Honking? And Marking.

[quackers123]

Hi! So I have four Pekin ducks, nearly four weeks old, and three of them have started doing this weird honking? Two of them only do it sometimes and mostly just peep, but the third one does it more than it peeps. I was wondering if this indicates the sex? I read that females start quacking sooner than males, so is this honking them quacking? They are not yet old enough to show tail feather distinction, they are getting feathers but they still have a lot of fluff.
Also, I was wondering if there was a safe way to mark them so we can tell them apart a little easier. Right now we can kind of tell them apart, with two of them having dark faces, one being super white, and one having crooked baby tail fluff. I worry when they get older and grow out of all this we won't be able to tell them apart, we've been thinking what if we put little coloured elastics on their legs? But I worry they'll manage to get them off and eat them some how? I don't know if that's a silly thought or not? Someone suggested we paint their toenails or put a bingo dabber spot on their bum, but I worry about toxins. I worry a lot about them. Any advice on these two things?
-Thank You!

 

[revmarcie]

O.K. We have 5 two and a half week old Pekins. One has started honking also. Don't know what that means either.
Now then, there are colored spiral leg bands that you can use to distinguish them - when they are larger. I think they recommend a size 12 for ducks when you look for them. We use the next size down for our chickens and they work wonderfully. They are easy to put on and don't worry the animals (at least after the first hour or so).

Sorry no one else answered earlier, I just saw this posting.

 

[cayugaducklady]

The honking means their voices are probably changing.. like human kids graduating from childhood and into puberty .

That's about the time that mine started making different noises.

I don't have any ideas for identifying them. I had four black ducks that didn't get names until December 2015. Before that everyone was just named duck & everyone came running when I called their name.