When/How can you tell the sex of your ducks???

[mama24]

I have my first ducklings. They are Anconas, about a month old. They were about a week old when I got them, and I took one of the huge ones, and 2 of the smaller ones since I wanted 3, hoping I'd get 2 girls and a boy. There is a huge size difference, and the people I got them from had about half of them huge, and the other half small, all hatched the same day, all Anconas! Anyway, thanks for any advice! I love them so far! Very cute. I'm planning on getting more ducks when I get some chicks this week, and I also added runner ducks to my hatchery order for the first week of April. My kids love them!

 

[ducklover700]

Typically you won't be able to tell the sex of your ducks for sure until they're older; but some signs are their quacks-the females actually make the "quack" sound (Females are much louder than the males typically) we associate with ducks, while males are quieter, more like a grunt, hiss, or a muted quack. Also, as they get older the boys will eventually gain a feather or two on their tail that is curved upwards.

(male with curved feather on his tail) hope this helps you! sorry, this is actually a Cayuga duck, but the general idea is the same.

 

[ducklover700]

Here's an Ancona male. lol.

 

[learycow]

You will find that most breeds, ancona are one of them, are roughly the same size as adults. The males I have are slightly larger, but you don't notice it unless you are really looking for it. So chances are, the ones you got were a few days or even a week apart in age. Ducks grow fast, so if you have one that hatches, say 4 or 5 days before another, at a week and a half old when you got them, they will be noticeably different in size.

Around a month to two months, they males and females will be hard to differentiate. They sound the same and will look the same. But around 2 1/2- 3 months, their voices will change. When you pick them up, the females will be very shrill and loud when they quack. The males will be very quiet, and sound raspy and hoarse when they quack.
And, as shown before, the males will grow their curly tail feather. Females will not have this. I've found that it depends on the duck as to when this feather grows, but it's typically around 4 months before this feather will grow in.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

My Anconas are great, but there was a huge difference in size between my drake & his hens. He was a beefy guy, but decidedly bigger all the same. As ducklings this may not be as true.
My Anconas were also pretty quick to move from peeps to quacks. I could tell pretty early on - maybe 4-6 weeks - who was a boy & who was a girl by the quack test. I am sure there are times that test is wrong, but ultra sounds are often wrong, too.