Indian Runner Ducks - Colours of eggs

[Papaye]

Hi!

Very interesting my first Runners that hatched in 2016 all lay blue eggs , this is black, blue, and silver Runners then in 2019 I added fawn and white and they lay a creamy white. In 2023 I added more fawn and whites and they also lay a creamy white.

I actually did not even know ducks could lay striped eggs... Make me wonder what other egg colours exist I don't know of!

Not long ago, one of my black Runner duck had laid an egg of a darker blue than usual.
Not so dark, but to be very specific : a clear, greenish cyan - really beautiful colour.
I had never seen such a colours on an egg before, and that a shame that happened only once, because much to my regret : I did not take a picture!

 

[notallducksinmypond]

...I'm impressed here by the fact a white runner duck could be born by a blue mother and a fawn and white father...!

hey, actually,
white itself is a recessive gene, so ducks can carry one copy of it without showing (no, all kinds of splashes of white , bibs or pied/runner pattern are not just a single allele of white, they are in fact linked to their own genes)
genetically the letter "C" represents the white gene,
as it is recessive "c" is a white alelle, "C" is non white
so: c/c all white duck; (homozygote white)
C/c NON white duck, but carries white (heterozygote white);
C/C NON white duck, NO carrier (homozygote NON white)
so two white ducks (c/c + c/c) can ONLY get white offspring (just "c" available),
but if you pair a white (c/c) with a non white (C/C) you get ducklings that are by look not white (phenotype), but carry one white alelle copy (genotype ) (C/c)

if you cross those ducks (C/c + C/c) that do NOT look white
25% off their offspring will be white (c/c),
50% will not be white but again CARRY white (C/c)
and the last 25% will be NO white at all (C/C)

thats also kind of the problem with getting pure/true breeding colours,
because if you cross those phenotype not white carriers (C/c)
with not white at all (C/C) they still produce 25% not phenotype white but white genotype "carrier" ducks (C/c)
white can go unetected for generations until carriers pair and actually produce white offspring (small batches of eggs may not include all statistical correct possible combinations)

also , white is kind of an "overlay" so your duck can (genetically viewed) possible have all colors , even black and still be pure white if she is homozygote white (c/c)

BLACK EGGS
the black is a so called bloom or correctly color pigments in the bloom, every duck egg has a heavy bloom (protection layer) but normally it is clear.
black ducks tend to have more or less pigment in their bloom so the eggs appear black/grey,
generally pigment reduces in the laying period itself and with age, so the very first eggs in the first laying period will be the darkest, next first eggs in second laying period will be dark but lighter than the very first and so on
egg color is and was nearly never a primary breeding standart in runner ducks, so there was no selection because of "wrong" egg color, especially if the duck was high quality in body conformation.
breeding shows are often in fall, most ducks are at this point not even a year old and have not started laying.
for proven egg color the ducks would be shown the next year (around 1 1/2 to nearly 2 years) wich will be quite the loss in body conformation due to age...
to my knowledge there is also NO linkage to feathercolor/ plumage, maybe because there is no breed standart for it so a special combination eg. blue plumage + blue eggs was never a selection criteria and therefore was not taken into account at breeding.

 

[Papaye]

Hi!

white itself is a recessive gene, so ducks can carry one copy of it without showing

Yes. I at least know about it.

genetically the letter "C" represents the white gene,
as it is recessive "c" is a white alelle, "C" is non white
so: c/c all white duck; (homozygote white)
C/c NON white duck, but carries white (heterozygote white);
C/C NON white duck, NO carrier (homozygote NON white)

Thank you for the explanation!
(You do explain clearly. I understand better now!)

but if you pair a white (c/c) with a non white (C/C) you get ducklings that are by look not white (phenotype), but carry one white alelle copy (genotype ) (C/c)

if you cross those ducks (C/c + C/c) that do NOT look white
25% off their offspring will be white (c/c),
50% will not be white but again CARRY white (C/c)
and the last 25% will be NO white at all (C/C)

THAT is what I have only learned recently.
Until then, I believed a White duck on a NON-White duck would result in 50% White ducklings, and 50% NON-White ducklings.

I now know I was mistaken.

also , white is kind of an "overlay" so your duck can (genetically viewed) possible have all colors , even black and still be pure white if she is homozygote white (c/c)

Yes.
For the time being, I can't tell what colours is hidden by my White ducks, since their children were either white like them, or the same colours than their other parents...

