sexing swedish blue's

[kellypepperk]

I read something about bill color, too? Can that be a determining factor in sexing Blue Sweds?

 

[Oregon Blues]

If the Blue Swedish are SOP, Adult drakes have a greenish blue bill. Ducks have a bluish slate bill. Color difference is not enormous, and it only applies to the blue colored ducks and it only applies to SOP ducks.

The majority of Swedish from hatcheries are a very long ways from being SOP, so sexing with bill color might work, or it might not. Better to voice sex and then see if the bill color is what you would expect.

 

[Chicken Lover 1]

cool ducks

 

[BarneyChick97]

Ugg..... well, the crested duck (the one I have the biggest question about), has an almost ALL blackish blue bill. I saw it mounting the other one this morning. Didn't see the "noodle", but all the other actions were "drake like". I separated them, to hear them quack, and I could of sworn it was all the same freakish-spazzy girl quacks?? **sigh**

 

[70%cocoa]

Don't take any notice of one mounting the other - that is not a reliable indicator of sex. Females will do it to females. Definitely does not mean that the one doing the mounting is a drake.

A dark coloured blackish blue bill sounds like a female to me. Even the silver/splash females have a dark bill, despite the light feather colouring.

The non-crested one has an orangish bill, but that is just a colour fault (Swedish shouldn't have any orange in their bills), not an indicator of sex.

If they both quack with loud, clear quacks, then the indicators are that they are both female.

 

[Moments]

We were given 2 swedish blue's from a friend. He got them in April, and so they are 3 months old. We have a rouen and a pekin. We know their sex, pekin drakes rasp with drake feathers, and the rouen is a hen, due to the lack of green head and collar... plus, the drake mates with her like mad, and she lays eggs. So anyways..... these ducks have a different quacks than the other 2. They seem to be more like a horn? One, I'm pretty sure is a hen. She's very loud, but the other, I can't tell? Sounds loud, but the other one kind of drowns it out. The one in question, also has a "puff" of feathers on its head. Are the males "showy"? Like mallards, rouens, and mandarins? I kind of hope not (yeah, if only THAT could change my outcome!), I really only wanted hens. We already have trouble with our pekin drake. He's kind of cocky!!!

My blue swedes (I have blue, black and silver variations) all have a similar quack to my female Pekin. The Swedes are over a month old and the Pekin is over 3 months

 

[Moments]

Your two ducks look like they are 'splash' or 'silver' Swedish, meaning they have two doses of the blue gene (black Swedish have none and Blue Swedish have 1).

There are no major differences in the appearance of male and female Swedish. In the blacks, the drakes have a greenish head. In the blues, the drakes have a darker blue head (sometimes with green on the ear coverings). In the silvers/splashes the feather colouring is basically identical in both sexes, all year round. For all colours, the drakes have a lighter coloured bill than the females of the same colour and it can have a greenish tinge. Feet are usually more orange in the males (edit to fix this - originally I said females - oops!) and bibs are usually bigger in the males but that's not reliable. And of course the males will eventually grow a drake curl on their tails. At this stage, voice is the best indicator. If both your birds are loud, then I'd say that they are both females. Swedish can (and should have) deep, full chests and the deeper the chest = the deeper the quack. So they are likely to sound different to ducks that are lighter in build.

I hope you are enjoying your Swedish - they are a great breed You chose well!

I have 5 swedes, 2 blues, 2 silvers and 1 black. I have think one blue is female, one silver and the black also female. The all hatched within a week and only 3 are quacking, it's very distinct, almost adult sounding. They are a little over a month old. The other 2 only peep and scream lol

 

[Moments]

I have 5 swedes, 2 blues, 2 silvers and 1 black. I have think one blue is female, one silver and the black also female. The all hatched within a week and only 3 are quacking, it's very distinct, almost adult sounding. They are a little over a month old. The other 2 only peep and scream lol

Your two ducks look like they are 'splash' or 'silver' Swedish, meaning they have two doses of the blue gene (black Swedish have none and Blue Swedish have 1).

There are no major differences in the appearance of male and female Swedish. In the blacks, the drakes have a greenish head. In the blues, the drakes have a darker blue head (sometimes with green on the ear coverings). In the silvers/splashes the feather colouring is basically identical in both sexes, all year round. For all colours, the drakes have a lighter coloured bill than the females of the same colour and it can have a greenish tinge. Feet are usually more orange in the males (edit to fix this - originally I said females - oops!) and bibs are usually bigger in the males but that's not reliable. And of course the males will eventually grow a drake curl on their tails. At this stage, voice is the best indicator. If both your birds are loud, then I'd say that they are both females. Swedish can (and should have) deep, full chests and the deeper the chest = the deeper the quack. So they are likely to sound different to ducks that are lighter in build.

I hope you are enjoying your Swedish - they are a great breed You chose well!

I exchanged my two silvers (i thought one was female but was mistaken, thought for sure one of them was quacking but it must've been the black or blue I was hearing). I picked them both up and they're raspy like the boys usually are. No quack whatsoever while the other 2 have an adult sounding quack. Also I thought the beak color and breast could be confirmation (one had a dark grey bill and the other greenish). The breeder said breast size and bill color aren't generally indicators. I exchanged them for 1 year old female silvers (it was sad to part with them but I already have way to many drakes in my flock) and each of the adults have different color bills, one charcoal and one greenish. We also exchanged our male blue for one of the black ducklings they originally hatched with so they bonded quickly and bought another blue adult female to add to the mix. So we have lots of Swedes lol. We do really enjoy them, though our Pekins we are especially fond of because they were our first and are especially bonded with them and them to us.