Crested Appleyards x Snowy Runner - Genetics

[Waddlewoods]

My ducks still have yet to lay me an egg this year so I'm back with another question about genetics to fill the void.

1. Crested Apple Yard Hen with my Snowy Runner Drake...

2. Ancona Coloured Runner Drake. He's my fav drake and I can't seem to hatch any ducklings like him. I'm hoping the new hens it have now will help. Can anyone shed some light on what genetics I need in the hen to produce more like him?

3. Also curious what I may get from my Snowy Drake over any of my other hens - Silver, Lilac, Chocolate and black.

Thank you!!

 

[cheezenkwackers]

1. MR md, so restricted (mohawk ducklings, increased white on wings). li li^h (light harlequin), so light I think that is trout. Split for crest so 50% chance of crest but that crest can be so small you barely see it.
2. Your drake has extended black with runner pattern. Both of these are dominant traits but there is no way to know if he is homozygous (2 copies) or heterozygous (1 copy). Still, if he is doing his job, at least half the ducklings should look like him.
3. Again it depends if they have 1 or 2 copies of extended black. If they only have one, you could get some surprises. If they all have 2 then the silver and lilac hens would make blue ducklings and chocolate and black would make black ducklings.
Here is a link to an article which explains it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mallard-derived-duck-color-genetics-basics.74277/

 

[Waddlewoods]

1. MR md, so restricted (mohawk ducklings, increased white on wings). li li^h (light harlequin), so light I think that is trout. Split for crest so 50% chance of crest but that crest can be so small you barely see it.
2. Your drake has extended black with runner pattern. Both of these are dominant traits but there is no way to know if he is homozygous (2 copies) or heterozygous (1 copy). Still, if he is doing his job, at least half the ducklings should look like him.
3. Again it depends if they have 1 or 2 copies of extended black. If they only have one, you could get some surprises. If they all have 2 then the silver and lilac hens would make blue ducklings and chocolate and black would make black ducklings.
Here is a link to an article which explains it: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mallard-derived-duck-color-genetics-basics.74277/

Awesome thanks. I've read over that article several times. Very interesting but I'm still left with so many questions.

Quick one: I've noticed this week that my crested appleyard hen has taken to my blue runner drake. Any ideas what will come of that paring?

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Awesome thanks. I've read over that article several times. Very interesting but I'm still left with so many questions.

Quick one: I've noticed this week that my crested appleyard hen has taken to my blue runner drake. Any ideas what will come of that paring?

Assuming he is homozygous for extended black there is a 50% chance of all black ducklings and a 50% chance of blue ducklings. None will be the color of mom.

 

[Waddlewoods]

Assuming he is homozygous for extended black there is a 50% chance of all black ducklings and a 50% chance of blue ducklings. None will be the color of mom.

Ok so considering his mom was either silver or black and dad was either blue or my Ancona coloured drake then he would be homozygous for black correct?

Also, their babies would carry the moms Genesee and if bred to another duck carrying those genes their babies could have the Appleyard colouring?

Also, is it possible to explain to me the different between the Appleyard genetics and snowy genetics? Do the appleyards carry the harlequin gene?

Thank you.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Ok so considering his mom was either silver or black and dad was either blue or my Ancona coloured drake then he would be homozygous for black correct?

Also, their babies would carry the moms Genesee and if bred to another duck carrying those genes their babies could have the Appleyard colouring?

Also, is it possible to explain to me the different between the Appleyard genetics and snowy genetics? Do the appleyards carry the harlequin gene?

Thank you.

Yes, he would be homozygous.
And yes, all the babies would carry mom and dad’s genes. It’s just that extended black is dominant so it hides mom’s genes. It is possible you could get some of the Appleyard traits from crossing the babies but it takes more than one gene to look like an Appleyard. First, Appleyard’s have the restricted allele (an allele is just one of the pair of genes had, one allele from mom, one from dad). The restricted allele gives the the mohawk duckling down and adds white to the wings of the adults. Second, they have the light allele, not the harlequin allele. If a duck is homozygous for the recessive light it will be lighter than a normal mallard. This is usually called a Trout if you google it. It is thought that Silver Appleyards have these two genes with some additional lightening ones which make them look similar to Welsh Harlequins. Ducks which are homozygous for the recessive Harlequin are called Snowy. They do not need additional genes to be that light. I had this Snowy Hookbill hatch last year from two non-Snowy parents. Both of the parents must have been heterozygous for it so you could not see that they carried it.
Hope this helps and makes sense.

 

[Waddlewoods]

Yes, he would be homozygous.
And yes, all the babies would carry mom and dad’s genes. It’s just that extended black is dominant so it hides mom’s genes. It is possible you could get some of the Appleyard traits from crossing the babies but it takes more than one gene to look like an Appleyard. First, Appleyard’s have the restricted allele (an allele is just one of the pair of genes had, one allele from mom, one from dad). The restricted allele gives the the mohawk duckling down and adds white to the wings of the adults. Second, they have the light allele, not the harlequin allele. If a duck is homozygous for the recessive light it will be lighter than a normal mallard. This is usually called a Trout if you google it. It is thought that Silver Appleyards have these two genes with some additional lightening ones which make them look similar to Welsh Harlequins. Ducks which are homozygous for the recessive Harlequin are called Snowy. They do not need additional genes to be that light. I had this Snowy Hookbill hatch last year from two non-Snowy parents. Both of the parents must have been heterozygous for it so you could not see that they carried it.
Hope this helps and makes sense.
View attachment 4084593

Ok, thank you for all that info!! Makes more sense now.

One more questions, if breeding a Welsh harlequin to my crested appleyard what would be the outcome of that?