Sexing by shape of their heads?

[tadpole98]

I know this might sound really dumb, but when I was looking at photos on google of ducks, the males had the more elongated face and the females rounder. I dont have ducks yet but I am getting a couple in a month, would it be possible to sex the ducklings there by that? I dont want a bunch of drakes that we have to eat.

 

[tadpole98]

I am going to add here that it looks like for every breed its different. the swedish hens have more elongated heads versus the drakes.

 

[zbraswell92]

I wouldn't suggest using that method.
If they are very, very young you might be able to vent sex?
If they are too big to vent sex, it's really just a guessing game until adult feathers come out.
In some breeds, male ducklings have darker plumage and in others females are darker.
You can only be 100% sure of sex when they reach adult hood.
Even pro-sexers get a few ducklings wrong here and there.

 

[tadpole98]

I wouldn't suggest using that method.
If they are very, very young you might be able to vent sex?
If they are too big to vent sex, it's really just a guessing game until adult feathers come out.
In some breeds, male ducklings have darker plumage and in others females are darker.
You can only be 100% sure of sex when they reach adult hood.
Even pro-sexers get a few ducklings wrong here and there.

im terrible at vent sexing, so i think i will just get what i can and hope for the best!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

I think that yes, you can *sometimes* tell sex by head shape (and bill "curve" and color. At least with Khaki Campbell. Google provided me with a hand drawn image of the Khaki Campbells, unfortunately I no longer have the link, so perhaps you can find it yourself. I personally would not rely on the method, but once they've grown into adults, yes you can see differences. I do not vent sex either. I listen to their "voices" and I wait for adult feathers and eggs. Good luck.

 

[jdywntr]

Head shape wouldn't be an accurate way of determining sex. As stated, even vent sexing done by pros can be wrong. Voice sexing too can be inaccurate especially in younger ducks. Adult plumage, drake curls are really going to be the only definitive way to determine sex.

 

[tadpole98]

Thank you guys, I am still going to try it as an experiment though to see if I luck out. who knows? maybe it will work which i doubt, but better to try than not.