Welsh Harlequin Sexing help

[Nimure]

Anyone willing to offer opinions on my 3 welsh harlequins? I purchased them locally as a male and two females, which is what I think I may be looking at, but I’m fairly unfamiliar with how the breed typically colors as juveniles (I don’t even know what phase they are, as I didn’t ask). I know mallards and rouens do the juvenile plumage for a bit before the males get their green heads. Are welsh harlequins the same, or do they just go straight into adult plumage?

Voices were just starting to change when I left for out of town so dunno if anyone is quacking yet.

They were hatched around may 7th. The baby with the darkest bill is the one that now seems to be getting a dark head (and suspected male). The bill color has been lightening up the past few weeks. The other two seem to have more white in their feathers and be lighter in color overall. I can’t tell if their faces are getting any dark feathers yet or not (my husband sent the last few pics to me as I’m out of town). I have seen conflicting reports on whether or not female welsh harlies can have dark faces?

Gotta say overall I love these guys and am now a huge fan of the breed. They’ve been so sweet and inquisitive compared to the other ducks I’ve raised in the past few years.

Fwiw the first baby pic was taken when I got them which was around 3 days old I think.

 

[Quatie]

Sexing Welsh harlequin by beak color is not 100% accurate. While a female usually starts with a lighter beak, hers will get darker and the drakes will often get lighter. There are some breeders who have ones with yellow beaks instead of the black. So really the only accurate way is to see if they quack or not.

Here is a couple of mine. You can see the head colors can range a lot. Both of these are females.

 

[Nimure]

Sexing Welsh harlequin by beak color is not 100% accurate. While a female usually starts with a lighter beak, hers will get darker and the drakes will often get lighter. There are some breeders who have ones with yellow beaks instead of the black. So really the only accurate way is to see if they quack or not.

Here is a couple of mine. You can see the head colors can range a lot. Both of these are females.
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One of them has some reddish brown on her head like your second female. But the other two appear to be getting quite dark.

Really hoping I don’t have two boys.

 

[Quatie]

They won't get their nuptial plumage till about 12-13 weeks if I am remember correctly. So they get all feathered in and the molt all those brand new feathers for adult feathers.

Hopefully it is just one drake.

 

[Nimure]

Got back from my trip and the babies acted like they didn’t know me at first, but after a few treats they were sitting in my lap and snuggling up against me for nap time.

 

[Quatie]

Got back from my trip and the babies acted like they didn’t know me at first, but after a few treats they were sitting in my lap and snuggling up against me for nap time. View attachment 3137829
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Those three are absolutely adorable! Welshes are such sweet ducks.

 

[Nimure]

Well the one I am certain is female is starting to quack now. The one I am confident is male is not. The one that could go either way I’m still waiting on.

I think the breeder has two from this clutch that are similar. Lighter beaks so she thinks they should be female, but we are waiting for the quacks.

I’m curious what these ones will look like as adults. I kinda hope the yellow beaks will darken and not stay yellow?? I guess only time will tell at this point. I asked for pics of her adults just to get an idea of what I can expect, since welshies seem to have a lot more variety than I anticipated.

 

[Quatie]

Well the one I am certain is female is starting to quack now. The one I am confident is male is not. The one that could go either way I’m still waiting on.

I think the breeder has two from this clutch that are similar. Lighter beaks so she thinks they should be female, but we are waiting for the quacks.

I’m curious what these ones will look like as adults. I kinda hope the yellow beaks will darken and not stay yellow?? I guess only time will tell at this point. I asked for pics of her adults just to get an idea of what I can expect, since welshies seem to have a lot more variety than I anticipated.

In my experience, their beak color doesn't change too much more at this point. By 6 weeks, their beak color is pretty much set. Looking at them, I would say you are going to have 1 girl and 2 drakes. Really hoping I am wrong.

Yeah the welshes do have a bit of variety. It doesn't help that when you Google them, you mostly find ones that are mostly white. That coloring is more rare and they make it seem so common. There is also two different colors that are sold, silver and gold. Mine are silvers and the most common ones sold from hatcheries.

Hopefully the seller will send you some pictures to give you a better idea what to expect.

 

[Nimure]

Here are the parents:

They look about as I expected.

Guess I’ll just have to wait and see on these kids. I’m not planning to show, mostly keeping them for companion/general farm animals, so I guess it’s not a super big deal having a yellow billed female. But I do love the look of the standard silvers the most. I’d like to breed them, though offspring will either be eaten or sold most likely.

 

[AgnesGray]

They really are a wonderful breed of duck.