Runner duck genetics?

[TLWR]

If I manage to convince DH to not mind adding 2 more ducks sometime this year.... one would need to be a male so I don't have 5 loud girls, just 4 LOL
But if I have a fawn and white, a chocolate and a silver....
what do I order so I have some decent color options if we decide to do anything with the eggs?

Is there a place somewhere I can go that will explain duck color genetics? Human genetics I understand, but duck stuff seems more complicated to me. Or maybe just confusing - either way, I have no clue yet.

 

[Senna95]

If you get a black male and an blue female you'd have:

Black male x blue female: 50% black, 50% blue
Black male x silver female: 100% blue
Black male x chocolate female: 100% black, but the males would carry the brown dilution gene.


A blue male and blue female would give you this:

blue x blue: 25% black, 50% blue, and 25% silver
blue x silver: 50% blue, 50% silver
blue x chocolate: 50% blue, 50% black, but again, the males would carry the brown gene.

Personally, I wouldn't use the fawn and white female because the genetics get way more complicated that way, though you might get some pretty ducks.

Try playing around with this website: http://www.kippenjungle.nl/kruisingEend2.html?mgt=M:M+/M+&fgt=M:M+/M+

it's fun!

 

[duckyfromoz]

There is a great book available on duck genetics. Its by Mike And Chris Ashton. " Colour breeding in Domestic ducks" its fantastic. Written in a way thats easy to understand as well as lots of colour photos.

The genetics that give the pattern in the fawn and white can make for some very colourful birds when it is passed on. Pied ducks can actually exhibit more than just two colours- so experimenting can be fun with pied ducks.

From the silver you could get some interesting combinations happening depending on the drake. A chocolate drake is what I think could compliment your girls very well.

What ever you get..I will be patiently waiting

I would love to see some of the babies form your mixed colour flock .

 

[FenDruadin]

Agree with everything above, except the bit about not using your fawn/white. It would make for complicated genetics, but they could be interesting and beautiful if you don't care that they won't be standard. My fawn/white crosses with blue are always the first to sell out of a bin of ducklings because they are so darn cute as little fuzzies.

However, if you want at least some of your babies to be pure, go with blue, black, silver, or chocolate in your drake. Personally, I'd go with blue because I love the blue spectrum and you could get blues, blacks, or silvers (plus some non-standard colors) out of your flock. Chocolate would be nice too, but you'd have fewer standard-color options from the mix. Silver would keep everything in the same blue spectrum but would eliminate the possibility of black.

As for your hen--anything in the blue spectrum (blue/silver/black) will complement a blue-spectrum or chocolate drake. Chocolate would also complement those drake colors.

Go with what appeals to you.

 

[Senna95]

I assumed that when TLWR said she wanted to do something with the eggs, she meant selling them as hatching eggs, or selling the babies. By keeping with only the blues, silvers, blacks, and chocolates you're only working with 2 genes and various combinations of them (Blue dilution and brown dilution). If you add the fawn and white duck, you add dusky and runner pattern genes as well. And since you don't know if your other ducks (the blacks, blues, silvers, and chocolates) are pure for Mallard pattern, light/dark phase, runner pattern, bibbed gene, buff dilution, or recessive white (since their expression is covered up by the extended black gene) you could get some really complicated genetics going on if you mix in the fawn and white, especially since the extended black gene is dominant, covering up any of the above variations till the 2nd generation.

As far as getting interesting results from the silver duck: Silver (meaning extended black with double blue dilution.... not the other silver, which is dusky pattern harlequin phase), if you can get a double dose of brown dilution in there (or single in the female, since it's sex-linked) while still keeping the double blue dilution, you'd get a color called lavender, which from what I've heard is a difficult color to perfect, and you'd have to raise lots and lots of babies.

It's rather complicated, but if you used a chocolate drake and a silver duck, your first generation would be sex-linked, with the males being a regular blue, and the females being a brownish-blue. If you mixed these, 1/8 of their offspring would be the "lavender" color. The other 7/8 would be an assorted mix of silver, blue, black, chocolate, and brownish/blue. Some of the silvers, blues, and blacks would carry hidden brown dilution genes (chocolate genes), which may pop up in the next generation, so they can't be sold as pure colors.

If you don't have a lot of room, I'd stick to the silver, blue, and black, and not even mess with the chocolate or the fawn and white. That way you know what you're dealing with, and know what you'll get.

There are some very good genetics people on this site, and they can tell you lots more than I can, and I'm also sure they'll correct me if I'm wrong in what I've said above (that's my disclaimer.... I'm not an expert at this).

Unless of course you're looking for interesting colors and surprises, in which case you can forget all my ramblings above and have fun! And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that either. Personally I like the challange of trying to figure out this genetics stuff, and the challange of trying to get a true-breeding flock of an unusual color. But that takes time, patience, lots of room, and tons of duck food! (not to mention the mess, especially in the wintertime when it rains!)

Have fun!

 

[TLWR]

They'd all live together, so unless Ally would mark her egg for me, (which maybe she has...) I have no idea which eggs would be from who.
I wouldn't keep them. I don't want a bunch of ducks. I'd prefer just 4, but since I have 3 already, that would mean adding 2 more since I would want another duckling. No interest in incubating as if I can't sell all the ducklings, I'd be back at having more ducks than I want. But if others want to incubate or stick them under a broody something, then I'd be fine with that as we won't be able to go through 4 eggs a day. At least, not healthily LOL


I like the blues, so maybe a blue male. But penciled would also be an option as would a white one with a yellow bill instead of a white bill. Don't know. I guess I have to decide quickly so I can order which means seeing if anybody in the Mobile/PCola area want some ducklings from Holderread's - or see if one of the feed stores will order from them for me so I can get 2 sexed ducklings and they can sell the rest of whatever they get.

 

[Senna95]

If you're not interested in incubating them, then why ask the genetics question? And, yes, you can sell mixed-color indian runner ducklings, you just shouldn't sell them as pure colors... Many people (probably most) wouldn't care if they're mixed colors.

 

[TLWR]

Quote:
Because I was curious about the genetics. If I get a male, I'd like to have an idea of what could result with breeding with my current girls. Doesn't matter if I don't hatch them or don't even give away the eggs or not, I was simply just curious about the genetics of color with ducks, specifically runners.

 

[rollyard]

There is a good table specifically related to Runner Duck colours in the book recomended "Colour breeding in Domestic ducks". It would certainly help with your interest in, & knowledge of colour breeding (addictive though), & if @ some stage in the future you did decide to breed your birds you could make a much more informed decision on just what would be the best drake Colour for you.

It is all good fun. Good Luck

 

[blueducklings]

Quote:
What colour do you get out of the blueX fawn & whites?
I have 2 holderread blues (M/F)
and a penciled runner. (F)
I have eggs from both girls and am curious waht I'll get.
I really want a lavender.
But I think I need some other colour birds to do that.