Help with Strange Mandarin Duckling Color?!

[Chris102]

Cute indeed ! I would of course love for this to be a new mutation! So far it looks quite unique! I have the opportunity to buy the parents...it would be interesting to see if they produce more of these strange ducklings. ..or if this was totally random. I would then just have to find the space for 5 full winged wild Mandarins! I will definitely keep posting as more feathers come in! Glad they feather up faster than my Gouldian Finches. ...that takes 9 months at times, not sure if I could wait that long!

 

[Chris102]

The males do start getting the reddish bills quite early, right around this age. So, that would be my guess that he is a male and the other a female.

But yes, definitely come back and update us as their feathers come in!

Thanks for the input! I didn't realize the males would get red bills so quickly! A pair would be great! The eggs were likely from 2 different hens dumped in one nest. I would like to do one test breeding. ..then outcross like crazy! If of course this turns out to be something new. Haha, Im getting a little ahead of myself here!

 

[MommaHenn]

The color comes from the body's ability to extract certain nutritional ingredients from food sources. A good example is the obsession of my ducks for the marigolds in my yard. I was puzzled by this in the beginning until I read the side of feed bag where it said "marigolds for more intense coat color", then it all made sense.

If you little fella was having difficulty during embryonic development would usually be from difficulty getting nutrition from the yolk sac, not genetics. So the lack of color in the appearance would be consequence of inadequate nutrition during development. Much like human baby teeth, once the "baby version" is formed, it will remain defective until it is shed. The adult coat will most likely be normal unless the pigmenting ability of the cells was damaged during development. In this case you will have an adult with discoloration (which may look quite beautiful) but you will not be able to tell whether the different coloring is from genetics or from a developmental deficiency.

 

[Chris102]

The color comes from the body's ability to extract certain nutritional ingredients from food sources.  A good example is the obsession of my ducks for the marigolds in my yard.  I was puzzled by this in the beginning until I read the side of feed bag where it said "marigolds for more intense coat color", then it all made sense.  

If you little fella was having difficulty during embryonic development would usually be from difficulty getting nutrition from the yolk sac, not genetics.  So the lack of color in the appearance would be consequence of inadequate nutrition during development.  Much like human baby teeth, once the "baby version" is formed, it will remain defective until it is shed.  The adult coat will most likely be normal unless the pigmenting ability of the cells was damaged during development.  In this case you will have an adult with discoloration (which may look quite beautiful) but you will not be able to tell whether the different coloring is from genetics or from a developmental deficiency.

So VERY interesting! I have never thought about birds becoming deficient as embryos! While I hope thats not the case, It makes complete sense. Thank you so much for the insight! They are getting quite a varied diet, so hopefully that will help any possible deficiencies. I'll continue to update as this strange duckling colors up. Of course i would love for it to be something new, but normal and healthy is just fine!

 

[MommaHenn]

I actually think that you duck is healthy, just a little smaller, kind of like a newborn "pre-mee". I expect steady improvement/growth/progress and a duck that is unique, but just fine! Keep us updated...

 

[Chris102]

Just a quick update on the Mandarins...
By now of course They are both fully feathered, and have started getting some adult feathers in the last month or so. The odd colored duckling turned out to be a hen, and her juvenile feathers appear pretty much normal. I'm still interested as to how she will color up as an adult...probably normal, but we shall see! The typical colored duckling is a definite male...so I have a true pair! With my luck, and only having two ducklings...I was sure I'd end up with a pair of males. So I'm thrilled to have a M/F pair, and they are SUPER bonded! Some of you guys called the sexes early and were spot on!

For a while the hen was considerably smaller than the Drake, but has since caught up...perhaps slightly smaller, but well within normal Mandi size.

I'm very curious as to when the pair will first attempt to breed. Being that they hatched so late in the year (nearly September), I'm wondering if they will make an attempt late in 2015, or just skip the first year all together? They are a little off schedule compared to Mandarins I've had in the past!

Finally, both birds are wonderfully calm for the Species, which I am grateful for. No smashing into pens and injuring themselves. ..instead, the come running to the front of the aviary for feeding time and will take mealworms right from my hand! The dogs will sometimes rush, or even jump on the sides of the aviary. ..the pair will perk up, but only rarely move to the other side.

Oddly enough, I have NEVER seen either bird perch! They have plenty of branches they could hop on...but not once?! I'm wondering if it's because I clipped their wings before they could fly? Although I'm sure I've watched pinioned birds hop to a branch....strange....

I will post pictures once they have completed the molt, or sooner if anything odd appears.

-Chris

 

[Chris102]

Well my quick update turned out rather long, haha!

Forgot to ask....
What month(s) do your Mandarins come into color/breeding condition, first egg, etc. ..?

Please include your state if you can...winters are long for some of you and I'm sure it effects cycles.

My winter is more of a Fall. ..with random cold fronts lasting a few days or maybe a week. The birds know it's Winter by shorter photo periods....but shorts and sandals on Christmas day isn't so convincing lol!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Well my quick update turned out rather long, haha!

Forgot to ask....
What month(s) do your Mandarins come into color/breeding condition, first egg, etc. ..?

Please include your state if you can...winters are long for some of you and I'm sure it effects cycles.

My winter is more of a Fall. ..with random cold fronts lasting a few days or maybe a week. The birds know it's Winter by shorter photo periods....but shorts and sandals on Christmas day isn't so convincing lol!

Chris if you post here you may get your answer quicker. https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/46/ornamental-fowl-swans-etc

 

[Chris102]

Chris if you post here you may get your answer quicker.  https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/46/ornamental-fowl-swans-etc

Ahh, thank you..that would make more sense!

 

[Orca5094]

Wow, thanks for the update! I'm not much help on your questions, though. I don't have any of the records from when I worked with and bred Mandarins back at my zoo. It was in Florida and the breeding seasons were all kinds of messed up anyway due to the warm climate year-round.

Would you mind posting a pic of them? It'd be cool to see them grown up.