Welsh Harlequin Ducklings

[Bill83]

Hey guys!!!

I am pretty sure we ended up with 4 boy ducks .... what are the odds. They are about 8 weeks old both Pekins have from the looks of it a little drake feather and neither of them really quack. Both of my Khacki's are both darker on their backs.

We have a 4x4 house inside of a 8x12 run. I feel like we have enough room to add another duck or two. Which leads us to wanting two female Welsh Harlequin Ducklings. From what I have read you can tell male from female with this breed at a very young age.

Does anyone have any advice of where I can find them and is it safe to get ducks shipped ? If so can someone recommend a website? We are in NJ.

Last question, at what age should we introduce the ducklings to the flock ? I will raise them in the house until then.


*** I will also take any advise on other breeds of ducks. I liked the welsh because they seem to be a very calm duck.

 

[Pyxis]

So you're thinking you have four boys? If so, you can't just add two girls. The drakes would overmate them and possibly injure them, and that's very stressful for the females.

I would hold off on adding any females unless you are going to rehome most of the drakes first. You definitely don't want more drakes than females. The other option is to add at least eight females, preferably more like twelve. But a 4 by 4 house and an 8 by 12 run isn't big enough for that many ducks. Your run is big enough for nine ducks, assuming the house isn't taking up part of that 8 by 12 footprint. If it is, make that eight ducks. Your house technically is only big enough for four maximum, though if they will only ever sleep in there and never really spend any other time in it, you could maybe get away with a couple more.

 

[DucksOhio]

I guess if ordering online, go through Metzger's Farm. Apparently they actually end up supplying most of the ducks to other hatchery's customers.
Definitely more females. Apparently Welshies are very easy to sex at birth, due their beak color.

 

[PaulX]

You can introduce anyone to anyone anytime, so long as they can't touch each other.
My drake never accepted the ducklings even until the ducklings were 48 days old. He saw the ducklings from day 4, and was with them all day with a barrier or me as a barrier from day 12. He never warmed up to them yet before I rehomed him.

 

[Jbently28]

The correct ratio for males to females should be 1 drake per 3-4 ducks. This is super important as you will end up with fighting drakes and overmated ducks as mentioned before. Also, 4 weeks is still pretty early to guarantee voice sexing. I would wait until at least 8 weeks old to determine sex by voice. Some are late bloomers and take longer to find their voice.

 

[Bill83]

So if i have 4 drakes I'm pretty much screwed and they will fight each other if i add a female or will they just fight each other in general without adding a female? I had no idea that the male to female ratio was so important. We have somewhat grown attached to them I would hate to have to get rid of them because of this. How can I be 100% sure about their sex if they are only like 8 weeks old?

 

[Bill83]

The correct ratio for males to females should be 1 drake per 3-4 ducks. This is super important as you will end up with fighting drakes and overmated ducks as mentioned before. Also, 4 weeks is still pretty early to guarantee voice sexing. I would wait until at least 8 weeks old to determine sex by voice. Some are late bloomers and take longer to find their voice.

They are 8 weeks old I am just not 100% sure how to tell if they are male or female. I can take pictures of the Khackis and post them up

 

[PirateGirl]

You can order sexed ducklings from Metzer Farms and they will ship as few as two ducklings in an order.

You can introduce the ducklings with a divider fence early on so they can see and hear each other through the fence but cannot touch each other.

Once the ducklings are fully feathered and close to the same size as your other ducks it is relatively safe to start letting them have supervised visits together.

Once you are past the supervised visits and are confident that everyone is getting along you can start leaving them together on their own!

I would be confident in the sex of your existing ducks before messing with your ratio. If you really have more than one male in that small a flock you should make plans for either re-homing or an isolation pen so that you can separate them. Once your ducks are sexually mature (4-6 months) things are going to change and if you have multiple drakes in such a small flock you will likely have problems. You should probably sort through all this before introducing new ducks to the flock.

 

[PirateGirl]

They are 8 weeks old I am just not 100% sure how to tell if they are male or female. I can take pictures of the Khackis and post them up

Male KCs probably won't have male specific coloring at that young an age, and drakes likely won't have drake feathers yet. Your best bet is voice sexing. If all your ducks sound the same, they are likely all the same sex, then we just have to figure out which sex that is. If you go on youtube you can pull up numerous videos with voice sexing ducks, or you can upload your own video of your ducks there and post a link on BYC for help sexing. If you choose to make your own video, be sure to just film one duck at a time so we know who is making what noise.

 

[Bill83]

I would be confident in the sex of your existing ducks before messing with your ratio. If you really have more than one male in that small a flock you should make plans for either re-homing or an isolation pen so that you can separate them. Once your ducks are sexually mature (4-6 months) things are going to change and if you have multiple drakes in such a small flock you will likely have problems. You should probably sort through all this before introducing new ducks to the flock.

That's the plan I think the only issue i have now is being sure how to know my current ratio. How old are the Khacki's before they start to change colors ? As for the pekins the males have a drake feather correct ?