Sexing Blue Swedish

[Bridger Davis]

Hey all! I have a question about sexing my blue swedish. Her name is Carmen, and he\she is 8 weeks old. Despite picking her up, taking her away from her friends, etc. She NEVER quacks. Just these muffled whispery "meep" sounds. It sounds obvious that he is a Drake, hut I had them sexed, and I was supposed to get all girls. Now I probably have 3 ducks and 1 Drake. Do I have enough ducks for him? It won't be overwhelming for the girls, will it? Here's a picture of Carmen. Thanks!

 

[Bridger Davis]

Oh! And before I forget, if he is a Drake, I want to hatch babies but do not want to get an incubator. As a refresher, I have a rouen, and two Cayuga ducks. Do these breeds go broody? I would really love to hatch them naturally next year. Any advice on doing this? Thanks!

 

[DuckyDonna]

I had 1 drake and 3 girls for over a year and it was fine. The drake was an obnoxious ass so he went on Craig's list. Now I've got another drake to 6 girls and he's bloodied all but 1 neck but he's not an ass. I just think it depends on the drakes personality and temperament.

I don't remember if any of those ducks go broody but I'm sure someone will chime in soon about that. Someone posted a chart that had the "broodiness" of each breed of duck but I forgot to bookmark it. Dang it!

I do know that you can make your own incubator because @Jpat did and I'm sure he'd be glad to tell you how to do it. You might want to start looking on Craig's list for one too because even if the mommas do start to incubate eggs sometimes they get disinterested and quit in the middle of it and you get to take over. I've read that a lot this spring!

 

[PirateGirl]

It’s probably a drake. Vent sexing or voice sexing are all you can do. He is young to have a drake feather and Swedish coloring for males and females is identical. I started with a flock of one blues Swedish drake and 4 blue Swedish hens. They did great together. When they were about 3 years old I added to female KCs, not because my drake needed more ladies, just because I wanted to raise ducklings. I’m currently incubating Swedish eggs under a broody chicken, though I do have a Swedish hen that is a bit hormonal and would probably set if I encouraged her, more so than any of the other girls.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Almost all of my Blue Swedish (5/7 at this time) go broody, and they're excellent mothers. My Rouen girl also goes broody. Cayugas are supposed to be pretty good brooders and mothers. I think you're good if you want ducklings.

And yeah, three girls sounds like a decent ratio.

EDT: And I've never found that mine need assistance hatching/raising ducklings.

 

[Bridger Davis]

I had 1 drake and 3 girls for over a year and it was fine. The drake was an obnoxious ass so he went on Craig's list. Now I've got another drake to 6 girls and he's bloodied all but 1 neck but he's not an ass. I just think it depends on the drakes personality and temperament.

I don't remember if any of those ducks go broody but I'm sure someone will chime in soon about that. Someone posted a chart that had the "broodiness" of each breed of duck but I forgot to bookmark it. Dang it!

I do know that you can make your own incubator because @Jpat did and I'm sure he'd be glad to tell you how to do it. You might want to start looking on Craig's list for one too because even if the mommas do start to incubate eggs sometimes they get disinterested and quit in the middle of it and you get to take over. I've read that a lot this spring!

That stinks that their necks get bloody from mating!! Is that normal? Any ways to prevent that? How often do they mate?

It’s probably a drake. Vent sexing or voice sexing are all you can do. He is young to have a drake feather and Swedish coloring for males and females is identical. I started with a flock of one blues Swedish drake and 4 blue Swedish hens. They did great together. When they were about 3 years old I added to female KCs, not because my drake needed more ladies, just because I wanted to raise ducklings. I’m currently incubating Swedish eggs under a broody chicken, though I do have a Swedish hen that is a bit hormonal and would probably set if I encouraged her, more so than any of the other girls.

Cool; thanks! What do you mean by "encourage her"? What can you do to encourage them to go broody?

Almost all of my Blue Swedish (5/7 at this time) go broody, and they're excellent mothers. My Rouen girl also goes broody. Cayugas are supposed to be pretty good brooders and mothers. I think you're good if you want ducklings.

And yeah, three girls sounds like a decent ratio.

EDT: And I've never found that mine need assistance hatching/raising ducklings.

Awesome; that's refreshing to hear. I really would like to lean towards the natural incubation because not only does it have a higher success rate, but they have instinct on their side! Thanks for the help!

 

[PirateGirl]

Well, chickens go broody if and when they feel like it and take a bit of work to break.

Ducks I find start acting hormonal, I break up the nest daily and collect all eggs daily do discourage setting. I've been told by the duck folks on here though that if you leave her alone when she's like this and let her collect as many eggs as she wants and do not disturb the nest that she may start sitting.

 

[DuckyDonna]

I think it is normal from what everyone else says. Apparently after the "mating " season is over it will calm down