pekin gender question

[MommaBugg]

OK I know this question has been asked a million times, but last time I asked I think the people who tried to help were a little confused on what I was asking.
So knowing it is sometimes difficult to explain some things in written form, I will try another way.

Here is the deal.

I have 3 Pekin ducks. Two are just a few days shy of 2 months old. The third is exactly 2 weeks younger.

One of the OLDER ducks is definately a drake. He has his drake feathers and the tell tale 'raspy' quack, he got his drake feathers in when he was about a month
and a half old (very obvious curly feathers on his tail)


The YOUNGER one is also already growing in drake feathers, very obvious curling is going on, he is about 6 1/2 weeks old.

Now. The other older duck, which is the same age as the older drake, still has no drake feathers, but has a raspy quack.

So both my other pekins got their drake feathers at roughly the same age= about 1 1/2 months old, and my other 2 month old pekin still
has no drake feathers, but SOUNDS like a drake.

So my questions are:

Should a pekin have drake feathers by 8-9 weeks?

Should I keep waiting for the drake feathers?

Do I have a late bloomer drake, or a quiet hen?

Thanks to anyone who can help me

 

[gofasterstripe]

My Pekins are 31/2 months old, just finished their 2nd molt into adult feathers and their tails are only JUST starting to stick up a bit but they have not curled yet.

 

[julie75]

I agree that it get's confusing. I have 4 Pekins that are about 1 1/2 months old (rec'd 3/16/11 @ about 3 days old) that have curled feathers on their tail but everyone's voice is not quiet by any means, lol. They still have a little fuzz on their backs, under their wings so I know they haven't fully feathered yet. If they are like my other ducks, as soon as they fully feather they will start to molt and I am hoping to see some changes. But on the other hand I have 4 ducks that have just completed their molting,(got them 2/4/11 @ about 1 wk old) and only 1 of them has started to get a curled tail feather. When they were younger, you could see a slight curl on their tail feathers but 2 of them have always been loud and 2 of them have always been quiet. I have learned that after they molt their "teenager" feathers alot of things can change so I am hoping that with the 4 younger Pekings that this curled feather "will go away" after molting. I have grown too attached to eat or sell them and hubby will kill me if I order 8 female Pekins,lol. If possible, my suggestion would be for you to wait and see what happens. With everything that I have read, the males typically get their drake feathers around 4 months old depending on breed.

 

[nwfl]

Hmmm, my 7 pekins hatched 2/16 and none have drake feathers. But I know 2 are female, their voices are distinctly quack.

 

[ducksinarow]

I find it easier to sex ducks by their wing feathers. It can be done on immature ducks. Males have longer wing feathers on the back while females are more layered. This page shows the difference.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/duckplum/mallard.htm

 

[MommaBugg]

Quote:
OK I am sorry, but being new to this, I could not really follow the examples in this link

But the duck of mine in question, did something it has never done before. Today it let out a somewhat loud quack that sounded eerily like Gilbert Gottfried :\\

 

[spiritdance]

Ahhh, the first "accidental" quack! Congratulations, it's (probably) a girl! My girls always seem to scare the gejeezits out of themselves when they finally get that first real, honest to goodness quack out, like it was the last thing they were expecting. (Of course, afterwards they never shut up lol!) And I've never heard any of my drakes do this. I'm not sure they're even physically capable of it. Maybe someone else on here knows for sure?

 

[DuckiesAndBees]

Quote:
One of my Pekins (4 weeks) is very loud, but her "quacks" sound like honking, like a goose. Is this just her trying to learn how to quack? I'm pretty sure it's female, but just wondering if anyone else thinks their females "honk." The other one I'm fairly sure is a male because he sounds hoarse.

 

[gofasterstripe]

My Jumbo Pekin Honked when she was little. 1 day it just came out and she looked at me like OMG!!!! To this day she still has a quack like a HONK but now its even louder

 

[DuckiesAndBees]

Quote:

Maybe it's a pekin thing! I guess she'll be my little goose-duck!