings.

I've read the thing where people say that the girls will have light or pink bills with a tip and that it darkens after a few days. And some of them do have that. And I'd read that the boys will have a dark bill right away, and some have that too. (It seems there's 4 with the light colored girl bills that are somewhat obvious and maybe 2 or 3 that are sort of in between, followed by several very dark already.

Sorry I don't have a better camera. This is what I had to work with.

The ones that are sort of in between...those are the ones I'm not sure about.

Since they never stop moving I can only hope there's no duplicates in the pics.

Thanks.

 

[Isaac 0]

How old are they?

 

[AgnesGray]

So I thought I'd put these pics up to try to get help gender checking these welsh harlequinn ducklings.

I've read the thing where people say that the girls will have light or pink bills with a tip and that it darkens after a few days. And some of them do have that. And I'd read that the boys will have a dark bill right away, and some have that too. (It seems there's 4 with the light colored girl bills that are somewhat obvious and maybe 2 or 3 that are sort of in between, followed by several very dark already.

Sorry I don't have a better camera. This is what I had to work with.

The ones that are sort of in between...those are the ones I'm not sure about.

Since they never stop moving I can only hope there's no duplicates in the pics.

Thanks.

Which ones are you not sure about? Lots of beautiful babies there

Edit to add: the bill sexing is said to be about 70% accurate. I've had one or two be uncertain and turn out differently than expected in the 30 or so ducklings I hatched this year. I try to keep the ones that hatch with unsure markings out of the breeding round for next year to keep that autosexing feature strong, but it can happen that they're not 100% clear.

 

[nao57]

How old are they?

Well they arrived today and would have been fresh hatch on Monday.

 

[nao57]

Which ones are you not sure about? Lots of beautiful babies there

Edit to add: the bill sexing is said to be about 70% accurate. I've had one or two be uncertain and turn out differently than expected in the 30 or so ducklings I hatched this year. I try to keep the ones that hatch with unsure markings out of the breeding round for next year to keep that autosexing feature strong, but it can happen that they're not 100% clear.

That's interesting. the uncertainty stuff, does it tend to favor either male or female more on that uncertainty?
I will post a separate reply for the uncertainty part.

But what was cool right off the bat, is that 10 were ordered and all 10 arrived alive. I was very surprised that all are alive. I did make it a point to order from a place that would include gro-gel.

But it seemed like they were livelier than other ducks also that I'd done by mail.

So I'm thinking that welsh harleys might just be a really stable breed. (?) What do you think about this?

I'm already liking them a lot more than pekings.

 

[nao57]

Which ones are you not sure about? Lots of beautiful babies there

Edit to add: the bill sexing is said to be about 70% accurate. I've had one or two be uncertain and turn out differently than expected in the 30 or so ducklings I hatched this year. I try to keep the ones that hatch with unsure markings out of the breeding round for next year to keep that autosexing feature strong, but it can happen that they're not 100% clear.

So here are the ones I'm wondering about by pic:

D1 - the center bill boy or girl?
D2 - D2 the one in back left is a boy right? And the back middle with beak hard to see is ...which?
D3 - The bottom left is a boy maybe? And the top left? What do you think?
D4 - Bottom left there is which?
D5 - The two in middle left lower, and middle, are those bills that are changing dark from being a few days old, or were they dark to begin with? Boy or girls?
D6 - bottom left is a girl?
DD1 The one in center; boy or girl? Left middle is a boy right? The one to the right of him, is a girl I'm guessing?
DD2 no question on this one.
DD3 The one bill on the left, is which? This is one that looks sort of in between to me.
DD4 The middle and middle right here I'm not sure about. Sorry bottom one can't see at all.

Sorry I'm not good at photography. And they won't hold still, darn it. :O

 

[nao57]

I forgot to ask also if the color of the feet matters in determining gender?

 

[AgnesGray]

That's interesting. the uncertainty stuff, does it tend to favor either male or female more on that uncertainty?
I will post a separate reply for the uncertainty part.

But what was cool right off the bat, is that 10 were ordered and all 10 arrived alive. I was very surprised that all are alive. I did make it a point to order from a place that would include gro-gel.

But it seemed like they were livelier than other ducks also that I'd done by mail.

So I'm thinking that welsh harleys might just be a really stable breed. (?) What do you think about this?

I'm already liking them a lot more than pekings.

Can I ask who shipped ducks with grogel? That's pretty cool.

I have had most of the uncertain ones turn out to be males, but that may have been due to my wishful hoping that they could still be girls. I did have one a couple months ago hatch that I didn't sell because it wasn't sure, but seemed to be a boy (had faint dark fish lines on the bill above the black dot on the tip). Grew up to be a a beautiful spunky gal that will live out her days in my non-breeder pen.

I am probably not the one to ask about how awesome harleys are becuase I think they're amazing! Incredible layers, very sweet, and obvioiusly gorgeous! (Not biased at all - haha!) On the finer details, they are not as likely to develop angel wing as the heavier breeds and are incredibly hardy in my experience. I love love my three Pekins, but they make quite a bit more mess than my harleys.

To answer your question about the feet, the color of their feet will change as they grow.

 

[nao57]

Can I ask who shipped ducks with grogel? That's pretty cool.

I have had most of the uncertain ones turn out to be males, but that may have been due to my wishful hoping that they could still be girls. I did have one a couple months ago hatch that I didn't sell because it wasn't sure, but seemed to be a boy (had faint dark fish lines on the bill above the black dot on the tip). Grew up to be a a beautiful spunky gal that will live out her days in my non-breeder pen.

I am probably not the one to ask about how awesome harleys are becuase I think they're amazing! Incredible layers, very sweet, and obvioiusly gorgeous! (Not biased at all - haha!) On the finer details, they are not as likely to develop angel wing as the heavier breeds and are incredibly hardy in my experience. I love love my three Pekins, but they make quite a bit more mess than my harleys.

To answer your question about the feet, the color of their feet will change as they grow.

Wow fun.

I have to ask though, it seems like there's 2 types of welsh harlys?

When I see pics it looks like there's some that look browner than others, and some that look more strikingly with white and a little black speckling? I have no idea if this is standard or if you are likely to get both from a hatchery.

I can see why people really like Welsh Harlys. And from now on I think I'm more preferenced to those types that are sweet in personality.

 

[nao57]

Metzer Farms is the one with the gro gel but I forgot if I had to ask for it or if it was extra. (I don't mind either way actually, though I'm a penny pincher.)