Muscovy Drake Genetics - Who to Keep?!

[AeonsMusings]

So I have a serious problem. I have two favorite drakes in my group of 20 ducks. We have seven confirmed drakes, giving us a total of 13 hens, and our original plan was to keep one male for those 13 gals.

But now I have a struggle.

See one drake is pied, very lovely splattering of black and white with some green sheen in those black feathers. The other is almost solid white but for a patch of black on the top of his head. Genetics wise, I /think/ the pied would offer greater coloring to the next generation. However, the white drake has a very hilarious personality (comes up to me, wags his tail feathers and lets me pet him, etc.) and is slowly outpacing the pied (who was the biggest up until now). The pied has a soft spot in my heart because we had to nurse him a little in the beginning—he grew the quickest and was picked on for it.

Ugh. Help me with this difficult choice. Do I keep the pied for the color diversity or should I keep the white for the personality/antics & size? I should add we will be raising these guys as meat and egg production animals, but we could also be interested in selling ducklings in the future too.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Do you have a picture of both? From what you describe with the mostly white one and the black cap on his head he would be considered a "French white" which means he could be genetically carrying other colors that he can pass to his offspring including possibly pied offspring. Do you know what color his parents were?

 

[AeonsMusings]

Do you have a picture of both? From what you describe with the mostly white one and the black cap on his head he would be considered a "French white" which means he could be genetically carrying other colors that he can pass to his offspring including possibly pied offspring. Do you know what color his parents were?

These are photos from a week or so ago. The pied is the middle duck in the second picture. His duller “brownish” feathers are starting to look more like a dark dark grey than brown or black now. Unfortunately don’t know the mom, but the female who went broody and hatched everyone out was a chocolate in a flock of chocolates, solid whites, and pieds. Dad, from what we know from the breeder, was either a solid white or pied drake (he has no chocolate drakes).

 

[sourland]

As long as the drakes get along, I would keep both. In my experience 13 hens are a lot for one Muscovy drake to cover.

 

[Miss Lydia]

As long as the drakes get along, I would keep both. In my experience 13 hens are a lot for one Muscovy drake to cover.

I agree.

 

[AeonsMusings]

As long as the drakes get along, I would keep both. In my experience 13 hens are a lot for one Muscovy drake to cover.

Right now they don’t bother one another in the slightest but they’re both only 11 weeks old tomorrow so would they already be starting to show their true hormone induced attitudes? I’ve heard anywhere from 3-10 hens to a drake so I’m really not sure what that golden ratio is. xD

 

[Canadian Wind]

As long as the drakes get along, I would keep both. In my experience 13 hens are a lot for one Muscovy drake to cover.

Same. Keep both.

Possibilities are one or both are split to chocolate, which would make sexing the ducklings easier (chocolate babies = female).

So far as Muscovy genetics go, if you breed two pied together, you will have a chance of having all-white ducks. Also, the French White (black cap on a white duck) may fade, as the one female I had lost hers by Spring. The colour of it will be an indicator of the dominant colour gene, but that doesn't mean there are no hidden genes, for both of them.

What colour are your females? If you want, I can help you out in figuring what you may get from your pairings, and which pairings would be best.

 

[AeonsMusings]

Same. Keep both.

Possibilities are one or both are split to chocolate, which would make sexing the ducklings easier (chocolate babies = female).

So far as Muscovy genetics go, if you breed two pied together, you will have a chance of having all-white ducks. Also, the French White (black cap on a white duck) may fade, as the one female I had lost hers by Spring. The colour of it will be an indicator of the dominant colour gene, but that doesn't mean there are no hidden genes, for both of them.

What colour are your females? If you want, I can help you out in figuring what you may get from your pairings, and which pairings would be best.

We have a single chocolate hen, three or four solid whites, and the rest are pied. Don’t mind the baby gate, we’re acclimating the jack russels to the ducks. xD

 

[Canadian Wind]

Looks like one of the whites is chocolate, by the colour of that crest (first picture, at the very front). I also love the markings on the one in the back right on the second picture. Lovely!

With neither of the drakes being solid (I don't consider white to be solid, it's the result of a double pied), all the offspring will be either white or pied. You have a chance at chocolates, for sure. Breeding the chocolate hens to a black male will give you males that are split to chocolate. This isn't visible, but if they breed, then their offspring have a chance of being chocolate females if bred to black.

Here, let me give you a few links. I apologize in advance and take no responsibility for the addiction that will follow, lol!

https://www.muscovyduckdynasty.com/colors-patterns

https://alsquackery.com/muscovy

https://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Musc/BRKScobies.html

That third one is much more in-depth. Truly fascinating! Until I can find a source of Rippled and Lavenders, I'll be concentrating on Blues, Silvers, Lilacs, Chocolates, and Buffs in solid, pied, and with Barred. I also have some Atipico ducklings and am looking forward to seeing how they'll look as adults!

Sorry, I tend to go on when talking about Muscovy genetics and breeding, lol!

 

[Canadian Wind]

OH! and if you're breeding for meat as well as for selling, definitely keep both. Use the white one for producing meat ducks, as they give a 'cleaner' looking finished product (white pin feathers don't show as much).