A good place for info on white crested ducks?

[Debby Duck]

Hi there,
I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good site or book to learn more about this breed.
I have 6 that are 13 weeks old, and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to end up with a good ratio of male female. But I dread the thought of parting with any. So I'd like to research their mating habits, etc and if there's some way to keep my females safe and protect them from overmating. I won't try of it's just not doable, and I'm fantasizing. I just want to be certain before I separate them. They're such a little family, they stick close together, and they're all sort of quirky and weird.
I should have done more research when I ordered them. Had I known the importance of the ratio I would have paid the extra cost and bought them by sex .

BTW do all males get the curled tail? We have a muscovy drake on our lake they doesn't.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

hi, i know a lot about crested ducks. it’s actually a very bad genetic issue. please COMPLETE seperate the drakes and hens so they cannot try to mate, hatch eggs or anything else. sadly most of the babies will die while hatching and the others risk genetic issues as well. and the crests are a gap in their skull, so even mating could kill the girls (drakes grab on to the girls head when mating)

 

[cheezenkwackers]

All domestic ducks, except Muscovy, are from Mallards including White Crested. Males usually get drake curls but not always. I had a drake who didn’t get his curl one year.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks mentions White Crested but more information specific to them is hard to find. I did some research on them because I have a white duck with a crest who I got as an adult from a friend. I think mine has turned out to be a Silver Swedish with a crest rather than a White Crested which is an ancient Dutch breed. Anyway, I couldn’t find much information when I looked. Duck mommy 2019 is correct. The crest is a mutation which causes a slight gap in the skull and can cause neurological problems. It is supposed to be a dominant trait and only birds who are heterozygous (one Crested allele) are supposed to live. Statistically then, if you breed two Crested ducks 1/4 of the offspring die, 1/2 have crests, and 1/4 do not. I say supposedly because I have not gotten any crested ducklings from my duck crossed with a non-crested drake (1/2 should have had crests). As for mating you need to have your ratio correct or you risk your females being injured or killed. I tried keeping two drakes with four girls and it ended badly. You really don’t want to go there. I have read that drakes sometimes grab the crest, which would be really bad, but mine does not. He does have five other girls to choose from though. I hope this helps you. Good luck! This is my girl.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

All domestic ducks, except Muscovy, are from Mallards including White Crested. Males usually get drake curls but not always. I had a drake who didn’t get his curl one year.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks mentions White Crested but more information specific to them is hard to find. I did some research on them because I have a white duck with a crest who I got as an adult from a friend. I think mine has turned out to be a Silver Swedish with a crest rather than a White Crested which is an ancient Dutch breed. Anyway, I couldn’t find much information when I looked. Duck mommy 2019 is correct. The crest is a mutation which causes a slight gap in the skull and can cause neurological problems. It is supposed to be a dominant trait and only birds who are heterozygous (one Crested allele) are supposed to live. Statistically then, if you breed two Crested ducks 1/4 of the offspring die, 1/2 have crests, and 1/4 do not. I say supposedly because I have not gotten any crested ducklings from my duck crossed with a non-crested drake (1/2 should have had crests). As for mating you need to have your ratio correct or you risk your females being injured or killed. I tried keeping two drakes with four girls and it ended badly. You really don’t want to go there. I have read that drakes sometimes grab the crest, which would be really bad, but mine does not. He does have five other girls to choose from though. I hope this helps you. Good luck! This is my girl.
View attachment 2335526

if you have just one crested girl and make sure she is monitored daily, it’ll be fine. but all the girls being crested won’t work with a drake

 

[Debby Duck]

hi, i know a lot about crested ducks. it’s actually a very bad genetic issue. please COMPLETE seperate the drakes and hens so they cannot try to mate, hatch eggs or anything else. sadly most of the babies will die while hatching and the others risk genetic issues as well. and the crests are a gap in their skull, so even mating could kill the girls (drakes grab on to the girls head when mating)

Thanks for you response. I actually know about the genetic issue. So I decided not to have them mate at all. No babies. I want to know though, how long are they inheat? Can I tell? And if they stay close to home, as they do now where I can watch them, is separating them at night enough?

Right now they don't want do go in the lake beyond wading, they spend most of their time in our yard. I don't know if that will change. Which is another question I had. I heard some breeds tend to do that.

 

[Debby Duck]

if you have just one crested girl and make sure she is monitored daily, it’ll be fine. but all the girls being crested won’t work with a drake

Hi, thanks for the info! I'm copying my reply to Duck mommy. I don't know if you saw this or if you might knows the answers to some of my questions:
I actually know about the genetic issue. So I decided not to have them mate at all. No babies. I want to know though, how long are they inheat? Can I tell? And if they stay close to home, as they do now where I can watch them, is separating them at night enough? Right now they never go far from the yard. I don't know if that'll change as they get older. I read that some breeds don't roam far.

YOUR GIRL IS BEAUTIFUL! I came across a picture of one of these with the black bill recently. What a pretty duck!

 

[KaleIAm]

All domestic ducks, except Muscovy, are from Mallards including White Crested. Males usually get drake curls but not always. I had a drake who didn’t get his curl one year.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks mentions White Crested but more information specific to them is hard to find. I did some research on them because I have a white duck with a crest who I got as an adult from a friend. I think mine has turned out to be a Silver Swedish with a crest rather than a White Crested which is an ancient Dutch breed. Anyway, I couldn’t find much information when I looked. Duck mommy 2019 is correct. The crest is a mutation which causes a slight gap in the skull and can cause neurological problems. It is supposed to be a dominant trait and only birds who are heterozygous (one Crested allele) are supposed to live. Statistically then, if you breed two Crested ducks 1/4 of the offspring die, 1/2 have crests, and 1/4 do not. I say supposedly because I have not gotten any crested ducklings from my duck crossed with a non-crested drake (1/2 should have had crests). As for mating you need to have your ratio correct or you risk your females being injured or killed. I tried keeping two drakes with four girls and it ended badly. You really don’t want to go there. I have read that drakes sometimes grab the crest, which would be really bad, but mine does not. He does have five other girls to choose from though. I hope this helps you. Good luck! This is my girl.
View attachment 2335526

Adorable poof!

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Thanks for you response. I actually know about the genetic issue. So I decided not to have them mate at all. No babies. I want to know though, how long are they inheat? Can I tell? And if they stay close to home, as they do now where I can watch them, is separating them at night enough?

Right now they don't want do go in the lake beyond wading, they spend most of their time in our yard. I don't know if that will change. Which is another question I had. I heard some breeds tend to do that.

they don’t really go in season. they’ll mate more in the spring but usually continue (just less) in the winter months. you can make two coops if you’d like, and keep the boys together and the girls together.

 

[Debby Duck]

they don’t really go in season. they’ll mate more in the spring but usually continue (just less) in the winter months. you can make two coops if you’d like, and keep the boys together and the girls together.

Now they only go in the coop at night. Do they mate during the day enough that I would have hard time watching and stopping them? That probably sounds crazy, but I won't know if I don't ask. Like will there be a lot of noise where I'd know something is up?

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Now they only go in the coop at night. Do they mate during the day enough that I would have hard time watching and stopping them? That probably sounds crazy, but I won't know if I don't ask. Like will there be a lot of noise where I'd know something is up?

mine are pretty quiet when mating. but yes they will do it a lot in the spring especially with multiple boys