Just bought four ducklings off the back of a bike. Any idea what type they are?

[Miss Lydia]

All of my neighbors swear up and down that these are not Muscovy or crosses. We will see!

I am worried about the 3 big ones versus 1 small one...worried we have three boys on our hands.

How about some pics for comparison at close to 5 weeks it might be more obvious if you have drakes or ducks.

Also how about quacking hearing any of that yet? that can be a real give away if you have males /females. Muscovy's or crosses.

 

[lina500]

I haven't heard any quacking yet, they are still only making little duckling noises. Unfortunately they are very skittish so I can't get great photos of them standing up. It does appear that three of the four of them (and possibly the fourth) are stepping on their own toes, so I am praying they are girls. Here are some photos from today, their coloring is coming in very differently than I expected! Their fronts are a yellowish cream color, and they are getting black and brown on their backs. The suspense is really killing me.

This is what they usually look like (running away from me)


Or huddled up in a corner, trying to get away from me:


This is the little one that we will probably keep. She's either the least scared of us, or just the slowest to get away.


And here is the biggest one, it's about twice the size of the littlest one

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well they sure are pretty, only the one with the colored bill tip now makes me think scovy but that may not even be true. Also the bill length makes me wonder if there is some Runner in the mix, do ya'll have Runner ducks over there? What ever they are your just going to have to wait it out either by quacking and then the curled tail feather but the voice will most likely come first. Keep the pics coming though it's so interesting to see how they have changed and it will be on going.

 

[lina500]

I wish. I have not heard of any runners here but I would love to get one, they are so cute! The bills on these guys do seem unnaturally long, but I thought that last time as well. I guess only time will tell...I'll keep an ear out for quacking!

 

[HG2705]

To me they look like Muscovy/runner cross

 

[lina500]

Bad news. I think I got hoodwinked by the guy selling the ducklings, who promised that these were females. Today I heard a telltale meh meh meh coming from them. It's hard to tell who is making the male sound, but it's definitely one of them, and I think probably three of them. I'd say I'll know in a week or two who is male and who is female. The males are all going in our neighbor's pot.

 

[buff goose guy]

you bought them from a guy off a bike, of course he's not going to know lol

but males can still be soo affectionate

 

[lina500]

The guy on the bike farms and sells ducks for a living, so I'm pretty sure he would have sexed them.

And yes, males can be so affectionate. So affectionate that my females wake me up crying when our males get affectionate because they have no feathers left for three inches on the back of their necks, so now they hold them down by the skin. I just gave one of our males to our neighbor for dinner yesterday, and am prepared to give all of these guys to the neighbors if they turn out to be male. I'm honestly sick of the noise and apparent suffering that is due to the male's rampant and aggressive sexual behavior.

 

[Abbynelson]

They are adorable did you try your female goose with them? they remind me of the barred Muscovy ducklings with their blk in the tail feathers. can we get a view of the bills?

These look exactly like my silver appleyard ducklings have before! I had some Silver Appy crosses, too and th e were lighter in color. My guess is a Silver Appy. They don't have to have dark marks, either! They are very pretty afults, too!

 

[Abbynelson]

Oops I quoted the wrong one. I'm new at this that was my first post