New Rouen Ducklings

[LadyB]

So I brought home two 4ish week old Rouens from the feed store today and I'm driving myself crazy wondering if both will be drakes. I'm going crazy!!

 

[Amiga]

Breathe. You won't know for a while. Aren't they the sweetest little things? What are you going to give them for treats today?

 

[LadyB]

Peas! They LOOOOVE them!

But now I'm questioning if they are really 4 weeks... everybody seems to say they should really have some feather action at 4 weeks and they have very little. I don't know ducks!

 

[Amiga]

I'm trying to remember mine at four weeks. It took much longer than that for them to be fully feathered. I remember tail feathers coming in, then belly feathers.

Can you upload pics?

 

[LadyB]

Yes!

Here they are fresh out of the bathtub

Here they are dry after

So cute!! and messy!!

 

[Amiga]

I'm guessing three weeks more or less.

Thanks for the pics - such cutie pies!

At around three or four weeks, my runners' voices started to change from "peep peep" to "peepHONK peep" and a couple of weeks later there were some definite quacks. They are all girls.

Drakes are quieter, and while they can make noises, they are more mumbly, whispering noises. My girls don't actually quack unless they are startled. Usually it's "ah AH ah ah."

 

[Oregon Blues]

At four weeks most of my females are quacking and the males are still peeping. Not 100%, but if you pick them up and listen, you might be able to tell.

I've got a quacker in a batch that just turned 3 weeks. She's been quacking for 3 days already. I've got 9 week old males who are still peeping. Some of the girls start quacking really young. So it's worth a try.

 

[LadyB]

Ok, they have been fairly 'peepy' sounding. But today after work I designed and built a (rather wonderful!) outdoor brooder on my porch and when I was moving them out there they started making some new noises and they sounded like they might be the beginnings of quacking!

Hurray! Fingers crossed!!