what color runner will "she" become?

[cymbaline]

Aww, those are some gorgeous examples!

Here are mine. Like I said, I'm pretty sure only one is actually a runner.


The first day home with me...you can see why I thought they might both be runners, lol. I'm 90% sure the runner is the one on the left.


Her first visit outside.



These were a week or so ago. Runner is on the right in both pics.


This was just a few days ago...she's on the right again.
.

 

[flynntheduck]

So cute! They both look the same just one stands taller!

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

They were about 8 weeks old. The drakes will get a curl when they are about 5 months old, but otherwise their voice is the best way to tell. Sometime.... SOMETIME, the males will have a darker mask then the females, more dark gray, then light tan. But that is not always correct.

Pardon the intrusion. I have 4 fawn and white runner ducklings. They are about 5 weeks old and only one seems to be getting her quack on (which actually sounds more like a honk right now

). I'm a little worried that I have 3 drakes and 1 duck on my hands. In your experience, can it sometimes take a little longer for females to develop their honk/quack?


Another duck has been growing a little bit slower than the rest because she(?) was out sick for 2 days during one of their major growth spurts (her(?) name's Li'l Baby...), so I'm hoping that Li'l Baby really is a she, and is just getting her quack slower because of her size. But besides that, could one of the others just be slow quackers?

Of that large group you raised and sold, how many were male and how many female? I worry that if there's only one female she'll get worked over by the guys and we'll have to take extra measures to protect her.

 

[DucksnDaffodils]

I really can't remember how many were girls and boys in that group. I have raised Runners every year, and my ratios actually haven't been that great. I have 4 this year, and at week 3 one of them had that funny honky sound. So I assumed 1 was a girl and 3 were boys. Now they are 6 weeks old, and I just CAN"T tell anymore!! I am so not sure. So I would definitely wait. You just might have a late quacker. But if you do end up with 3 boys and 1 girl, I am sorry to say, that you really ought to get rid of 2 of the boys. That's kind of a lot for 1 girl, and once they mature you might have them fighting over rights to the lady. Sad I know, lets just hope the girls have colds, and haven't started really quacking yet.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

I really can't remember how many were girls and boys in that group. I have raised Runners every year, and my ratios actually haven't been that great. I have 4 this year, and at week 3 one of them had that funny honky sound. So I assumed 1 was a girl and 3 were boys. Now they are 6 weeks old, and I just CAN"T tell anymore!! I am so not sure. So I would definitely wait. You just might have a late quacker. But if you do end up with 3 boys and 1 girl, I am sorry to say, that you really ought to get rid of 2 of the boys. That's kind of a lot for 1 girl, and once they mature you might have them fighting over rights to the lady. Sad I know, lets just hope the girls have colds, and haven't started really quacking yet.

Haha! Thank you so much.
You're right, 3 boys to 1 girl will definitely get violent. I am thinking about acquiring 3 more females (sexed). I read, I think on Metzer, that 1:1 is ok if there are around 10 ducks. I'd have 7, so a little less than 10. Do you know if this is true?