New Ducklings

[mandtc]

I posted recently about my lone drake who lost his mate.
My husband brought home two ducklings from the feed store that we hoped would become his new flock.
But by the luck of the gods... and I have terrible luck! I believe I’ve ended up with a blooming drake/hen pair!

Here are some pics for cuteness oooohs and ahhhhhs!

#1 Biggie has a lovely fine girly head but very dark eyeliner, which I’m lead to believe means male?

#2 Simon (I thought she was male initially) has a big manly boofhead but light brown eyeliner which I believe means female?

I’m only concerned because if it’s drake/hen it won’t be suitable for my initial plans. And I’m in for building yet ANOTHER run!

Ahhhhhh life!

 

[Kessel23]

I am not sure if you can tell the gender by stripe color, never heard of that before. The earliest way that I know how to determine gender besides vent sexing is by voice and they need to be a few weeks old for that. Btw, don't put the duckling by that drake until they are old enough to be bred, the breeding season is coming up for mallard derived ducks and they will become very sexually aggressive, if you can't provide him with mature hens then he is best left alone for now. If you have chickens or other small poultry with him make sure they are split up to.

 

[mandtc]

Oh don’t you worry! I am that crazy lady with separate pens for everyone! I currently have two duck pens, and three chook pens... because some of the girls prefer to sleep with only their closest friends!
The drake in question has an adjoining pen to his parents. As he does not act politely when we tried them as a trio!
The other pair of pekins have a timeshare arrangement with the chooks! At sundown we lock the girls away in their coops and let the duck couple out for the night, on about 1/4 acre. Then at 4.30am the ducks wake us up to let us know it’s tome to get locked up again. It works well!
The ducklings are enjoying life in palais de poop aka my living room! And will not go outside until they are feathered. Depending on how things go, they will probably end up with their own separate pen!
And I will be looking for an adult companion for my lone drake! But where I am located it is not looking like an easy task! (Qld, Australia)

 

[CLovesDucks]

Gorgeous little ones!

 

[mandtc]

Gorgeous little ones!

Thank you! This is my first time with a mallard derived breed, I have only had pekins.
They are growing so slowly

 

[CLovesDucks]

Thank you! This is my first time with a mallard derived breed, I have only had pekins.
They are growing so slowly

Just wait! They’ll be HUGE before you know it!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Have you been on the Australia thread at “where am I where are you”. @mandtc ?

 

[Jpat]

aaah soo cute!

 

[Timothy Menezes]

Thank you! This is my first time with a mallard derived breed, I have only had pekins.
They are growing so slowly

So Pekins are also a mallard derived breed, all duck breeds are supposedly mallard derived other than Muscovy's. At least that's my understanding anyways.

 

[Going Quackers]

So cute! you'll know by voice in a few weeks, that is mainly how Mallard derived are sexed.

When i got my Pekin, which i raised in my house(loopy i know) the brooder just got louder and louder.. i hit gold, out of my half dozen.. i ended up with 5 ducks, 1 drake lol.