How old...

[acid_chipmunk]

How old will my Pekins be before I can tell how many males and females? They are pretty big now, but no sign of drake feathers. They were born about April 7th, so that makes they a little over 5weeks. Also, two of them have pinkish bills, while the rest are all orange. Does this mean anything?

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I thought they needed to be 4-6 months before you could tell the males from females. But I am not sure. I have never had Pekins. But I would think it would be about the same as other ducks?
I am going on who quacks and who doesn't with my four 10 wk old ducks. So far it seems I have 3 boys and 1 girl. Sure hope that changes.

 

[L0rraine]

I thought the quacking thing at 5-6 weeks was fairly reliable -- though I've heard there can be occasional 'quiet' ducks that can fool you. Curly tail feathers on the drake come a little later. But I think it's sooner than 4-6 months. Geez, I've been through this a few times, you'd think I'd remember.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

When we begin slaughtering our pekins at seven weeks of age, we can tell by the quack if they are a male or a female.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Mine are quacking, problem is, all 10 of them travel in a pack and we can't tell who is quacking and who isn't. We want to keep 2 females and a male and the rest are headed to freezer camp very soon.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

Quote:
What we do with our breeders is band them; males on the right leg and females on the left leg. A temporary solution would be to mark their bills with a magic marker.