Noir is Somewhat Blanc

[Tevyes Dad]

Hi all,

This is a picture of my Black Runner Noir. She is now a little over 13 months old. When she was little, she had one small white feather on her shoulder. This is what she looks like today:



Even some of the teeny-tiny feathers on her head are white... I have heard that white feathers pop up with age, but at this rate by the time she is 2 years old, she might be a white duck.

She is a pet duck and we love her and frankly don't care what she looks like (compared to the standard), but since this is my first flock, I am paranoid of everything that I haven't heard or read about or already experienced and gotten through fine.

So I want to make sure this isn't a sign of some horrible malady that I can do something about. Other than the increasing amount of white, she seems fine. She eats, poops, swims, runs, mates, lays eggs and sleeps normally. She is and has always been one of my quieter runners (her sister Mystique is a loud mouth.) She is right up front at treat time and has plenty of energy. She eats all the different foods the rest of the flock does: all-flock, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, meal worms, water melon, peas plus whatever she can forage (now mostly flies and mosquitoes, but soon yummy yummy grasshoppers) and she has free choice oyster shell and grit available.

This picture was taken January 25th for comparison:



Not the greatest pic, but you can see how much more white she has gotten in the last three months. So any of you gurus out there, I value your expertise.

 

[Kaessa]

It looks like it's completely normal in black ducks after they're a year old. I'm guessing after each molt they get more white feathers.

http://poultrykeeper.com/duck-keeping/ageing-white-black-chocolate-and-blue-ducks-get-white-patches

 

[Amiga]

Opportunity to share photo's of my Runners

Not in chronological order . . .







Below: Elf, 5 years old. Chocolate Runner



Below: The flock. L-R Romy, Seiben, Einz, Fünf, Sechs, Vier






Below: At three months of age - I can hardly tell them apart, but I am pretty sure that's Neun front left, and Acht echo-locating into the toilet


Below: Zwei, three years of age. Chocolate Runner. She is now nearly 100% white



Below: One of my favorite photo's of Sieben, three years old. Her head is now completely white except for the feathers over her ears.
.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Wow what a transformation I have this to look forward too since i have 3 black Runners. Do the Blue change too?

Yup, blue and chocolate:


Here is a relatively rare recent picture where all 4 runners are in it. On the right side from back to front, Mystique (blue), Entie (Faun & white), and Noir. On the left is Dove (chocolate). Dove and Entie are about 3 months older (since Noir and Mystique replaced their contemporaries Ebony and Belle after the raccoon attack <sniff>) Entie of course is not subject to the white transformation and is pretty much as she has always been (this was just before her molt, her faun is much darker now - same with Dove, she is almost as dark as Noir now - Mystique is in mid-molt.) Anyway, Dove has been much slower to turn white than the younger girls. The non-runners are Allie (back, Pekin), Pocahontas (front, Cayuga - also getting some white feathers) and Telle (left, Rouen).

Edit: BTW, this area has been dubbed the "water cooler" as it seems to be a social center for the ducks, not just a place to drink.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Thanks for the link and the pics. I had read that ducks whitened as they aged, but since their lifespan is similar to a dogs, I expected that would happen MUCH later in life. My wife corrected me, most of the flock is just over 13 months old, Noir (and Mystique) are actually only 10 months old. Some of my other black / blue ducks and Dove have maybe one little white feather which I could write off as an abnormality. So I was expecting them to show white feathers maybe at 7 or 8 years and feared that Noir might be suffering an accelerated deterioration of some kind. I feel MUCH better now

.

Both of you.

 

[Kaessa]

Thanks for the link and the pics. I had read that ducks whitened as they aged, but since their lifespan is similar to a dogs, I expected that would happen MUCH later in life. My wife corrected me, most of the flock is just over 13 months old, Noir (and Mystique) are actually only 10 months old. Some of my other black / blue ducks and Dove have maybe one little white feather which I could write off as an abnormality. So I was expecting them to show white feathers maybe at 7 or 8 years and feared that Noir might be suffering an accelerated deterioration of some kind. I feel MUCH better now

.

Both of you.

We worry so about about our little feathered kids, don't we?

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Wouldn't be so bad but the manuals are translated from a Spanish translation of Japanese

.

 

[Kaessa]

Wouldn't be so bad but the manuals are translated from a Spanish translation of Japanese

.

Story of my life.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Story of my life.

I would imagine... Of the 10 types of people, you are the type that understands binary, not the other one

(Yeah I get your BASIC Rouens too - love those names).

 

[Kaessa]

I would imagine... Of the 10 types of people, you are the type that understands binary, not the other one (Yeah I get your BASIC Rouens too - love those names).

You caught me.