Newbie with questions about mallards....

[~sunflowerlady~]

Hello everyone! This is my first time ever owning ducks and i have 6 mallards...they are so cute and they are about 4 weeks old. I have a question about their coloring. Two of them have a very visible green sheen on their head, and im wondering if this means that these two will be boys???? Ive read alot on here about not truly knowing until after their first molt, but it seems so weird to have them get the green on their head and then turn out to be girls!! Thank you all for your help...I truly love this website and i am on here allllllll the time hehe!!

 

[KansasKid]

Yellowish bill and getting a green sheen to their head are indicators of being drakes. Also verbally they should be different with the hens being loud quack and the drakes making a raspy low quack

 

[~sunflowerlady~]

Ya know i noticed that the ones with the green on their heads also have a more yellowish bill that the others...but now im worried about having too many drakes. I only have 6 ducks and when I just went out to see them i saw what very coinvincingly looked like 3 of them with green sheen on their heads. Ive tried and tried to listen to their chirps to tell the difference but havent mastered that talent yet! haha!! Thank you for the help

 

[DuckLover179]

Mallard drake: http://myvegetarianblog.com/pages/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/mallard_duck-1.jpg

Mallard hen: http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Female_mallard_nest_-_natures_pics_edit2.jpg/120px-Female_mallard_nest_-_natures_pics_edit2.jpg

Hope that helps!

ETA (Edited to add):

 

[~sunflowerlady~]

Thank you for the pictures DuckLover179, Ive seen adult mallards in pictures before but these ones were beautiful! Its so hard to tell at such a young age what they are going to be.....Im just so impatient!!!!!!

 

[SassyKat6181]

I got 4 Mallards from TSC and they are now about 6 weeks. Three of them have a green sheen on their heads and only one (without green) quacks. The others make more of a raspy sound, if any at all.

 

[desertdarlene]

Some male ducklings do get a green sheen on their heads early, I've noticed. But, it's not really guaranteed to be a male until they start getting yellower bills and that raspy quack. But, so far, it's been a good indicator of gender.