Welsh Harlequin Ducklings (1 Month Update)

[Bill83]

Both ducks were sexed from Metzer farms as Female before they came to us and they both are very loud so were still assuming they are both female

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are gorgeous! @MagpieDucks

 

[Tannerpauldean]

Love it! Keep the pics coming!

 

[Jbently28]

Beautiful! I love welshies!! Keep us updated on how they feather out. My WH duck started out looking like your lighter one. She had a ton of color on her. This is her a year and a half later. She was almost solid white before molting. She is slowly but surely getting her color back. It's crazy how much they change with each molt.

Before molting:

During molt: (today)

 

[Bill83]

that's pretty wild she even lost the blue/black on wings

 

[Jbently28]

that's pretty wild she even lost the blue/black on wings

She is a gold phase, so she didnt have the blue but rather golden brown. But yes, she completely lost her entire coloration before molting. Here is another picture taken about 2 weeks ago after she had started molting. It's hard to tell from the previous pic, but she was solid white except for a tiny bit of gold on her wings. Most people thought she was a silver swedish because the gold didn't pick up too well in pics. You can already see how much color she is getting back. I guess my point is, don't be alarmed when your Welshie starts to turn on you lol

 

[Bill83]

I am just alittle worried about introducing both of them to the other 4. The two Welsh ducklings are so friendly they jump up into my lap. The other 4 ducks we have are about 3.5 months old (2 Pekin/2 khacki) and they are very scared of us and i don't want them to make the welsh ducks also scared of us. They are also not so friendly to the ducklings when they are able to be near them.

 

[Tannerpauldean]

I am just alittle worried about introducing both of them to the other 4. The two Welsh ducklings are so friendly they jump up into my lap. The other 4 ducks we have are about 3.5 months old (2 Pekin/2 khacki) and they are very scared of us and i don't want them to make the welsh ducks also scared of us. They are also not so friendly to the ducklings when they are able to be near them.

I wouldn't worry about that too much. I hand-raised an Indian Runner with careful attention, and she loves to come up and eat right out of my hand. She'll let me pet her and hold her, and none of the other ducks will do that. I don't think the other, more skittish, ducks have had any negative impact on her sociability. If anything, I think she has encouraged them to be more interactive with me.

It is so important to bond with the ducks at a young age, and they will carry that bond well into adulthood.

 

[CindyinSD]

I hatched out four Welshies but forgot to notice whether they were boys or girls. The only photo I got was of the first, who had no yellow spot on the tip.

Now they’re around five weeks, starting to get some feathers. Three have dark bills and one has a light bill. Looking at photos of the adults, where the ducks have dark bills and the drakes’ bills are yellow, I’m hoping this means I’ve got three girls and a boy. Do any of ya’ll know whether that’s a reasonable supposition?

 

[Bill83]

I am not 100% sure as you can see in the pics one of mine looks like a boy i think but they both quack loud like girls and they were both sexed by metzer as girls when i bought them. I will report back if one ends up with a green head