Runner ducks Boys or girls?? Need help identifying

[Starshollow]

Hi all
I was given 10 runner ducks in August. They are just over a year old and although very funny to watch they are very frightened of everyone and just run away even when I'm not in the run.

The days after we got them we werw getting 4 eggs, then 2 then 1. I know with chickens any change and it throws them off laying so assumed the ducks were the same.

they were in their temporary coop/run for 2 months. We finished their new space and
they go into their coop on their own every night.

But I am still only getting 1 egg a day.

We did pick up 2 more females (we were told) a couple weeks ago. I got one egg the next day and that was it from them as well.

Is there an ideal picture angle I can try to sneak up and get that some wonderful duck whisperer could tell me if I have more boys then I thought?

I currently should have 9 girls and 3 boys and they have been in their existing space since Oct 5. And there are no stray eggs in their run. They have a pool and are being fed local coop duck food. And dried peas which I just a week ago and they don't really like.

I'm concerned bc they free range with my chickens and worried about too many drakes with my chickens....

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Males have a curl in their feather. some more prominent than others. like the brown one(s) appear to have on the left. However they can loose these curls temporarily when molting.
Girls quack very loud, boys have a raspy voice...

 

[Starshollow]

Males have a curl in their feather... like the brown one(s) appear to have on the left. However they can loose these curls temporarily when molting.
Girls quack very loud, boys have a raspy voice...

They all make noise at once and I live on a highway so I can never tell who sounds like what lol. That and they always run away.

So just that little flick up is considered a curl. Maybe I will grab a milk crate and go sit out there with them for a bit this week and see what I notice....

Thank you

 

[Stipenvlerk]

For me, it's difficult to see in above picture since, at this time of year they can very well be a bit ruffled up from molting too.. if you see this:

It's definitely a drake

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Your girls probably just quit laying early, from the stress of change, and are done for the season. Wild ducks do not lay year round. Domestic ducks sometimes do but often only their first year and only from high laying strains. As the days shorten it triggers them to stop. They wouldn’t want babies in winter. I bet you will have more eggs than you know what to do with in March.

 

[Farmerlaney]

Hi all
I was given 10 runner ducks in August. They are just over a year old and although very funny to watch they are very frightened of everyone and just run away even when I'm not in the run.

The days after we got them we werw getting 4 eggs, then 2 then 1. I know with chickens any change and it throws them off laying so assumed the ducks were the same.

they were in their temporary coop/run for 2 months. We finished their new space and
they go into their coop on their own every night.

But I am still only getting 1 egg a day.

We did pick up 2 more females (we were told) a couple weeks ago. I got one egg the next day and that was it from them as well.

Is there an ideal picture angle I can try to sneak up and get that some wonderful duck whisperer could tell me if I have more boys then I thought?

I currently should have 9 girls and 3 boys and they have been in their existing space since Oct 5. And there are no stray eggs in their run. They have a pool and are being fed local coop duck food. And dried peas which I just a week ago and they don't really like.

I'm concerned bc they free range with my chickens and worried about too many drakes with my chickens....

View attachment 3667939

Drakes the boys will make a scratchy lower pitch call almost like raspy whispers and the ducks or females will make a distinct loud quack. A drakes tail feathers will begin to have a curl at the end curling upward where a ducks tail will be flat at the tip of the tail. Bill color drakes usually will have a greenish hue about their bills where hens do not. But the bill color is not as reliable as tail feathers and picking them up to hear the noise they make. Good luck might u want a few more runner ducks?