Welsh Harlequin question...

[evergrowing]

I have 10 Welsh Harlequin ducklings that are a little over 3 weeks old. When they were babies I put bands on them and knew I had 4 males and 6 females. Well the 3 of the 4 boys have managed to lose their bands and now I don't know who is a boy and who is a girl.

They are more work then I thought and I'm nervous about keeping them all until they feather out (I only have 1/3 of an acre). My plan was to hang onto 4 females and 1 male in the end. So here are my questions.

How soon will I beable to tell the males from the females?

Do I have to wait until they get their adult feathers at 5 or 6 months?

I'd love to see any pictures of your WH also.

 

[1lpoock]

You don't have to wait too long, just until they start quacking. Females quack really loud and males have a quiet raspy quack. Also, you could vent sex to know the genders right now.....I can't wait for my WH's to get here, I think next week from holderreads!

 

[evergrowing]

How old are they when they start quacking? This is my first time with ducks and so I'm afraid to vent sex them, I don't want to hurt anyone. I got mine from Holderreads also and was very impressed. They are so cute when they're little. I couldn't believe how fast they grew.

edited for spelling.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Female ducklings can sometimes start as young as three weeks old. You may notice an occasional deeper squeek from some of them... It will soon become a more noticeable Quack. The boys will continiue to sound the same for a while longer until they get there raspy quieter voice. Usually by about 5 weeks old I am 99% certain of the sex of all my ducklings by voice alone.

 

[evergrowing]

1lpoock and duckyfromoz Thank you for your replies! I hope they start quacking soon.

 

[Sweetfolly]

I just wanted to add, one of my 4-week-old females just quacked for the first time today. Sort of a mumbly sound under her breath, which seemed to freak her out and then she'd peep a little, and then I'd hear the quacking again a little later.

I knew she was a female already based on her color (sex-linked color dilutions...), but it was pretty neat to have that extra confirmation today!

Like duckyfromoz said, anytime between 3 and 6 weeks you'll be able to distinguish the girls by their voices. That's when I start picking them up one-by-one, listening to them, and banding them.

 

[evergrowing]

I can't wait to really listen to them. I think if I spent more time out with them I may beable to tell. This week has been crazy, so I haven't spent as much time with them as I normally do. I can't believe they're almost 4 weeks old already. Thank you everyone!

 

[pishposh]

I just want to add that picking them up and holding them helps...they usually get kind of irritated and can't hold back their quacks!

We got our WH last week from holderreads. I am slightly irritated because out of 11 i think we only got 3 maybe 4 females.

 

[maralynn28]

What about honks? I could swear I heard a faint honking sound coming from the brooder last night. Made me laugh,I didn't know they could honk...maybe it was like a snore?