Undefined Curl on my Pekin Duck...Is it a Donald or a Daisy?

[Kelsie74]

I have 2 Pekin ducks, we got them in early April @ 7days old....making them roughly 6 to 7 months old...Now here is my problem, I know that the males are supposed to have the curled "drake tail" and one of mine Dee, has a very obvious curled feather and then 2 flanking partly curled feathers...Dum on the other hand and a single feather that is slightly raised above the rest of the tail but is not a defined curl by any means.....Dee (with the curl) is most definitely more dominate and is usually the one leading the way as they wonder the yard, and the last 2 weeks they have been "fighting" in the duck pond...This usually consists of them facing off and grabbing each other behind the neck and for lack of a better way to describe it, they look to be arm wrestling but using beaks and necks.....

SO could this all mean that Dum is a female? or a male that has not developed a full curl yet?

If Dum is a male, will my Tweedle boys continue to be aggressive to each other with the absents of females.

Thnx Kelsie

 

[duck walk]

The girls are very loud while the boys are soft spoken...how do they sound?

 

[Kelsie74]

It is hard to say, they almost function as one unit and quack in unison...I will try to get some video of them once my toddler goes down for her nap today.

Though me and my older daughter we looking and Dum does seem to be a touch smaller than Dee....Would be nice if they are male and female as we have a super broody hen to surrogate for them

In the meantime here is a still pic taken a couple of weeks ago

 

[duck walk]

oh yeah, that is a drake on the right...no doubt about that drake feather...can't tell on the other one...but again, the girls quack really LOUD...by comparison the boys sound like they have laryngitis...

 

[Goat_Walker]

Im thinking both males - ive had drakes that have a 'half curl' for a while before its like they finally hit puberty and it pops all the way up. Could be one male and one female .

 

[sonew123]

both boys--I can see the tail fether on left one--the tip of it is sticking up

 

[Kelsie74]

Here is the link to a clip of them on Youtube...they both sound noisy to me

 

[Sweet Violet]

loved the video and I too say both are boys!

 

[chooniecat]

BOYS!!!!!! I can always identify pekins by their vocalization first. I would think they will be OK unless you introduce 1 female duck then they will challenge each other. you would need a few females and even then 1 drake may try to constantly dominate all the girls. there is only 1 vid on youtube I have ever found that shows the difference clear enough. romeo and juliet pekin ducks and you may have a hard time telling which one is doing what sound but there are 2 distinct pekin sounds-male and female. GOOD LUCK!!

 

[DuckyMom]

Congradulation! you definatly have two boys!

May i recomend p[icking up a few feamales while you can? or you will soon become their mate!