How-to? Improve Bill *Color* Genetics in Welsh Harlequin Ducks

[Ebb and Flock]

Hi! I am breeding Welsh Harlequins with intention to improve my flock and also provide proper breed standard WH to our community.
We are in Hawaii where it is truly impossible to source new or verified bloodlines (there is a duck import ban, even duck hatching eggs are banned).

In my flock the greatest issue are occasional females with YELLOW BILLS (freckled with black, but mustard yellow base color).

Is "yellow-bill" a recessive trait?
Females with black bills have laid both yellow and black bills.
Females with yellow bills have laid both black-billed & yellow offspring.

So it seems logical that the drakes would also contribute bill-coloring genes to female offspring (is this the case?).

IS IT POSSIBLE TO TELL IF THE DRAKES CARRY THE YELLOW-BILL GENE?
Are there any indications in drakes (at any stage in their growth) that they could carry this gene?
All of my drakes have the standard dark green bill color. But they hatch with varying shades of dark bills.

ARE THERE GENETIC TESTS FOR DUCK BILL COLOR?
IF SO- What lab please? (I have searched online but haven't found any yet)

If I could genetically test both my female & male breeding candidates then I would be able to more accurately & quickly continue the improved breeding program, to ensure that the genetics that I share with others are to quality breed standards.

Im not normally a purist in these things but the black-bill is the hallmark of the Welsh Harlequin's unique beauty!

Greatly appreciate any help & expertise!

 

[Debbie292d]

This isn't a lab, but it's a study on beak color genetics.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2023.1161396/full which was also published here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10475569/

And this thread touches on bill color: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/welsh-harlequin-genetics.1258072/

This article you may find interesting: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mallard-derived-duck-color-genetics-basics.74277/

Oddly, there really isn't much about bill color. You may be able to prove something worth publishing.

 

[Ebb and Flock]

This isn't a lab, but it's a study on beak color genetics.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2023.1161396/full which was also published here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10475569/

And this thread touches on bill color: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/welsh-harlequin-genetics.1258072/

This article you may find interesting: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mallard-derived-duck-color-genetics-basics.74277/

Oddly, there really isn't much about bill color. You may be able to prove something worth publishing.

THANK YOU! Great digging, i didnt see any of those resources in my searches.

Its awesome that a lab has found the bill color gene markers! I’m going to contact the Chinese lab and see if they can test or can recommend any American labs that may be able to use the Chinese gene mapping results. Can’t hurt to try!

I need to try read their gene mapping results with a dictionary in hand to decipher what they say about recessive traits in the bill colors. Its a new language to me!

Also hoping other Welsh Harlequin breeders with experience in selecting for bill color may chime in on this query…

I also do wonder if yellow bills are an indication of past cross breeding, or if its just a normal thing that can sometimes happen in the breed?

 

[Debbie292d]

THANK YOU! Great digging, i didnt see any of those resources in my searches.

Its awesome that a lab has found the bill color gene markers! I’m going to contact the Chinese lab and see if they can test or can recommend any American labs that may be able to use the Chinese gene mapping results. Can’t hurt to try!

I need to try read their gene mapping results with a dictionary in hand to decipher what they say about recessive traits in the bill colors. Its a new language to me!

Also hoping other Welsh Harlequin breeders with experience in selecting for bill color may chime in on this query…

I also do wonder if yellow bills are an indication of past cross breeding, or if its just a normal thing that can sometimes happen in the breed?

Good luck with that.

A lot of it went WAY over my head! I only deal with color genetics and feather types of our silkie chickens and that's enough genetic talk for me to last a lifetime!