Hatching eggs from my NPIP certified flock of super rare harlequin Indian runner ducks. Eight year project finally going public. I have 20 hens, and 5 drakes. All hens are either silver or gold phase harlequin-colored Indian Runners. The drakes are: 3 silver phase harlequin runner, one blue...
You might not want them to imprint. Ducks that don't know that they are ducks can be very needy and difficult to take care of. They want to be with you all the time, and will wait on the front porch (and POOP on the front porch) till you come out because they don't know what else to do...
The one in the middle is definitely a gray ("mallard"). The one on the right (in the top photo) is probably a blue fawn, but could be a blue trout (I'd have to see it grown up, or see it's parents). The one on the top, (bottom left in the second picture) I still cannot tell. It looks like...
Do you have any better pictures of your duckling?
It is not a fawn and white.
It isn't grey either (what you are calling "mallard" is technically called "grey")
It sort of looks like either a "trout" or a blue trout to me.
I can tell better with a full body picture.
Well fed cats probably won't touch your adult ducks, but feral cats WILL!!! I had one get a duck every other night till I was finally able to trap him.
Get "Story's Guide to Raising Ducks" (Dave Holderread) or Colour Breeding in Domestic Ducks (Ashton). They both have good information on color breeding.
It all depends on what you're looking for. I haven't seen any show quality birds come from any of the above named hatcheries, but the up-side is that they do sell sexed birds. Most show breeders will only sell "straight run" and you just have to cross your fingers, and maybe cull some of the...
I wash mine under luke-warm running water and scrub lightly with a micro-fiber cloth if needed. I end up incubating a lot of these eggs, and they incubate just fine. I figure if they're good for 28 days at 99.5-degrees, they ought to be good for eating...
The first one is not Rouen or mallard (No eye stripes...) Not khaki campbell either (no brown dilution. Note the blue in the wings? This is diluted to a coppery brown in the khakis). Is this a male?