Welsh Harlequin ducks are such a wonderful breed. Did you know that you can tell, with remarkable accuracy, the gender of Welsh Harlequin ducklings right when they hatch? Let me show you how to sex Welsh Harlequin ducks right at hatch.
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We love our Welsh Harlequin ducks for SO many reasons. One thing I've come to really enjoy about this breed is the ability to easily determine, right at hatch, which ducklings are male and which are female.
When animals display a reliable difference in coloration based on gender, it's called auto-sexing (see this excellent article from Greenfire Farms to learn more about auto-sexing in poultry!). There are quite a few auto-sexing chicken breeds - like the Bielefelder and the Cream Legbar. Among duck breeds, it's a pretty rare trait.
Leslie Bonnet really hit on something though, when he developed the Welsh Harlequin ducks back in the late '40s and early '50s. For the first 2-3 days right after hatching, pink bills with a darker tip mean girls, and dark bills mean boys. Easy peasy. If you take a look at this picture below, it's easy to see that this day-old duckling is a female.
Her brother is in this next picture, and you can see how dark his bill is, compared to his sister. It's a very noticeable difference! The clear distinction between bill colors is short-lived however. Over the next 2-3 days the girls' bills will darken very considerably, and the males bills will lighten somewhat. By about day 4, it's virtually impossible to distinguish gender based on bill color.
After that, you'll have to wait until 4-5 weeks when they can be differentiated by voice (girls quack, and boys make a quiet raspy sound).
Because of this, many folks choose to separate their ducklings into different brooders based on gender, right at hatch. Alternately, ducklings can be banded with appropriately small leg bands.
If you hatch and sell ducklings, and wanted to offer sexed ducklings, now is the time to separate out them by gender. At our farm, we only offer sexed ducklings for one or two hatches per year. At those times, we very quickly sell out of female ducklings at a price that's much higher than our usual straight-run price, since many folks really just want a few female ducks for laying eggs.
It's very important to mention that this sex-linked trait is much more distinctive and reliable in high-quality bloodlines. Not all "Welsh Harlequins" are reliably and easily sexed at hatch.
The auto-sexing bill coloration is a trait that is easily lost when blood lines are diluted by cross-breeding, and when this trait is not continuously selected for from generation to generation. I have seen many hatchery stock ducklings where it's either extremely difficult to differentiate between colors, or just plain unreliable.
For our breeding flock, I select the girls with the very pinkest bills, and the boys with the darkest bills, to grow out as potential breeders. Once they fully reach adulthood, those with the best coloring and formation become part of the breeding flock. Following this practice from generation to generation, we ensure a flock that's very easily auto-sexing year after year.
This little cutie (check out that hatch-head 'do!) is an uncommon exception among hatchlings from our flock. Do you see how there's a bit of a darker line down the center of her bill? The lower lighting in the picture accentuates this, and in real life it's pretty easy to see that she's female. This "half and half" bill coloring is very common in a lot of the hatchery blood lines, but you can usually still bet that those with a very dark tip on their bills (like this girl) are female, and those with a lighter, or more indistinct bill tip are males.
If you've ordered your ducklings, and receive them within their first couple of days after hatch, chances are very good that you can still get a pretty reliable idea of your ducklings' gender, even if their bill coloring isn't perfectly pink or solidly dark. And if you're planning to breed your ducks, you can absolutely improve the auto-sexing trait among your stock by selecting for it generation after generation, like we do here at Wynterwood Farm.
Still need help trying to figure out if your sweet little fluff-balls are boys or girls? Drop a picture in the comments below and I'll see if I can help!
Happy hatching!
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Ed says
Hi, I've hatched two Welsh Harlequin ducklings, and one is supposed to hatch soon. I first thought that they were females, but I'm starting to think elsewhere after looking at a few pics. Could you please help me identify them? Thanks. I tried to post pics but it wouldn't let me.
Autumn Bluestone says
Hello!
I’m having trouble with my 6 week old Welsh, Charlie.
I bought her sexed as a day old and she clearly had the female markings on her beak. But now, she’s growing in grey feathers on her head like a drake. Her voice also hasn’t changed like her sisters. Her beak looks pretty much the same as it did when I bought her…it never turned dark like the other females.
I’d appreciate any insight you have!
Anna says
Hi Autumn! I'm so sorry, I'm just seeing your comment now. It's not totally unusual for some Welshie females to take longer than other when it comes to bills and feet turning dark. And some are quieter than others. But - there's always the possibility that she had incorrect bill coloring at hatch, and that she's actual male. In some lines, bill sexing at hatch can be a little less reliable. I'd be very happy to take a look at a photo or video if you'd like to send one my way, and I might be able to help a little bit more. You can email me at [email protected]
Very happy to help however I can! Again, sorry for the delay in responding, and hope you have a great night!
Karin McAlduff says
I am eleven days from hatching two beautiful welsh harlequin/golden hybrids. I've searched the internet over to find information about sexing at hatch. I am hoping above all hopes that it will be easy to see (given the pics and info for welsh harlequins) Just a little concerned about the "golden hybrid" part. I will try to send pics to (hopefully) help me discern their gender!
Any help you can give me would greatly appreciated!
Expectant Mother Duck,
Karin 😉
Megan Pentecost says
I used this method when picking ducks from a big jumble of ducklings, just hoping to pick harlequins. I found the hatchlings with the lighter bill and dark tip. I definitely picked all 5 Welsh harlequins. But I'm pretty sure they are all Drake's, even though they had the lighter bill with dark tip. Can you post or email me a pic of a female vs a male harlequin? They definitely have the dark head with green shine. This is my first flock so I'm not sure if they follow the same coloring rules as other duck breeds.
Rachel B says
How do we post the pictures to have you take a look?
Anna says
Good morning Rachel! I've realized the "img" button to upload a photo doesn't seem to show on all browsers, so you may not be able to upload to a comment, BUT - please feel free to shoot any photos you'd like over to me at [email protected] and I'll get right back to you with what they look like to me. Congrats on your little ones! ~ Anna
Chelsea McMurdo says
I have two ducklings out of five that the consensus is that they are Welsh Harlequins. One had an obvious girl bill at 2 days old and the other (nearest the water) looks like maybe a girl too. What do you think? They are around 2 weeks old now so I guess I’ll know for sure in another 2 push if they start quaking! Lol, my kids are itching to name them and I said not until I know who’s what.
Anna says
Hi Chelsea! Congrats on your Welsh Harlequin babies! I'm so sorry I'm not seeing the photo here, but if you'd like to email it to me, I'd be glad to take a look! You can shoot it over to me at [email protected]
Fawn Bowden says
Is autosexing still possible if you cross a male silver phase WH with gold phased females or vice versa?
Anna says
Hi Fawn! Absolutely. If both parents come from good stock where the autosexing trait is strong, then their offspring can absolutely be autosexed at hatch. You'll also generally be able to tell right away which duckling are going to be gold phase, by the coloring of their fluff - gold phase ducklings have a brownish/bronze blush over their fluff rather than the smokey-colored tipping on the silver phase. Hope this helps!!
Donna says
Our ducks are about 2 months old. I’m wondering if the tale loops for males.
Summer says
What are mine boy or girl
Anna says
Hi Summer! I'm so sorry, I'm having a hard time seeing the photo. If you happen to have a link to the photos online, you drop that here, or feel free to email me a picture, and I'll try to help! [email protected]
Congrats on your ducklings!