Crested ducks revisited

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Okla-doodle-doo

Okla-doodle-doo

Crowing
14 Years
Dec 8, 2008
3,386
40
324
Portland,Tn
I know I've read that the crested gene is deadly if it comes from both parents. How do they keep them going when they sell them as a crested breed? Am I right that the crest is now available in most breeds? I just bought some Indian runners with crest,at least a few have them. If I breed the best topknot hen to the best topknot drake am I defeating my self?I have one excellent topped drake and one excellent topped he the same color,another drake only hs a small tuff and his two hens have none.these last three are a different color by the way. How would you pair them to get the best tops,color doesn't really matter to me??
 
Keep your best topped hens & get a SMOOTH drake to breed them. Your ducklings will be approximately 50/50 crested & smooth. Even though a ducks head Looks smooth, it can still be a carrier of the crested gene, just doesn't have a visible crest.

ETA: if you breed a crested drake to your crested hens you would be defeating yourself. The offspring may likely hatch deformed or have other issues... and you are guaranteed to get crappy hatch rates and maybe no hatches at all.

Thankfully I knew this stuff before I got my crested pekins I used to have.
 
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Here's an example of a non-showing crested drake (BF Runner). He gave us some of the loveliest crested babies!
DSC00342.JPG
 
Breeding crested to crested results in a 25% dead-in-shell ducklings. So you could breed them together but don't expect 100% hatches on their eggs. A double dose of the crested gene is fatal.
 
And you will have neurological issues, like seizures etc. The cute crest is not so cute, if you ask me. It's genetic defect, and I wish people would not breed those ducks at all. You are right what do you do if you have a flock of them. You cannot just let them play and breed. Also do you know that the ones without the crest don't actually carry the gene? You really have to have some with the gene and an entire different stock of ducks without the gene. Then you have to group them accordingly when it comes to breeding. In my point of view not worse the time. I think is is fine to have crested hens, if you only want their eggs for eating. At least then you know that nothing funky will happen. I also think it is irresponsible of breeders to sell these ducks without warning about the complications that can arrive from this gene. I guess it stops with the $, because they are so cute and sell so well.
 

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