# Question about Welsh Harlequins?



## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Seems like last spring someone here told me you could tell the difference in sex of the Welsh harlequins by the color of their bill but now I can't find the thread & I can't remember who told me that? Granny Carol I think?

Anyways now some of my eggs are starting to hatch & I would like to be able to tell what sex they ar. 
So far just 1 Welsh has hatched & it has a dark kinda greenish bill, any ideas?
Probably drake with my luck since I want hen's. I still have quite a few more still in the incubator.


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

> Interestingly, they can be sexed after hatching with 90% accuracy by their bill color. Darker bills mean a male and lighter bills ending in a dark spot are normally females. Within several days this distinction disappears. They are also a beautiful bird, especially the feather patterns and colors on the adult females.


Sounds like a drake. 

The Farm's Welsh Harlequin @ Muscovy Duck Central


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks Jason. So far that's the only Welsh I've had hatch out but have quite a few Indian runners & 1 of my White crested cross ducks & 1 royal Palm turkey. I have a menagerie in my incubator right now. 
I thought I remembered the dark bill meant it was a drake. Trying to figure out now how I can mark them so I can tell the difference after the bills all change to normal color.


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## Dusky Beauty (Jan 4, 2012)

Darker bills mean a male and lighter bills ending in a dark spot are normally females. Within several days this distinction disappears. 

They can also be bred within the breed to be sex linked by breeding a gold harlequin drake to silver harlequin females-- Although bad luck for me, the only drakelet to come in my straight run order is pretty surely a silver.

You can (and I do) mark my birds with small colored zip ties. Dollar Tree carries a package of zip ties that come in a lot of diff colors. Make sure you put them on just loose enough to not come off and check them everyday-- those little legs grow fast.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Looks like everyone beat me to it!  

I've just had a great hatch of Anconas and Welsh Harlequins... I think I remember 3 boys and 5 girls, silver and gold. However, I have 19 ducklings and its pretty hazy at the moment! lol 

I'll sort them out today, I used Metzer's video yesterday to practice vent sexing and was 100% right on the Welsh Halequins (as per bill color), so am somewhat confident with the Anconas. I certainly found a couple of boys, but there is a mass of nearly identical black and white Anconas, as well as one blue and three browns. Sheesh! We're getting some food coloring to see if we can mark them short term, I have a buyer for many of them (whew!). 

They sure are cute though.  I'll have to get some pictures today and start a thread to share the cuteness later.

Edit: Here is a picture of the early hatch, there are two girls and two boys of the Welsh Harlequins in there, it's pretty clear the differences of the bill color. The Ancona doesn't count, he's my brown and white boy (right in front).


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks Granny Carol & Dusky Beauty, I can see the difference real clear in your picture. The 1 welsh that hatched so far is definately a little drake. 
Probably can't tell that same way on any other kind of duck though can we?

I was thinking of the colored zip ties'. I have some small one's that come in the big packages & I never know what to use the smallest one's for.
Now it will be for marking ducklings.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

No, doesn't work on other breeds/colors. It's not 100% with Welsh Harlequins either, but about 80-90%. Still, a lot nicer than not knowing anything! I put tiny yellow zip ties on my drakes, two out of four of them promptly fell off! lol You really do have to keep an eye on them, but when you get them just right, they work great. As my ducks get bigger, I put plastic ring leg bands on them. They lose them sometimes, but usually not until I know them all by sight anyway. 

I'm pretty sure, after messing with it for a day or two, that I have mostly girl Anconas.... so I'm probably wrong! At least I can identify a couple of boys by vent sexing them and one of the two I want to keep I'm happy girl or boy because its not so closely related and came out of a green egg, the other I'm quite sure is a girl. At worst, I'll have a 50% success rate with vent sexing! hehe


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

I Love the Anconas too. I don't have any though but you never know I may get a couple sometime.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Although you have to either wait or to vent sex them, the Anconas are really pretty and sweet ducks. I love the wild colors and feel like I can get to know each duckling right off as a baby by their markings. With other breeds, it can be pretty subtle to tell them apart as babies.


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