Duck Talk

[Papaye]

Hi!

Both my black Swedish were born in May 2023. Here is my other girl, completely black last summer, and then one of her now and you can see she's gotten some white on her sides. It will be interesting to see just how white they get. Ducks are just the best!

(I like your pictures : they are nice to look at, and your ducks are so cute...!!)

Search for "White Cayuga duck" on Google Image : there are pictures of Cayuga that have turned almost completely white.
And they are really beautiful...!!

That is what is the most amazing about solid coloured ducks, in my opinion : once they start turning white, they never remain the same; and all of them look then so unique...!

(If you can't differenciate your solid coloured ducks, you will be able to once they start whitening!!)

I am envious of your girl : my black ducks take they sweet, sweet time to turn white...!

Is the Splash colored on the lighter gray?

Splash is what you would call "Silver" - or even "Lavender" - depending on the country/language.

It is one of the colours you can obtain when you breed Blue on Blue.
(You would get Black, Blue, or Splash ducklings then.)

...Your white, grayish girl with a black bill IS a Splash/Silver coloured hen!!

Here is mine - at the center of the picture :

Splash duck hens can (also) look completly White, but all of them still have a black coloured bill.

(And boys or girls, all Splash ducks have blue eyes and orange feet!)

 

[CoriM]

Wow, that's so cool about the blue eyes and also the orange feet and black beaks. I have never seen that combination, though one of my black Swedish had orange and black feet, which are becoming more black. And I've never seen blue eyes on a duck! Your splash hen looks kind of like my blue runner, though lighter for sure. So how many ducks do you have of each breed?

 

[Papaye]

Wow, that's so cool about the blue eyes and also the orange feet and black beaks. I have never seen that combination,

Look at "Canard de Forest Blanc" on Google Image, and you will find pictures of White coloured ducks that have a black bill and orange feet.

The ducks are really pretty, but still : the breed is very rare.

Here is its French Wikipedia page :
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canard_de_Forest#:~:text=Le%20canard%20de%20Forest%20est,bec%20de%20couleur%20gris%20ardoise.&text=Environ%203%20kg%20pour%20les%20deux%20sexes.&text=Bleu%20%C3%A0%20bleu%20tach%C3%A9%20de%20noir%2C%20onglet%20fonc%C3%A9.

though one of my black Swedish had orange and black feet, which are becoming more black.

Sometimes, the bibbed ducks have orange on their feet.

(I personally noticed when a Bibbed Black duckling has issue getting out of his eggs : whatever his breed, he has more white (yellow) on him than other Bibbed Black ducklings... and his feet have orange patches of skin on them!
But that is just my personal observation from this year alone, so that is just worth what it's worth - meaning not much here...)

And I've never seen blue eyes on a duck!

You have.
You just have not noticed, because ducks' blue eyes are kind of dark... and you know : their eyes are round, and small on their face, and look black whatever their actual colour is...

I have seen for myself that :

• White coloured ducks have blue eyes.

• Splash/Silver/Lavender - whatever you call this colour - ducks ALSO have blue eyes...

• Fawn and White ducks have blue eyes... at least for the phase some people call Emory Penciled...
(...but I am pretty sure all the phases of Fawn and White actually also have blue eyes - including the one of YOUR Fawn and White Indian Runner...)

...For the rest : I have no idea if there are other colours that are associated with blue eyes...?
I see a lot of brown eyes in my ducks... (Black, Mallard/Grey, Trout, Light Dusky, etc...)

Your splash hen looks kind of like my blue runner, though lighter for sure.

...Blue...?
I thought she was Splash, since she looks so much like mine...
(Sorry : I was confused!)

How old is she?

My Splash Indian Runner girl is probably still a juvenile duck, so I don't know if she will keep her grayish feathers : it actually looks like she is turning white, so...
(She is my first Splash coloured duck hen, so I am learning about this colour partly by looking at her and seeing how she changes.)

So how many ducks do you have of each breed?

For the time being, I have :
• 5 (French) Duclair ducks : 2 drakes + 3 hens;
• 3 Khaki Campbell ducks : 2 drakes + 1 hen;
• 2 Cayuga drakes;
• several Indian Runner ducks : 9 drakes + a lot of hens (I actually don't know how many, because I am waiting for the ones I still have to give to actually go before counting the ones I keep).

...But how many do YOU have?

 

[CoriM]

Wow, that is just the oddest thing to my eyes, to see the mismatched beak and feet . I am learning so much about the French ducks! I have never heard of "splash" here in the US, so I'm wondering if it's a European breed, or do we just have different names. I have ordered all of my ducklings (except my first 6, which were Pekin and Welsh Harlequin from a feed store) from Metzer hatchery. You can check out their link and see the variety of runners they have:

https://www.metzerfarms.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooN8q2tRXjt1wvnl_KD-1xe7KfrgGrv64ygOwn5Vuh5sPsHwZBY.

Their blue and black (at least the females) eventually get lighter and more white, but start out gray and black. I guess I'm not sure why they call the gray ones "blue".

You have your hands full with drakes. Do you need to separate your females?

Your runners are much more upright than mine...I have seen that also on other people's photos here on BYC and have thought that some from the East Coast are more upright than the West Coast ones. When my girls get curious about something they stand up super straight, but otherwise, not as tall as yours. Yours are very pretty.

My current flock consists of all females: 2 Fawn and White Runners, 1 Blue Runner, 1 Welsh Harlequin, 2 Duclairs, 2 Buff, and 2 Black Swedish. I am just in love with them all!

