The Duck Thread

[Miss Lydia]

I think white chilterns are an Irish duck as they appear to be mentioned more on Irish websites.... I found this on a website
Chiltern Whites are a modern hybrid and certainly one of the best for laying as well as producing a useful meat carcass. There is a picture of one descendant of a Chiltern in the June edition of the PP magazine. It is the hybrid shown as an example of a duck commonly misnamed as an Aylesbury.There are several white hybrids now and they are all much the same in size, shape and productivity.

These ducks lay slightly fewer eggs than Khaki Campbells but the eggs are larger on average. They are calmer and far less prone to panic and stress too. Larger eggs are good to a point although sometimes it can be a problem if they are too large for cartons or trays. This means some just cannot be packed. As the ducks are bigger than KCs they eat more and of course create more mess.
The picture is a very bad one of my 6

I still can't tell if they are male or female.... Knowing my luck they will be all male. Which means that 5 of them will have to be eaten.... I am
Not looking forward to that...

Thanks for the pics and explanation on the breed, they are very pretty birds

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I am not expert, but your 3 white ducks are female and at least 2 of your KC ducks are hens as well.

 

[graham B]

I am not expert, but your 3 white ducks are female and at least 2 of your KC ducks are hens as well.

How can you tell just from a picture... I have been looking, listening and yet I still don't have a clue.... I had the whites down as males and 2 out of 3 KC's as males... Lol...

 

[graham B]

How can you tell just from a picture... I have been looking, listening and yet I still don't have a clue.... I had the whites down as males and 2 out of 3 KC's as males... Lol...

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Quote:

Quote: Actually I think they are all females.
I am saying this because non of them have that little tail loop.
How old are they all?
If they are making a loud quack they are hens, if they are not often quacking and when they do it isn't a full quack or more of a muffled sound then they are drakes. That is what I have learn't.

 

[granny05]

hi everyone! I need some information. I have asked people around here , at what age do ducks start laying? well u would not believe the different answers I got...so I ask u who I think knows more than anyone,,,,when or about when do female ducks usually ready to start laying.? I had one guy asked if I had drakes............ddaaaaaaaaaaaaa.. please help. thanks

 

[Amiga]

My runners started at 16 weeks, four days for the first of our eleven girls, with everyone on board by 22 weeks.

The larger the breed, I am told, the longer it takes for them to mature. Also, ducklings hatched later in the summer may wait till the following year.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

I have heard, around 24 weeks for ducks but as Amiga said, that will depend on the size of the duck. Runner would tend to lay earlier.

 

[graham B]

They are just 8 1/2 weeks old. I think that they are too young to have the curly feather. Not sure though as these are my first ducks. They are noisy little beggars though.... Not much quacking just squeaking really.....

 

[blondiebee181]

My runners started at 16 weeks, four days for the first of our eleven girls, with everyone on board by 22 weeks.

The larger the breed, I am told, the longer it takes for them to mature. Also, ducklings hatched later in the summer may wait till the following year.

Mine were hatched in July and, as Amiga has said, they waited until this Spring to lay.

They are just 8 1/2 weeks old. I think that they are too young to have the curly feather. Not sure though as these are my first ducks. They are noisy little beggars though.... Not much quacking just squeaking really.....

8 1/2 weeks is close as far as a voice change...they will still be squeaky like akward teenagers, but drakes are more raspy and croaky sounding and hens don't hold back....have you ever heard a hunting duck call? That's pretty much what a female will sound like....if you still need more examples of the differences, youtube female duck quack or male duck quack and there are videos on there of them quacking....at about 3 mos. you may start to see a curl at the base of the tail too...tell-tale (get it? TELL-TALE?!?

) sign of a drake. Good luck!