Indian Runners - Ducks & Drakes Help Please

[BradleyandCo]

I have just purchased 4 Indian Runners, which I am informed have been sexed and are one drake and three ducks. There is definitely some quacking coming from them, but as they are quite nervous I don't want to hold onto any of them to see which ones are the quackers. They have been leg ringed, blue for the drake and pink for the ducks. I have taken a photo and the tail of the drake seems to be "curly", slightly different to the other three. My only concern is that when I collected them I was told that it was 80/90% certain that they have been sexed accurately, and I am now paranoid that maybe they got them wrong. Can anyone tell from the photograph that they have been accurately sexed? The one on the right definitely has a curlier tail, am I correct?

They are 18 weeks old, we've only had them for a couple of days, and they have enjoyed this afternoon in the sunshine out of the run foraging in our back garden. The tail you can't quite see on the far left is identical to the other two "girls".

Hoping someone is going to put my mind at ease. Also, can anyone tell me what colours these are? It's the first time we've kept Indian Runners, so we aren't well informed I'm afraid.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[DuckLady]

I think they were probably sexed right.
I see the curl starting in the one on the right.

They are very pretty ducks!

 

[BradleyandCo]

I think they were probably sexed right.
I see the curl starting in the one on the right.

They are very pretty ducks!

Thanks for this reassurance, hopefully they will indeed be one boy and three girls.

They are good lookers, that is when we can see them. As soon as we let them out in the morning they make a bee line for the hedge and hide under there. I guess they will get a bit braver when they get used to their surroundings.

 

[Amiga]

Lovely!

And welcome to Duckdom!

Perhaps you can find something they like as a treat, like peas or shredded lettuce. That has helped many of us get closer to our ducks.

 

[Mum]

Thanks for this reassurance, hopefully they will indeed be one boy and three girls.

They are good lookers, that is when we can see them. As soon as we let them out in the morning they make a bee line for the hedge and hide under there. I guess they will get a bit braver when they get used to their surroundings.

Beautiful IR's and I think, maybe, they have been correctly sexed.

Ok, now lets deal with their nervousness:

~ routine! Just like babies and toddlers, ducks like routine. Go to bed when the sun goes down; house opened around 7.30am ish; food at regular times.

~ treats! You can entice them from under that hedge with a variety of treats. Defrosted frozen peas are relatively cheap and ducks love them! Meal worms are more expensive, but, ducks go absolutey crazy for them!

~ under that hedge is a banquet of nibbles that your IR's will relish: slugs, snails, bugs. They are not *just* hiding, they are hiding in the *duck pantry*!!!

~ spend time talking to them. Doesn't matter what about, it is more about them getting to know your voice.

~ take time to sit awhile and just *be*. Their curiosity will eventually get the better of them as they learn to trust you/your smell/your voice.

~ you have two very similar looking females there; maybe put a different colour ring on one of them so you can easily distinguish between them

Go have fun with your IR's

 

[BradleyandCo]

~ routine! Just like babies and toddlers, ducks like routine. Go to bed when the sun goes down; house opened around 7.30am ish; food at regular times.

~ treats! You can entice them from under that hedge with a variety of treats. Defrosted frozen peas are relatively cheap and ducks love them! Meal worms are more expensive, but, ducks go absolutey crazy for them!

~ you have two very similar looking females there; maybe put a different colour ring on one of them so you can easily distinguish between them

Thanks for your response. We are trying to ensure a good routine, especially as they haven't had that up until we have had them. They are let out of the house into the run at dawn, and let out freely into the garden at around 8am, we do this to ensure they get plenty of water from inside the run, plus their feed, before they venture out. We are leaving feed available in the run permanently, so they can pick when they want, but no food in the house overnight.

In the evening we round them back into the run (we are acquiring great shepherding skills), and leave them there for a good hour to feed and drink, and when it's dark they are locked in their house. We have filled a couple of plastic sandpits with water, and have placed a couple of buckets of water in the garden so they have plenty of access to water during the day, as we've noticed they never venture back into the run of their own accord.

Yes, two of the ducks are virtually identical, very difficult to tell apart, so re-ringing them may be a good suggestion, although my 12 year old daughter tells me they are quite distinguishable.

We will spend some extra time at the weekend, and be sure to give them plenty of treats.

Thanks to all for the replies.