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

I am learning so much about the French ducks!

I am happy you can learn something thanks to me!

I have never heard of "splash" here in the US, so I'm wondering if it's a European breed, or do we just have different names.

No : Splash is just a colour - NOT a breed.

You could call it "Silver", but in Europe, we generally call it "Lavender".
(It would actually depend on the country/language, but also on people themselves...)

When my Splash coloured Duclair drake was born, I was confused about him, because he had a similar fluff colour to a Snowy duckling...
...and I was not supposed to get Snowy coloured ducklings from the eggs I had bought!

Here he was, at 4-days-old :

I only understood he was, in fact, a Splash/Silver coloured Duclair boy eventually BECAUSE :
1 • when his juvenile feathers started to emerge, I could then notice he had a white bib... and Duclair ducks HAVE white bibs,
2 • I had already learned "Blue on Blue" can produce Splash coloured ducklings, so I thought it probably was what happened here...

But since I could not find any picture of Splash ducklings, it took time for me to be sure this ducklings really was a Splash coloured Duclair...!

...Here he was, at exactly 1-month-old :

And now, at 3-months-old :

He was a surprise, but I feel very lucky to have got him from the Blue Duclair duck eggs I had bought!

I have ordered all of my ducklings (except my first 6, which were Pekin and Welsh Harlequin from a feed store) from Metzer hatchery. You can check out their link and see the variety of runners they have:

https://www.metzerfarms.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooN8q2tRXjt1wvnl_KD-1xe7KfrgGrv64ygOwn5Vuh5sPsHwZBY.

I have learned about them!

And that's thanks to their website I know what people mean when they talk about "Golden 300 ducks" : the breed does NOT exist in France, so I was very confused when I first read about them.

Their blue and black (at least the females) eventually get lighter and more white, but start out gray and black.

That is natural, since "Blue" is a solid colour.

Black and Brown/Chocolate ducks are the same : they eventually turn white as they age - more so the girls than the boys.

(I would imagine other solid coloured ducks - such as Lilac/Lavender - also turn White as they grow old...?)

I guess I'm not sure why they call the gray ones "blue".

Maybe to differenciate with the real gray colour - such as the feathers on a Mallard belly, for example...?

To me, the feathers actually look like a blueish gray colour, so...

You have your hands full with drakes. Do you need to separate your females?

Thankfully, not for the time being : not only I have no issue with my drakes out of mating season, but some of them are still juvenile, and 4 of my newly adult drakes have not even started to mate with the girls... (These four are strongly bonded friends, and it actually does not look like they are interested by the girls...?)

Still : even though I am lucky for the time being, I am carefully monitoring them.
(We never know...)

Your runners are much more upright than mine...I have seen that also on other people's photos here on BYC and have thought that some from the East Coast are more upright than the West Coast ones. When my girls get curious about something they stand up super straight, but otherwise, not as tall as yours.

It could be genetic, but most of my ducks are still young, and young Indian Runner have a more vertical stance than older ones!

Some of my Indian Runners are not good quality, but I keep them because they are pets and I love them, and I still can get fine ducks from their offsprings.

Yours are very pretty.

Thank you, but your ducks are "very pretty" too!

My current flock consists of all females: 2 Fawn and White Runners, 1 Blue Runner, 1 Welsh Harlequin, 2 Duclairs, 2 Buff, and 2 Black Swedish. I am just in love with them all!

So, you have 10 duck hens...
You at least don't lack eggs to eat, right?

(You know what? I am envious of your American version of Fawn and White Indian Runner : I just find them so pretty...!!)

Are you not planning to eventually get 1 or 2 drakes, in order to make ducklings in the future...?

 

[CoriM]

I am not planning on getting any drakes. I've had two in the past - sent to me mis-sexed, and it just created a lot of drama and trouble with my older pekins (who have all passed on). I didn't keep them, sadly, though I tried to work with them. I have a lot of peace in the flock with just females, and even though it would be so fun to see them have babies, I am maxed out with ten ducks and I wouldn't want to have to figure out what to do if they hatched a lot of boys. Yes, I was getting often 9-10 eggs a day this summer, but now they're all on break and I've had to start buying eggs!

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

I've had two in the past - sent to me mis-sexed, and it just created a lot of drama and trouble with my older pekins (who have all passed on).

"Mis-sexed"...
...Some people do (voluntarily) sell boys instead of girls, because they want/have to get rid of their extra drakes...

I didn't keep them, sadly, though I tried to work with them. I have a lot of peace in the flock with just females, and even though it would be so fun to see them have babies, I am maxed out with ten ducks and I wouldn't want to have to figure out what to do if they hatched a lot of boys.

Well... you could always add only ONE drake, and not let any of your hens sit on the eggs until you decide you actually want to have ducklings in your yard...?

...That's true having too many boys among your ducklings can be annoying...
I (have to) give mines - since the idea to kill them to eat them is (still) bothering me -, but doing so means I lose a lot of money...

Yes, I was getting often 9-10 eggs a day this summer, but now they're all on break and I've had to start buying eggs!

That's a shame...!!

That's partly why I keep letting my hens hatch ducks eggs : so I can always have (some of my young) duck hens laying in Winter.

 

[CoriM]

If I had more space I would love having ducklings every year!

 

[Burnt Brass Homestead]

Hi Everyone!

I did it, I got ducks a few weeks ago, and they are growing fast. They are the cutest.

 

[CoriM]

They are adorable. What breed are they? So fun!