MALLARD THREAD...not rouens, Mallards!

[NathanZee]

Sorry, I posted it twice.

 

[NathanZee]

I have a question for everyone. I have two mallard drakes that were hatched this spring. They both have complete breeding plumage now, and have for several months, but one of the drakes bills isn't turning yellow like the others. His is still olive green with a little black on it. Does anyone know why its not yellowing? Thanks!

 

[PotatoWaffles]

I have SO many pictures I could post of them from every stage of life. I go a little crazy with the pictures lol. Since my flock is mixed all year long, I can't say for 100% certain they are runner mallard mutts. I only had two drakes at the time these guys' eggs were laid, a mallard and a WH. I had several laying females, which complicates things. I had a pekin, Cayuga, WH and fawn/white runner laying at the time these guys eggs were laid. But based on the egg size/color and which females were laying at the time, I have a pretty good idea of what mixes they are.

This is Mr. Duckie. He doesn't have the runner shape, so I'm not actually certain he's runner. Definitely mallard tho, his shape just screams mallard. Below is his adult plumage:

And this is his adolescent plumage. He looked just like a regular malard, except the dark points of his feathers were gray, not black. He's on the left:

This is Dickie, and he is for SURE half fawn/white runner, and I am almost 100% positive he is half mallard. He clearly shows the runner shape and stance, although not as upright. and he lacks the rosy breast like Mr. Duckie has. His adolescent plumage was much like Mr. Duckie's, with gray points instead of black. This is his current adult plumage:

Here they both are together:

Do you have runner/mallard mutts? I would love to see more

 

[NathanZee]

I have SO many pictures I could post of them from every stage of life. I go a little crazy with the pictures lol. Since my flock is mixed all year long, I can't say for 100% certain they are runner mallard mutts. I only had two drakes at the time these guys' eggs were laid, a mallard and a WH. I had several laying females, which complicates things. I had a pekin, Cayuga, WH and fawn/white runner laying at the time these guys eggs were laid. But based on the egg size/color and which females were laying at the time, I have a pretty good idea of what mixes they are.

This is Mr. Duckie. He doesn't have the runner shape, so I'm not actually certain he's runner. Definitely mallard tho, his shape just screams mallard. Below is his adult plumage:



And this is his adolescent plumage. He looked just like a regular malard, except the dark points of his feathers were gray, not black. He's on the left:



This is Dickie, and he is for SURE half fawn/white runner, and I am almost 100% positive he is half mallard. He clearly shows the runner shape and stance, although not as upright. and he lacks the rosy breast like Mr. Duckie has. His adolescent plumage was much like Mr. Duckie's, with gray points instead of black. This is his current adult plumage:



Here they both are together:







Do you have runner/mallard mutts? I would love to see more

Thank you very much! I wonder what a hen would look like! I don't have any runner-mallard mutts, but I am planning to hatch some this spring.

 

[PotatoWaffles]

Thank you very much! I wonder what a hen would look like! I don't have any runner-mallard mutts, but I am planning to hatch some this spring.

I imagine that if my boys had turned out to be girls, they would look much like Mr. Duckie in his adolescent plumage, which is just gorgeous. But yours may look completely different, especially since there are tons of colora of runners you could mix them with. That's the beauty of mutt ducks. So many different possibilities. I love them!

 

[Kroelies]

My girl Kroelie The ice melted yesterday and today was super warm, around 13 degrees celcius/56 degrees fahrenheit. The weather is so messed up lol

Pootje the one legged drake showed up in the yard but the other drakes are mean to him. He seemed to have trouble hopping around and quickly flew off so he barely got any food

 

[duckmeister]

First mallard hen egg of the year. Very green colored.

 

[Kroelies]

That's an early and very green egg!

 

[LeannS]

First mallard hen egg of the year. Very green colored.

I got one like that green one yesterday, It was very little and green. To me that was a sign that I had a anther duck starting her egg laying.

 

[PotatoWaffles]

I can't wait for my mallard girls to start laying. They are six months old, but I imagine they won't start until it gets warmer and daylight gets longer. I hope they hurry. I NEED cute green eggs! Lol