Welsh Harlequin question....

[Jlw0903]

This is Bumblebee She is a Welsh.
I realized today that she has awful dark coloring for a Hen and all the pictures of hens have dark bills. She definitely started out with a dark bills and honestly am not sure when it turned yellow....
Please tell me she is just a darker variation or something and not a drake! Like Welsh hens can have yellower bills right? . She's only about 5 weeks so still mostly making peeps though she's made some startled quacks (they don't sound raspy like a drake but can't remember what they do at this age). I currently have a 5 year old drake who I think is fueled on rage,testosterone and a burning desire to kill me so fairly confident he'd kill another drake.... I got these three to restore a better ratio and if Beez is a drake I definitely made it worse....

 

[my spoiled chickens]

I think its a girl because of its coloring but look up "Welsh harlequin female yellow bill" it has a couple pics

 

[Jlw0903]

God I hope your right. I'm on the verge of tears because I don't want to give her up if she's a drake. She was the one I was most excited for because I knew she'd have really cool colors but my duck hut and pen isn't big enough for more than the7 I now have....

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Isn’t it all about the quacking at this age? Have you had her since hatch? When I first hatched mine, it said that most newly hatched females will have a pink bill with maybe a dark spot, while the males start with a darker bill. However it’s not foolproof, and it only works for the first few days after hatch. 5 weeks seems too early for color changes based on sex… Don’t give up on her! For comparison, here’s my 5 week old “certified quacker”. Her head is also a bit dark, as is her chest, but she’s loud enough that I can hear her quacking in the barn from my house!

Btw, your duckling is gorgeous!

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Oh, and although my Welshie started quacking really young, one of my Rouens that I have always assumed was male just started quacking, and he’ll (she’ll?) be 6 weeks old on Thursday

 

[KathiQuacks]

Could you get a video of her voice, upload it to YouTube, and link it here?

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

Oh, look up gold welsh harlequin hen vs. silver welsh harlequin hen! Apparently, gold welsh harlequin hens can have yellow bills!

 

[Jlw0903]

Oh, and although my Welshie started quacking really young, one of my Rouens that I have always assumed was male just started quacking, and he’ll (she’ll?) be 6 weeks old on Thursday

My rouen Hen did that and had an almost green head at 7/8 weeks haha

 

[Daphne_loves_mealworms]

My rouen Hen did that and had an almost green head at 7/8 weeks haha

Well, did it end up as a hen or drake?! It’s amazing how they keep us guessing!

 

[Jlw0903]

Isn’t it all about the quacking at this age? Have you had her since hatch? When I first hatched mine, it said that most newly hatched females will have a pink bill with maybe a dark spot, while the males start with a darker bill. However it’s not foolproof, and it only works for the first few days after hatch. 5 weeks seems too early for color changes based on sex… Don’t give up on her! For comparison, here’s my 5 week old “certified quacker”. Her head is also a bit dark, as is her chest, but she’s loud enough that I can hear her quacking in the barn from my house!

Btw, your duckling is gorgeous!

I got them from Metzer so they were about two days old. She started with a very dark bills and now it's turned yellow... All of my ducklings are still mostly peeping though my blue swedish is getting her voice.