Oh Boy!!! calling all duck experts,lol

[DrakeMaiden]

Dragonlili:

I haven't seen a sex feather on my Runner drake, but I'm pretty sure he's a he.

While I have witnessed inter-drake relations, I suspect this only happens in the absence of female companionship. My guess is that you have two ducks.

 

[Katy]

If they're both noisy I'd say you probably have two girls. As far as I know all male ducks get the drake curl.

 

[ozark hen]

I agree with Katy.

 

[bantymum]

gidday from another young duck owner!!
I went into their run with my son and checked their genders by catching them gently.
We heard the quacks of the females very easily when they were stressed. The boys didnt quack, so we marked the boys with purple horse wound spray on their back, just a little spot.
It is raining here now so it has probably washed off so we will need to do it again!!!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

According to the University of Minnesota Extension , only

"In some breeds mature males develop characteristic curled feathers at the base of the tail." [emphasis added]

The thing I find with sex feathers is that they aren't apparent all the time. I believe they are obvious when the drake is in his prime, but not obvious when he's not. Only 1 drake out of my 6 drakes is showing his off right now, but 5 of them are the same age and therefore should be displaying theirs as well.

I wouldn't use the absence of sex feathers to make an absolute determination.

 

[ml]

dragonlili Yes the runner Drakes do get the curl and are not as loud as the females. Normally I can tell them by voices but once that curl hits no ?at a distance who is who.

ML

 

[bayouchica]

Ozark Hen, I love those pics!! My chickens do the same thing, even with snakes. They all do these clucking noises, too funny. You wonder what they are saying.
This evening I heard one loud quack coming from the yard, so keeping my fingers crossed to have atleast 1 duck.

 

[ozark hen]

bayouchica-mine caught a snake once and they all had a section within 30 seconds! Now the ducks had a frog once but running around holding it by one leg just attracted the chickens and they disposed of it since the duck didn't know what to do with it. It was pretty funny.

 

[KingsCalls]

Quote:
She's right ......The females quack like a duck, the males make almost a raspy hissing sound. Try this, hold one at a time under your arm and gently but, quickly bop him/her on the head. You may have to do this a few times but, they will eventually quack or hiss.

 

[Katy]

Or, instead of bopping him/her on the head, just walk away...they'll usually call out to the others.