Welsh Harlequin-female turned male?

[Nebraskagirl]

Here are Thelma and Louise. They were hatched April 20 and 21, respectively. They both appeared to be female upon hatching (according to the color of their bills, which is quite accurate.) However, the darker colored one, Thelma, is not quacking yet while her day younger sister, Louise is quacking now. Thelma is still making the cute "cheep cheep" sound. I am concerned of her color too. They are both purebred Welsh Harlequins. Their father is a silver phase and their mother is a gold phase. Would that explain the color difference or do I have a male and female?

Here is a picture the day they were hatched. Note the bill color indicates both are girls:



Some pictures I took yesterday (Thelma the duck in question is on the left)


Another one of Thelma (who doesn't quack yet) on the left and Louise (who does quack) on the right:


Anyone wanna guess?

 

[Nebraskagirl]

Seriously? No one has a guess? Come on..someone out there does. I KNOW it

 

[ducklover87]

I have two females who look like that. One is more colorful while the other isnt. I'll get a pic of them to show you what they both look like.

 

[ducklover87]

puddles face

puddles back

puddle

splash's head

splash's body. She wouldn't hold still for up close pics lol

Splash's wings. And they are both girls I heard an earful while taking these pics lol.

 

[cigarmitch]

I dunno... I've been playing the odds on WH ducklings this year as well... but yeah, Thelma looks more like Thor now a days!

 

[Nebraskagirl]

Ducklover87: He he...thanks for the reply and pics. They are adorable! I just wonder because Thelma isn't quacking yet. Makes me nervous. I can only have ONE drake, so that means our adult drake, Peaches, must go back to the farm where he came from. I will not have two drakes and two ducks. No way. Thanks again!!!!

 

[ducklover87]

Thank you nebraskagirl. It might be a later quack. I thought puddle was a boy for the longest time. Until like 8 or 9 weeks old then I picked her up and held her and yup she quacked.

 

[Nebraskagirl]

Thank you nebraskagirl. It might be a later quack. I thought puddle was a boy for the longest time. Until like 8 or 9 weeks old then I picked her up and held her and yup she quacked.

Oh thank you for sharing that. It gives me hope! I will this duck regardless if it is boy or girl, but I just want two more girls and then I don't have to get rid our drake we already have.

 

[ducklover87]

I'm hoping you won't have too!

 

[ShayBaby]

Still looking like a gal to me! Don't worry too much about the non-quacking. I think some ducks mature much faster than others, individually. Among my 14 ducks, I have 4 9-week-olds. One has obviously had the raspy male peeps since he was 4 weeks old. One has been quacking for 2 weeks, and the other two (exact same age) STILL have only their baby peeps at over 2 months old. I also have 6 babies right about the same age as yours and not a single one has had a voice crack yet.