Help With Duck Sexing Please

FarmFullOfFowl

Songster
Jun 7, 2021
48
146
109
Olympic Peninsula, Washington
My Magpies turned 11 weeks old yesterday and I am having such a time sexing them. When they were a week old, I tried the vent sexing, but I had never done it before and I was so scared that I was going to hurt the cute little fluffs, that I just couldn't. Now there are so many that its very hard to hear just one from the crowd, but its something that needs to be done. Yes, I understand that my Magpies are not great specimens and most of them are overmarked and looks like there is some possible Ancona in their line. These were day-olds shipped from Purely Poultry in March 2021. I honestly think that most of our flock are drakes. I am super new here and for reference, we are starting a small farm on our 47 acres and the Magpies were purchased to be our slug control, so I am not particularly concerned that they do not look correct to breed. But, nonetheless, I am not going to be breeding any of the ones that look particularly over-marked. This means that my family can get rid of (I have been a vegetarian since I was 11, but my family eats meat and I am all for me growing their food for them) a few drakes that are particularly overmarked or small at this point.
That bring me to why I am posting this. I need help! Yes, I have looked up how to tell the difference in sounds from a drake versus a female duck but I really am having a hard time telling the difference. If anyone is willing to help me out here with some experience, I would greatly appreciate it since we have 21 of these babies and I don't know who is who. Also, I have seen zero drake feather curls.

Please disregard the background flock talking their heads off. What do you think?

For reference, this is what I think is a female:
1.

And this is a drake, right?
2.

And I THINK this is female, except I swear that this one makes little drake sounds sometimes when its walking around:
3.

A drake?
4.

Another drake?
5.

Yet another drake?
6.

No clue.
7.

Am I totally off? They just sound so similar to me!! This is the first time I have ever been around or raised ducks, Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
Ok. Maybe I have a few more females than I thought? So anything other than this quiet rasping are the ladies, then? There are so many sounds these sillies make that its a bit daunting.
Yep! Girls will quack and make all sorts of funny noises, but the drakes will only rasp.
 
We purchased some colored bands for the duckies so we could tell who we had already determined and who was left. I THINK we have nine drakes and 12 females. The ones we weren't certain of, we placed the band on the right foot, and the ones that seemed certain, we put the band on the left foot. I think we will reduce the flock soon since we don't need none drakes around here :) The drakes were the most mellow of the bunch though.
 

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