I don't know if the hidden colours from White ducks would show easily...?
(I have learned about test mating, but it has not been very helpful for me for the time being.)

the black is a so called bloom or correctly color pigments in the bloom, every duck egg has a heavy bloom (protection layer) but normally it is clear.
black ducks tend to have more or less pigment in their bloom so the eggs appear black/grey,

Okay... so, this black colour IS the protective layer...!!
I did not know about that!!

egg color is and was nearly never a primary breeding standart in runner ducks, so there was no selection because of "wrong" egg color, especially if the duck was high quality in body conformation.
breeding shows are often in fall, most ducks are at this point not even a year old and have not started laying.
for proven egg color the ducks would be shown the next year (around 1 1/2 to nearly 2 years) wich will be quite the loss in body conformation due to age...

I am not familiar with shows...

For me, the colour of the eggs could have been shown and assessed.
(We do that for Marans eggs, in my country. So, I would not be surprised if it was also done for duck eggs...?)

to my knowledge there is also NO linkage to feathercolor/ plumage, maybe because there is no breed standart for it so a special combination eg. blue plumage + blue eggs was never a selection criteria and therefore was not taken into account at breeding.

Yeaaaah... Okay...

I feel we need more studies on the colour of eggs. I would want to understand...
(...One of my Bibbed Black duck that has laid blue eggs until some days ago now lays STRIPED blue eggs...
...Just why...?)

In any case, thank you so much for your post...
I'm really grateful. (I have learned some things thanks to you!)

 

[notallducksinmypond]

I am not familiar with shows...

For me, the colour of the eggs could have been shown and assessed.
(We do that for Marans eggs, in my country. So, I would not be surprised if it was also done for duck eggs...?)

Yes of course, i think i did not formulate it correctly.
in runner ducks eggs are kind of a byproduct, because they are mainly kept for decorative purpose nowadays. they originally are a laying duck breed , but because in most countrys duck eggs are not comercially for sale and/or mostly consumed by the owner of the ducks, duck egg quality (i do not mean hygiene!) like size, shape, color isn´t important enough.
In germany breeding standarts for runner ducks include exactly one vague sentence on eggs. "eggs vary from 60 to 70g, mostly white in color, up to 200/year" followed by whole paragraphs for each color separated in drakes and ducks.

marans on the other hand are nearly exclusively bred for their eggs, whole colorcharts are created, henns are rated on their egg color, plumage color is mostly black copper in the really dark egg section but absolutely second criteria.


i personally love colorful eggs too but sadly it is no important criteria in runner duck breeding, except special personal preferences of some private breeders.

Yes.
For the time being, I can't tell what colours is hidden by my White ducks, since their children were either white like them, or the same colours than their other parents...

I don't know if the hidden colours from White ducks would show easily...?
(I have learned about test mating, but it has not been very helpful for me for the time being.)

if you like you can send me pictures of the non white partners and your ducklings, i will try to make some guesses as most colors need to be combinated correctly to show.
one thing for sure,
if you have only white ducks, no white drakes
AND only not white drakes
AND you get white ducklings
at least one of your drakes carries white!

this also works the other way around,
if you have no white ducks and a white drake
AND you get white ducklings,
some of your ducks are white carriers.

test mating in white is a little special because you need reeeeeally indominant colors to mate with and the partner should not carry white .
some are easy:
1. put a chocolate/brown drake on your white duck:
(brown is sex-linked,(=located on the sex determining chromosome), female only get one copy and show brown, males need two copys to show brown)
if all brown ducklings are female your white duck does not carry brown
so if you get at least one brown male your white duck carries brown

2. if your white duck produces exclusevely black ducklings with a not black (and not white) partner she is homozygote black (E/E)
if she produces at least one black duckling with a non black partner she is heterozygote black (E/e)

3. if she produces any blue offspring with any not blue partner she carries blue (Bl/bl) if she produces exclusevely blue she is homozygote blue (Bl/Bl)

4. paired with harlekin/snowy
if you get at least one harlekin/snowy duckling she carries harlekin (lih) or is harlekin herself (lih/lih) (harlekin is also recessive, so only shown if homozygote)

test mating whites depends hardly on one point:
does the partner carry white? If yes, your results will not be accurate because you can not look "under" the white offspring