Welsh Harlequin Ducklings: Sex by Bill

[shyBadger]

I just received 11 TSQ Welsh Harlequin ducklings from Holderread today. I've read that Welsh Harlequins can be sexed by their bill color for up to 2-3 days with about 75% accuracy. I wanted to see how true this is for my birds, so I took photos and wanted to get other people's opinions. I was going to mark them, as the distinction will fade and I will have trouble keeping track of who's who. I was thinking of using washi tape (patterned masking tape) - figured I could get it off easy and I can change it out as they grow. Not sure how it will hold up to water ... Other ideas?

Please let me know if you think I have any of these wrong or how accurate you have found the bill color difference to be. (Also, please excuse the nail dirt, I had been planting blueberry bushes ...)

Duckling #1 - Male?

Duckling #2 - male

Duckling #3 - male

Duckling #4 - female

Duckling #5 - male

Duckling #6 - male?

Duckling #7 - female

Duckling #8 - female

Duckling #9 - female

Duckling #10 - female

Duckling #11 - male?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Michael P]

I would agree with your guesses, BUT. . . I used the bill color method when I bought my first Welsh Harlequins in spring of 2017. I wanted one drake and three ducks, and the breeder and I picked out ducklings based on bill color. What I got was exactly the opposite--one female and three males. I did some buying and re-homing, and now have a drake and two ducks.

So I am really interested in how this turns out, especially since I am expecting my first hatch of 10 home-grown WH ducklings later this month. They are so incredibly cute at that age!

How was your experience buying from Holderread?

 

[shyBadger]

I would agree with your guesses, BUT. . . I used the bill color method when I bought my first Welsh Harlequins in spring of 2017. I wanted one drake and three ducks, and the breeder and I picked out ducklings based on bill color. What I got was exactly the opposite--one female and three males. I did some buying and re-homing, and now have a drake and two ducks.

So I am really interested in how this turns out, especially since I am expecting my first hatch of 10 home-grown WH ducklings later this month. They are so incredibly cute at that age!

How was your experience buying from Holderread?

I bought 4 Welsh Harlequin from Sand Hill Preservation Center 2 years ago. One of them died during transport, and based on the bill, would have been female. The 3 I raised all ended up being drakes, because that is how my luck goes (I still have one, and the 2 others went to a new home). They all had dark bills when they arrived, so it seemed like maybe the bill color was accurate.

I have to say I loved buying from Holderread. I actually lost 2 Khaki Campbells last year, 1 to a red tail hawk and another to mysterious causes, so I was down to 4 ducks and 2 drakes. I put in an order for 2-3 female adults from Holderread, but I got on the list very late and they didn't end up having any for me. So I ended up transferring my deposit on the adults to ducklings. Everyone was friendly and let me know what to expect. The ducklings were packaged up nicely (though USPS tracking was terrible! Not Holderread's fault ...) and they all made it to me safely. I would gladly buy from them again!

I actually have a 4 year old WH from Holderread that I bought from someone that was moving, and she is very pretty (I bought her when she was 2). I wanted to raise a few ducklings from her and one of my chicken hens went broody, so I tried to line up her hatch with the ducklings arrival. They ended up showing up on the alternate week, so now I will be raising 2 broods ... but who can complain about cute ducklings!?

Some cute for reading all that ...

 

[Michael P]

The breeder I got my birds from bought her original stock from Metzer, and has been selecting for egg production and show for a number of years. The reason I ask about Holderread is I might want some unrelated stock in the future--the line I have may be a little too inbred.

I've kept and bred chickens for years, but the WHs are my first ducks, and I love them. My chicken flock is down to four semi-retired laying hens, and I plan to concentrate on the ducks and not replace the hens. I live in a city where roosters are now illegal, and although I got away with roosters for years, it is really nice to be able to breed poultry without living in fear of a visit from the Chicken Police.

 

[pamelajean]

Duckling # 10 looks like it has a knowing smile on its face. They are all so cute - you should enter them in the Cutest Webs contest!!! I would link the forum if I knew how.

 

[happy duck]

I love the cutie ducklings!!!!!

 

[shyBadger]

The breeder I got my birds from bought her original stock from Metzer, and has been selecting for egg production and show for a number of years. The reason I ask about Holderread is I might want some unrelated stock in the future--the line I have may be a little too inbred.

I've kept and bred chickens for years, but the WHs are my first ducks, and I love them. My chicken flock is down to four semi-retired laying hens, and I plan to concentrate on the ducks and not replace the hens. I live in a city where roosters are now illegal, and although I got away with roosters for years, it is really nice to be able to breed poultry without living in fear of a visit from the Chicken Police.

I got chicks and ducklings at the same time, because I was really excited about both. While I love my chickens too, the ducks are just so funny! (And their eggs are extra delicious.) I am definitely going to try concentrating on ducks for now, but I am really sad at the thought of not having chickens ...

I will try and update this thread with how the ducklings are coming along so you can see what you think of them as they grow up!

Duckling # 10 looks like it has a knowing smile on its face. They are all so cute - you should enter them in the Cutest Webs contest!!! I would link the forum if I knew how.

Duck smiles are way too adorable :3 What is this 'Cutest Webs Contest'? Is it on a forum here on backyard chickens? (I at the very least want to see more cute!)

I love the cutie ducklings!!!!!

Hah ha, me too!!!
Here's some more!

 

[shyBadger]

My Ameraucana hen hatched out my 3 Welsh Harlequin eggs yesterday! So I am going to try to document their initial bill colors too.

Egg duckling 1: female?

Egg Duckling #2: female

Egg Duckling #3: male?

Anyone see something different based on the bill colors?

Now I just need to figure out a better way of keeping track of who's who. The washi tape fell off, I tried marking them with dots of marker on their butts, but they would wash it off. Then I thought I was clever and put the dot of marker on the back of their heads ... and other ducklings cleaned it off. sigh. At least 3 makes it easier to tell some differences between them.

So 2 weeks changes things a lot ...

Does anyone have advice on an age that would be safe to have all 14 babies together?

I mean, the size difference is stunning!
Meat mountain!

 

[shyBadger]

A late (but better than never!) update on how my Welsh Harlequins developed

Of the 11 WH I received from Holderread, 6 were male and 5 were female - which is what was guessed at based on their bills as wee ducklings. (1 of the 6 males passed away at 8 weeks old, I have no idea what happened to him ). The couple of henlings and drakelings I was able to keep track of turned out the sex predicted by their bill coloring - however, I wasn't able to track all of them (or even most of them), so I don't really know how accurate it was ... The 3 WH ducklings I hatched out (out of a Holderread duck and a Sand Hill drake), all 3 were female - though I thought at least 1 was male. The one I thought was male ended up having a yellow bill. She is pushy and confident - more so than any other duck or drake in the flock. Anyone know of how often yellow bills happen with WH ducks? I will be keeping a Holderread drake it seems!

If anyone is in Southern NH or central MA and would like a drake, please let me know! I have a thread here!

Photos, because why not!
(numbers don't match up to earlier ones)
Drake #1

Drake #2

Drake #3 (this is the tiny guy that almost didn't make it!)

Drake #4

Holderread Hen

Home Hatch Hen

Fun in the mud!

 

[Michael P]

Beautiful photos! Out of my hatch of 8 this year, I got an even split: 4 drakes and 4 ducks. I was very confused when they were ducklings, and picked out two that I was reasonably sure were drakes, and they were. But with the others I was really guessing.

Not to hijack your thread, but if anyone in the Dallas/Fort Worth area needs some drakes, I have them. Mine are all bred from Metzer stock originally.