Welsh Harlequin

[Muse7]

Yes, she does seem to be a bit unbalanced. I honestly don't know what the cause might be, but the longer you keep her separate,
the worse the reentry will be for her into the flock. It will eventually settle down, but ducks like chickens do set up a pecking order
and runts will be at the bottom. I have a little girl who is one week behind the other youngest hens, and she took some real nasty neck
nipping and wing pulling, when she entered the main flock. Interestingly she was with the other 2 that were a week older, they got a
little picking on but her's went on for so much longer.

Now she gets put in her place periodically, if she so much as puts a webbed toe out of place, but for the most part, she knows her
rank and does not try to step out of bounds. She will be so happy when the last two additions to our flock arrive in late May. By
August, she will no longer be low rank.

Oh, and get them off the raw spinach. Not a good addition to duck fodder. Turnip greens, baby bok choy, kale,peas and such,
Spinach has Calcium in it but for some reason inhibits calcium intake to the body.

If you have dandelion greens or you are willing to make sprouts, those are good ducky foods as well.

Best of luck,

Liz

 

[McRider]

I just got my WH. One was hatched on 2/2 and the other on 2/14 so they are about 2 weeks apart.. I was informed that they are male and female. But as they grow I think I have 2 drakes. Can anyone tell me by these recent pictures? Also I still have them on starter food, when can I switch? WE LOVE THEM! They are so much fun to watch splash in the tub. Looking to move them into a coop in about a week, I'm going to miss them being on the porch. And yes my suppose to be female has a disformmed beek. I couldn't let her go, she's so sweet.

 

[tbitt]

At that age they are hard to tell. The bill and leg color does not set until a bit older. Boys will have a yellowish/greenish bill and yellow legs. Girls have dark bills and legs. You can not go by feather colors yet

 

[Muse7]

Where are you located? If you temps are still below 60 degrees, they should not be out yet, unless your coop is heated and they aren't going outside.
As to sexing, I knew I had a drake and a duck and I still questioned if my drake was one until he got his adult feathering in. He bill didn't go really yellow green until then and I have a duck that is an excellent layer who has more green than black in her bill and she has orange legs.

Curly tail feathers at this point will be your best indicator and you ave about 10 to 14 more weeks to find that out. First feathering is not an
indicator, you have to wait for the second feathering.

Unless you are really interested in getting eggs, two drakes will be fine together to keep each other company.

Best of luck,

Liz

 

[McRider]

I live in Fl. I only leave them outside during the warmer days and this is only their 2 night outside because it was above 60. Plus I still use a heat lamp when they are outside. Even when I move them to the coop I will make sure I bring them in at night if cold. I love my babies I wouldn't let them freeze I checked on them 3 times last night while out on the porch. LOL.

Thank you for the info tho. I am really anxious to know if I have 2 males or 1 of each. I definatly want a female so I can breed in the future. I guess I need to be patient.

 

[Quack Addict]

Quote:
If it turns out you have two drakes, I'm about 2.5 hours north of ya and have five WH gals and no drake. (lost him to a stray dog) Would be happy to meet ya half way (Maybe Valdosta?) and swap ya one for one. Our gals are a few weeks older than your ducks but by the time you can be sure the age diff will be nil.

 

[tsandhage]

I have 2 WHs and they are excellent layers! They are 1 year old this year. 1 duck has only missed 1 day since she has started laying and the other duck has missed about 10 days. Amazing!

My question is how long can I expect these ducks to keep laying so regularly. I know they lay more and longer than chickens but I cannot find the average laying number of years. Most people know and will say that chickens lay good for about 2 years then producition tapers off. What is true for ducks and WHs in particular. Now, I realize they may be such great layers no one knows when they will slow down. If that's the case, I'd like to know that too. I'm hoping for many years of productivity from my ducks.

This is a picture of my WHs. 2 of them have een killed but I still have 2 females. I cannot say enough good things about this breed. We just got a couple Khaki Campbells because I want to compare egg laying abilities. From the posts I've read, I suspect I won't get any more Khaki's.

If anyone knows how long ducks continue to lay, I'd really like to know. I've read and asked a lot of people and no one has answered this question. Thanks in advance! At the least, I guess it would be good to know how long people have had their ducks and their productivity. That would be a good indicator.

 

[tbitt]

Metzer Farms has a breed comparison chart (link posted below)
This is a very good site to go to for duck/geese info.

http://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparison.cfm?CustID=1429488

 

[tbitt]

Darn, I see I did not really answer your question. I thought that chart had age stuff on it also.

 

[tsandhage]

Thanks for trying. If you've had ducks for a while, what is your personal experience? If I hear personal experiences from a few people, it will give me an idea of what to expect.