Feed store duckling roulette?

[bluemerle]

Has anyone had any luck with actually getting just females from feed store bins? I know you can look for obvious signs, i.e picking only the smallest ducklings. Maybe waiting until the differences are a little more obvious?

In other words: please convince me not to think about the ducklings my feed store said are going to be coming in the second week of February.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Did that as a newbie last summer and ended up with six cute yellow fluff balls. At the store they did not know the gender nor the breed. In the end one died and no i have two drakes and three ducks. That will be an interesting spring! - I will never buy store ducklings again - unless i learn to sex the little ones myself.

 

[chickens really]

No different than buying from a local farmer actually. I don't sex Ducklings either. You get what you get.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

No different than buying from a local farmer actually. I don't sex Ducklings either. You get what you get.

In almost all cases you are correct, but at least one Pekin duck farmer around here is actually sexing her birds. She claims that if they are being raised separately, the females meat is of a higher quality.
I would definitely not buy any unsexed ducklings again, it seems that the USPS is doing a very good job with transporting one-day old ducklings and almost all hatcheries do sell sexed babies.

 

[chickens really]

In almost all cases you are correct, but at least one Pekin duck farmer around here is actually sexing her birds. She claims that if they are being raised separately, the females meat is of a higher quality.
I would definitely not buy any unsexed ducklings again, it seems that the USPS is doing a very good job with transporting one-day old ducklings and almost all hatcheries do sell sexed babies.

No Hatcheries here for Ducklings and the only one doesn't sex Ducklings. Definitely a toss of the dice.

 

[bluemerle]

Did that as a newbie last summer and ended up with six cute yellow fluff balls. At the store they did not know the gender nor the breed. In the end one died and no i have two drakes and three ducks. That will be an interesting spring! - I will never buy store ducklings again - unless i learn to sex the little ones myself.

Luckily my feed store does know the breed! That's what's so tempting - if they end up with a breed I actually want, it would save me the stress and added cost of shipping. But the main draw of a hatchery is that they sex ducklings. It's tough.

 

[DuckyDonna]

If you vent sex them they have to be just a day or so old right? Is that the case or can they be a few days old? If so, can you not vent sex the ducklings at the store as long as they are really young? Of course you'd need to bring a magnifying glass.

I tried that last year with the ones I hatched and I was so nervous I wasn't sure what I'd done. I think I needed a bigger magnifying glass!

 

[Going Quackers]

When i got my pekin... half doz. I got 1 drake and 5 ducks, unreal. That was the duck powerball lotto and unlikely to be repeated

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

If you vent sex them they have to be just a day or so old right? Is that the case or can they be a few days old? If so, can you not vent sex the ducklings at the store as long as they are really young? Of course you'd need to bring a magnifying glass.
I tried that last year with the ones I hatched and I was so nervous I wasn't sure what I'd done. I think I needed a bigger magnifying glass!

The answer is right here on BYC:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-it-possible-to-vent-sex-a-5-week-old-duckling.772313/

 

[DuckyDonna]

The answer is right here on BYC:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-it-possible-to-vent-sex-a-5-week-old-duckling.772313/

thanks! I got my new Storey's Guide book just yesterday. I forgot I had it.

I got 5 eggs today from my 6 girls today! Wo Wo!