Teenage ducks...

[Duckles]

Our ducks are 6 weeks old and pretty much all have brown feathers. We're pretty sure we have 2 mallards, 2 fawn and white pekin looking ones, 3 khaki campbells, one other brown guy, and even the duckling that came totally black and we thought was a Cayuga now has a lot of brown on him.

Will these colors change?

We only have 2 quackers, and they quack LOUD... the rest are cheeping so we're thinking out of 10 ducklings, we only got two females. Is it too early to tell?

here they are, they looked so different as ducklings and now they all just look the same...

I'm new to ducks so I have never watched their feathers change... But we're ordering more ducklings to get some hens if in fact we have 8 males... Any insight from experienced duckers would be much appreciated!

 

[Mrs. BJ Hensley Jr.]

Give it a bit longer! It may be too early to tell by quack. I'd give it till they're 2-3 months old to get a gender guarantee. The colors will change too. With my Rouen (which are very similar to Mallard) the boys looked like girls till they were 5/6 months old when they started getting a white ring on their neck... then about a week later, completely looked like Drakes. I love the babies/teens. They're all so beautiful. I have attached a helpful site. It has ALL KINDS of duck pics sorted by breed.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html

 

[Jen4]

so cute

 

[Duckles]

Thanks!

 

[DuckLover179]

It's not too early to sex by the quack. Males have raspy sounding quacks, and females have LOUD full quacks. Once they all start quacking you can tell. Mine are 6 weeks old (They started quacking when they were 2 weeks), and they are females, because they have loud (Annoying

) quacks. As for colors, your mallard will change colors (Green head if boy, all brown if girl), and it seems like your khaki will modify just a bit.

(P.S. It looks like you have a black runner in there. It's the one standing up straight next to the Mallard in the back.)

 

[chickensioux]

They are precious! I love this stage!!!!!

 

[The Duck ABC's]

The voice change depends on breed. Some start really early and others a little bit later. I would say the spread may be over 3 weeks. The sexes of mine were really clear in their voices when they were 7 weeks old. On some I knew a little earlier then that. Not all liked to quack. I had to get them exited about something like food or grab them to get a sound of them. They are still a very quiet bunch, but now they are adults and you can see their colors. So her is my trick. Grab each one and hold them with their belly up and back down. That will freak them out and produce some sound. It will not hurt them and you are releasing them right away anyway. Some may even still run around complaining. I find this a sure shot technique, besides sex venting.

 

[Duckles]

Yes I'm a little in love

Thanks ABC... we kind of did that, we picked each one up and walked away from the group to get them going and that's how we got quacks. The 8 that didn't quack weren't even close, and the quackers were LOUD. So I feel pretty confident that we need more hens. Which was my excuse for ordering 5 from Metzer's... I can't wait!

Yes Ducklover, I have one surprise runner. I'm so happy! I spoil him, and watching him has made me order 2 more runners. And I agree that mallards are a little tougher to tell.

Why does everyone love this stage??? The anticipation is killing me! haha

 

[DuckLover179]

I'm an odd ball. My favorite stage is when they first arrive, and they are these cute little balls of fuzz. But everyone likes the teenage stage?!

 

[Mrs. BJ Hensley Jr.]

My fav. stage is rite out of the egg... guessing whatcha got. Which reminds me. Cam anyone figure out who the parents of my baby are. the post is called "meet skunk..."....