Welsh Harlequin Breeding Thread - People who are breeding or want to breed their WH's talk

[guarinogardener]

SOOOoooooo glad I found this thread! I did so much reading and finally settled on WH ducks. Ordered 10 little ones from Holderread's this past spring, got in 13 ( one didn't make it). Now it looks like we have one silver hen, one gold drake, five gold hens and five silver drakes. Finally figured this all out after reading all 26 pages of this thread (THANKS!). Helped to that I found out the blurring on the beak colors from Holdereads...three boys as babies went to three girls as juveniles. Couldn't figure that one out until now. Had to teach myself vent sexing to confirm things. Ducks never happy about that, let me tell you. So, question...I want to keep all the hens until I can really judge coloring but I know I have to cut back on drakes. I'm at 1:1....can I get away with 1:2 male:female or is that too low a ratio? Also, they are 4mths old this week but already displaying mating behavior....head bobbing and beyond :O Does this mean eggs or just a precocious drake or two that I need to quickly pull out?
Thanks,
deAnne

 

[carousel86]

She is very much a girl! She started quacking at 3 weeks old and I vent sexed them all as ducklings . She is just from a trio of show quality WHs and has fabulous markings

This is the WH at the show that made me fall in love with the breed

Is she a gold WH? She is beautiful!

 

[hokankai]

She is very much a silver

I'm going to be showing Jasper for the first time in Fall, just to get my foot in the door! She'll still have juvenile plumage so it's more of a practice run

 

[Zombified]

Hey guys, my birds are getting older, with their colors beginning to really come in and shine. They're 18 weeks and 4 days old today!

Erebus, silver phase drake:




Thoth, silver phase hen(originally believed to be drake):




Eris, gold phase hen:




Nyx, silver phase hen:

 

[carousel86]

Hey guys, my birds are getting older, with their colors beginning to really come in and shine. They're 18 weeks and 4 days old today! Erebus, silver phase drake: Thoth, silver phase hen(originally believed to be drake): Eris, gold phase hen: Nyx, silver phase hen:

They are beautiful! Thank you for Sharing them with us!

 

[Zombified]

Thank you!

I was so excited when I finally saw Erebus's drake curl. It felt like forever, waiting, haha. They're also beginning to attempt to mate.

 

[hokankai]

Here's Jasper! I'm training her to be comfortable in an exhibition cage. This is the small one to get her used to being indoors and having people/noise around. Her first and practice show is in a few weeks!

 

[Zombified]

Here's Jasper! I'm training her to be comfortable in an exhibition cage. This is the small one to get her used to being indoors and having people/noise around. Her first and practice show is in a few weeks!

Wow! She's super pretty! I guess I should start getting Erebus used to being in a cage and such, too. I plan on showing him in January.

 

[hokankai]

Thanks! Erebus looks good too, and I would definitely start getting him used to a cage. People have said that a calm duck is much more attractive at a show than a stressed one

 

[Zombified]

Of course! Haha Pyrrhos would do great in a show, lolol. I think Nyx is too light for showing, but her demeaner is very chill and quiet. Erebus is pretty quiet, I'd just like to get him used to being shown.