Indian Runner color question

I have 10 Indian Runner eggs in an incubator due to hatch October 12. The parents are my fawn and white ducks. Will the ducklings all be fawn and white, or is it possible we could get other colors?
Jeany

If the parents are pure, their ducklings will be the same color, but if there's some other breeds in the blood line, there's a chance you'll get something different. Regardless, chances are pretty good that they will at least mostly be all fawn and white.

Fawn & white X fawn & white makes: fawn & white.



If there were other colors in the line, there's a strong chance they'd be showing it--the genetics that make up fawn & white are (relatively speaking) fairly complicated, and it doesn't take much to "muddy" it considerably. So if you've got fawn & white, chances are good they're 100% fawn & white. And the babies will be too.

If you want colorful ducks, try mixing the fawn & white with blue, black, or splash. That makes for some interesting outcomes. If you want "pure" colors but surprises at hatch time, breeding blues is fun because they will hatch out blacks & silvers as well as blues, and all the colors will be genetically "pure" in whatever color they are.

I love surprises at hatch time, and I do all of the above from time to time.

Have fun--whatever they are, they'll be adorable. And I think yellow ducklings are the absolute cutest, and your babies will be yellow. Enjoy!

That's what I thought, but I am unsure when it comes to genetics. Our male fawn and white does have gray on his head, so maybe we will get a little variation. I just want them to hatch, and I love yellow ducklings!

I have a blue bibbed girl, a black girl and a silver girl. i got rid of my black and my blue drakes and kept my silver. all im getting is blue and blue bibbed out of them, why am i not getting any black or silver? what color drake should i be using?

runnergirl said:

I have a blue bibbed girl, a black girl and a silver girl. i got rid of my black and my blue drakes and kept my silver. all im getting is blue and blue bibbed out of them, why am i not getting any black or silver? what color drake should i be using?

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When you say "Silver" do you mean Silver/Splash (genetically Extended Black + two Blue dilutions, which basically makes a very light Blue), or Silver, as in the UK verison of Silver (which I *believe* is genetically a light-phase Apricot Dusky - but don't quote me on that! )?

Assuming that you mean Silver/Splash and we're talking about basic Blue/Black/Splash genetics...
Your drake has 2 copies of the Blue dilution. He passes 1 copy of that gene to EVERY one of his offspring. So, it's impossible for you to get any Black ducklings from him. Your Silver girl also has two copies of the gene, and passes one of hers to each and every one of her offspring. Your Blue Bibbed girl has 1 copy of the Blue gene, so she is passing a copy of it to approximately 50% of her offspring. Your Black girl, obviously, is just Extended Black, she's not passing Blue to any of her ducklings... however, your Silver drake still IS.

Silver/Splash x Silver/Splash = 100% Silver/Splash
Silver/Splash x Blue = 50% Blue, 50% Silver/Splash
Silver/Splash x Black = 100% Blue

Basically - you can't get any Black ducklings from your drake, but there's no reason you shouldn't be getting any more Silver/Splash from your Silver and Blue Bibbed girls. Perhaps your Silver girl isn't laying, or none of her eggs have successfully hatched yet. Eventually, you will see some Silver ducklings from your group!

If you want more Black ducklings, you need to use a Blue or Black drake.

Blue x Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black, 25% Silver/Splash
Blue x Black - 50% Blue, 50% Black
Black x Black = 100% Black

Also, remember that the percentages are approximate and work better with large numbers - if you took a Silver drake and a Blue Duck and hatched 1000 ducklings, you'd get an almost perfect ratio of 50% Blues and 50% Silvers, If you'r hatching small batches at home, you might hatch 7 Blues and only 1 Silver in one hatch, and then get nothing but Silvers your next hatch!

thank you so much! i went and got my blue boy back last weekend yes my silver is the silver splash i guess, they are white with light gray running through them. i just ordered white runner eggs and fawn and white, any ideas with the white or is it basically the same as the fawn and white breeding wise?