How old were your runners when they started quacking?

[WadeMD]

How about Cayuga? How old were they?

Out of my 8 (2 swedish, 1 cayuga, 5 runners) - one of them (a black, so a runner or a cayuga) seems to be shifting in tone, can almost hear a quacking noise starting, although its very faint. They are only 2 weeks old today.

 

[Amiga]

WadeMD,

I have only runners, as you may remember.

Their voices started changing around the end of the second week or beginning of the third. It is gradual, with a peeephonk at first, and now completing their fourth week, once or twice a day I hear a honkquack. Still many peeps, especially when they get excited, which happens more often now. They seemed more mellow the first two weeks. I reckon they have more energy, they are adolescents (need I say more), and I have taken them outdoors for a few hours a couple of times over the weekend, so their self-protective instincts are being activated.

 

[WadeMD]

I have done the same... taken them on walks in the back yard and had them out while we were doing yard work (in a pen). The one is definitely shifting, but its faint... its staggering how fast they grow. I thought someone had told me that they don't really change until about 2-3 months... guess that person was wrong.

 

[Amiga]

Maybe it's the runners - I was not looking for a voice change yet!! But the more quacks I get, the better. I ordered all females, but won't be surprised or disappointed with a drake or two. Beyond that I don't think I have a good female to male ratio (4.5 females per male seems about right, based on anything I have heard).

Hey! I just heard a short "quack." Aww. All the joys and sadness of parenthood in about two short months!

Uh. oh. Someone just squeeled. They preen each other, and sometimes someone gets tired of being preened by the others. Ducklings these days!

Here is my smallest, elf (German for eleven)

She is about a week behind in development, but she is growing and maturing.

Here is a pic, same day, of some of the rest of the brood.

The rest have their adult feathers on their bellies and shoulders.

 

[gryeyes]

My two Cayuga ducklings (lordy, they're 5 wks old and almost not DUCKLINGS any more!) are still making little duck sounds. Their peeps sound more like whistles than peeps. Occasionally, one of the two will whistle pretty loudly, but it's always as I'm leaving the bathroom where I keep the two brooders (one for 2 ducks, 1 for 4 chicks). So I can't tell who is sounding different from the other.

They can get out of the brooder now, but not back into it, so every now and then I've been finding a duck sleeping in a little crevice between the brooders, on an old towel. Or sitting proudly on top of the cat litter box, which is right NEXT to the brooder and apparently used as the step for their escape route.

But they're not quacking. As hard as I try, I cannot tell which of the two is making softer whistles than the other.

Y'see, I'm hoping it's a pair, and not TWO drakes. I'd prefer two hens, but a duck/drake pair would be fine. They're still too young for me to discern any "drake feather" although there are more feathers on their bodies now.

 

[Friend2Fowl]

If you are experienced with ducklings, you can tell the differences in their voices when they are just-hatched. I don't have runners, but my pekins started quacking about 4 weeks old, the cayugas and rouens were around 6-8 weeks.

Are they used to being handled? If not, pick them up. That's usually when mine would make their first 'quack!'

 

[WadeMD]

I handle them a few times a day each (that takes a while with 8!).. some chill and just relax and some (cayuga being one - and the 2 chocolate runners) hate being held. They struggle nonstop, but they don't make any extra noises (like when one steps on another or pecks too hard).

I can call from across the room and they go nuts though... they definitely recognize my voice.

 

[Friend2Fowl]

Oh, another thing I remembered was seperation. They hate being seperated from their 'siblings'. So if you can, put one at a time by itself so it will 'call' to the others, that might work to get them to make their 'sound'.

 

[duckyfromoz]

I can hear a change in the voice from around four weeks sometimes- but waiting for them to belt out a really load QWARK QWARK QWARK... can take until they are 8-10 weeks old for some. I have had one little one who is 12 weeks old now- and only today was I able to tell for sure that SHE is a SHE. It was so quiet all the time I was starting to fear I had another drake- But when we were putting them away for the night she tell out a very loud few quacks. With some I can be absolutely certain they are Female from 5 -6 weeks- but I always wait for those realy loud ones to be certain before selling them as a sexed duck.

 

[Duck_feeder]

My runner Moxy started intermittent quacking around two weeks. Norie started around 3 weeks. But they mainly peeped until
maybe 4-5 weeks and their quacks were very squeaky still. It seemed like during the transition they would practice quacking, but resort to peeping whenever they were excited or wanted something from me. They didn't get their full on adult quacks until around 7-8 weeks.

Moxy let's out a very loud series of quacks whenever she hears my voice and hasn't seen me in a while. She's loud, but has nothing on my parakeet!