Did you know that like teenage boys, tweenie ducklings voices change too? At 5 weeks old teenage ducklings little peep peeps start to alter and we begin to be able to tell the boys from the girls.
Boys change first, and their sound starts to become raspier, quieter (sort of). The girls, well their change isn’t so dramatic, but rather – louder. As their peeps deepen, it gives them more volume. My goodness does it ever!
We have dwarf mallards and call ducks (actually the smallest type of mallard, but all white). Call ducks are so named because the girls have a particularly loud quack. And we can attest to that. The boy call ducks on the other hand have a very quiet raspy quack. (And something to keep in mind if you live in an urban environment.)
Our teenage ducklings are at this age now and the changes are just taking place. We await with baited breath to see what we have. My fingers are crossed for mostly female, or at least a 2/3rds ratio. Our little flock is already male dominated, when it should be the other way around.
Sadly if we have too many males we will have to say goodbye to our male ducklings and find them new homes. And I have definitely become too attached.
For more information on male to female ratios in the duck, and geese, happy kingdom, Metzer Farms has a very insightful write up on it that we recommend.