Aren't they fun? We have 28 ducks.....started with two!! Can't get enough.... they are such smart birds.... ours know that if they do cute antics, they get scratch so they all become clowns every time we get near them lol.... they also know when we come in at dusk, raise our hands over our heads and nite nite.....they all go to their respective houses.... as far as sexing..... aside from vent sexing, it is very hard to tell until maturity.... it has pretty true in my Rouens that the young males have a darker head stripe and in bright sunlight you can often pick up on the green sheen.....if none of that holds true, waiting for the drake feather is about the only way to tell....waiting 5-6 months is really hard isn't it? ;)

That tell tale curly tale was the best way .The male quacks in whispers the female has a loud obnoxious Quack!Seemed to me the green head came last.

Oh, heartzlink, do you have a video of your ducks' antics? Do you have a large pond for them? How are your duck houses built? What do you use for bedding? We made a pen for ours in the garage and have been using wood shavings so far. We should be switching to something else. I suppose most people use straw. I'm worried about cleaning the pen this winter. We get a lot colder here altho we will have to get some kind of heater for them.

My ducks have eye stripes - either 1 stripe over their eyes or 2 stripes, one over and one under. Is this a clue to their sex? When do the drakes develop the tail curl? Their voices are starting to change - I hear a quack now and then and clucking when they are twittering among each other.

Goldenpond, when do they get this tail curl? Before the heads turn green? I'm just so excited about my babies! Barbara

We have had our five Rouens for about two months now, and today I noticed something I had not seen before. Three of them have green colored bills, and two have brownish bills. Has anyone noticed this before?

The ones with brown bills seem to be the loudest, males? We will see in five months.

Marfaman -- the ones with brown bills and loud are the hens. The greenish billed, little bit quieter ones are drakes.

3:2 isn't too bad of a ratio -- I ended up with 3:1 but wish it was different. I have 5 5 week olds so hope I end up with more hens -- duck eggs are yummy.

my drake did not get his gray glossy feather on his belly first he actually got a white ring around his neck first and then later his head started changing to a dark almost black and then green. Once that happened his plung under his belly was super fast to change. Hope this helps.

I have 2 Rouens. First ducks I've ever had. Picked 2 from a local feed & seed store. It was so hard waiting to see what We had. (The sex of Ducks). I was told they were hatched on 4/6/2016, I got them 4/21/2016. One much larger than other. They were inseparable w/in 2 days. Had no real arrangment for them, so started off w/ fencing area on back porch, water refill & food and large shavings for bedding. They used Our bath tub w/ little water in it at first. Did some reading on Ducks taken from their Mother's early... I know now that's way normal. Built them a runner pool at a month old. By 5/13/16 (a week later of having the pool the larger one (kirby) started plucking the feathers from the smaller one (Kale) I could only stand it for a small time. During which I would drain it. And refill it 2 days later and it continued. So I purchased 2 large containers used for mixing cement ect. So they would be separate but together because Kirby Only acted out in the water. But Kale only wanted to be in the same one as Kirby. So I scatched that. While continuing to build new areas and finding the best, safest place for them. So in the end this is what We did and since kirby Stopped plucking Kale because Kale out grew His smallness and while still follows Kirby like a puppy Kale can handle Himself now. Oh yeah! By 6-7 weeks Very noticeable We had a male (kale) & a female (Kirby). Kirby- female has a dk yellow Bill w/ dk in the middle. Also the white /purple-blue/white mid flight feathers (Hers came in faster than Kale's. Kale (male) in the sun at time You could see green feathers coming out on His head. His white/purple/white was changing w/ light to blue and or green. Also His Bill had a green hue to it. As of 6/29/16 Kale & Kirby both are getting their white end feathers. But Kale is as I like to say mutating. His chest feathers sometimes look bald but when you look closely it's a crazy grey, white swirl coming in. So Beautiful- both of them. Here is their for now home. Keeping the pond clean well..... for now I just suck out w/ blower attachment and refill it. About every 3-4 days. Feathers are finally getting less. I Put play sand in inside area use kitty scooper. And large to small shavings for bedding & fans. It has a roof but too hot in Texas now so no need. Since they are getting off the ground a couple inches and as of 6/27/16 they both were able to kinda fly across pond I am putting on a top tomorrow. They are still wild birds thus I don't want to cut their wings. That's just me. They come in at dusk through dog/Oops duck door. They know the sound of special treats (cut up all small green grapes, tomatoes, and red apples & some koi long pellets. They come running. They always have Water & their food cleaned morning & night. Kale is very low in voice almost mutters. Kirby is louder and quakes at everything. Kale has always been much softer in tone then Kirby. He never quaked. And My neighbor made a comment of Ducks being good watch dogs. They are. Can't get anything past them. They tend to also listen very well and know just what I'm talking about. They are hilarious, very awesome animals. Getting past their ability to make waste and be gross often they are learning quick that me cleaning their areas is Very useful and I know when I haven't cleaned it right. They let know. Btw. 2 points: 1). I have a koi pond but would never let them in it. 2). We have rattlesnake , coyotes and large prey birds around so them being in Our porch and the fencing was and is my best way of protecting them. 3). Protecting them from dogs, other animals, your existing pets (even if they wouldn't hurt a fly) and themselves is very important. Waterfall will be added along w/ bigger pond. Had to put up tarp from Bad sideways storm. Lol

This is what I've done and in my life. If Anyone has anything to add on what I should do or could do or different ideas for my situations, feel free to comment away. May laughter, kindness & Love Always be apart of Your lives.

Could someone help sex our babies please we are newbies.