Sex Linked Duck Breeds

[CityChicker]

I found the bill color thing to be very accurate with Welsh Harlequins (out of 10, we only had one that was "borderline" in appearance, but still we were able to sex all of them). In my experience, it is much less accurate with Snowy Mallards and Silver Bantams (same genotype). I don't even do it with mine anymore because I don't think it is accurate enough to bother with when I am raising large numbers of ducklings, but you should get at least a few that you can make a good guess on. There tends to be a lot of others that their bills are too middle of the road to tell. I can't really say for Snowy Calls, but I have a bunch in the incubator right now so I might be able to in the several weeks.

 

[bacres]

CityChicker- Do you have Snowy Calls or did you purchase them from somewhere?

 

[CityChicker]

I have a couple Snowy Calls, but I don't breed them, hence these eggs I bought from someone else in hopes of getting enough to add to mine and set up a small breeding group. I do breed the Snowy Mallards and Silver Bantams (aka "Mini Appleyard", same genotype as Snowy Mallards and Calls).

 

[Sweetfolly]

I didn't want to start a new thread and clutter up the boards, so....

What do you think? I'm 99.98% certain that my new Welsh Harlequin ducklings are boys:

 

[evergrowing]

Annarie with my 11 Welsh Harlequins I had 7 with bills that had a dark spot on the end and 4 with bills that were a bit darker all over. I figured that ones that were darker all over their bills were boys. This is my first time with ducks and Welsh Harlequins, so I'm hoping I got it right. It really helped to have so many, then I could really see the difference. I'm not sure if I would have been able to tell with only a few. Good luck!

Edit: I'm trying to figure out how to post pictures.

The one on the left in front would be a girl and the one on the right in front a boy, also the one on the far left is a boy. It's kind of hard to tell, but if you have a few that are different / or the same it's not to bad. I hope this helps.

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
Thanks! There's one more duckling that just finished drying off that I took out of the incubator today during lunch, and they all have solid dark bills. So, it looks like I hatched 3 little drakelets!

I was SO hoping for one girl to keep - these boys can't stay. Oh well - I'm drowning in ducks as it is.