ALERT! We have a genetic anomaly!

[RossAcres]

Prepare yourselves. I have a suprise. I just hatched out a SILVER Cayuga. That's right. A SILVER Cayuga. Their parent stock are black Cayugas. I was under the impression that Cayugas were black and only black. But this little guy just hatched out and he is silver. I'm talking with all of my genetics friends, one that has written a book on the genetics of Old English Game Bantams. We are thinking some kind of dilute gene, but honestly not sure. And before you say "oh another duck must've gotten in there" Nope. There's literally no way a rogue duck got into the pen. A rogue baby daddy would've had to open three locked doors to get to the Cayuga ladies. Plus, I don't have any males that would throw any color near silver. Anyway, have fun helping me break this down. Here's the little cutie.
ALSO - Those aren't white spots, those are where the silver is reflecting the light.

 

[D1N0]

Prepare yourselves. I have a suprise. I just hatched out a SILVER Cayuga. That's right. A SILVER Cayuga. Their parent stock are black Cayugas. I was under the impression that Cayugas were black and only black. But this little guy just hatched out and he is silver. I'm talking with all of my genetics friends, one that has written a book on the genetics of Old English Game Bantams. We are thinking some kind of dilute gene, but honestly not sure. And before you say "oh another duck must've gotten in there" Nope. There's literally no way a rogue duck got into the pen. A rogue baby daddy would've had to open three locked doors to get to the Cayuga ladies. Plus, I don't have any males that would throw any color near silver. Anyway, have fun helping me break this down. Here's the little cutie.
ALSO - Those aren't white spots, those are where the silver is reflecting the light.

In some cases if the animal is so inbreed they can have gentic mutation to change color.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hey! I don't know nuffin' about ducks, Cayoogas or genetics, but that is an absolute cutie you've got there, and I'm all up in my feels over it!

 

[D1N0]

From what I have been reading, there are silver and blue. Blue are rare and if you mate black and silver you can get blue. I have seen some posts on backyardchickens that people have silver and blue Cayuga's.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know nothing about duck genetics so take that into account. Getting rid of dominant genes is easy, but is really hard to breed out recessive genes as you don't know they are there until they pair up.

I don't see any black on that duckling. My guess would be that you have a recessive gene that modifies black and it paired up. Which means the hen that laid the egg and the drake that fertilized it would be split for that gene. A genetic mutation is possible but a matching of recessive genes is more probable to me.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

I just hatched out a SILVER Cayuga. That's right. A SILVER Cayuga. Their parent stock are black Cayugas. I was under the impression that Cayugas were black and only black. But this little guy just hatched out and he is silver.

Post a picture of your duckling when he is totally dry, please.

He is NOT Splash coloured.
(Is Splash actually the colour you mean when you say "Silver", or are you just refering to his grayish fluff here?)

Anyway, have fun helping me break this down.

Cayuga are known for their shiny black feathers... but I know there exist Blue, Chocolate, Splash, and Lilac coloured Cayuga ducks...

• https://whatdidshedotoday.wordpress.com/tag/blue-cayuga-duck/

• https://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Cayuga/BRKCayuga.html

• https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/poultry-101/self-color-ducks-lavender-and-lilac/

(I had seen pictures of Chocolate coloured Cayuga ducks, but I can't find the website anymore!!)

 

[HappyClucker7]

My guess would be that the parents of this duck are recessive for the blue cayuga color (which is essentially gray). So while the parents present as black (because black is dominant), they are actually heterozygous, meaning they have the allele for both black and blue, and this duckling happened to inherit both recessive blue alleles.

 

[RossAcres]

Hi.



Post a picture of your duckling when he is totally dry, please.

He is NOT Splash coloured.
(Is Splash actually the colour you mean when you say "Silver", or are you just refering to his grayish fluff here?)



Cayuga are known for their shiny black feathers... but I know there exist Blue, Chocolate, Splash, and Lilac coloured Cayuga ducks...

• https://whatdidshedotoday.wordpress.com/tag/blue-cayuga-duck/

• https://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Cayuga/BRKCayuga.html

• https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/poultry-101/self-color-ducks-lavender-and-lilac/

(I had seen pictures of Chocolate coloured Cayuga ducks, but I can't find the website anymore!!)

I was referring to his silver coloring. He is actually blue. Here's a better photo dried. Shows his black skin and grey plumage

 

[RossAcres]

Hi.



Post a picture of your duckling when he is totally dry, please.

He is NOT Splash coloured.
(Is Splash actually the colour you mean when you say "Silver", or are you just refering to his grayish fluff here?)



Cayuga are known for their shiny black feathers... but I know there exist Blue, Chocolate, Splash, and Lilac coloured Cayuga ducks...

• https://whatdidshedotoday.wordpress.com/tag/blue-cayuga-duck/

• https://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Cayuga/BRKCayuga.html

• https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/poultry-101/self-color-ducks-lavender-and-lilac/

(I had seen pictures of Chocolate coloured Cayuga ducks, but I can't find the website anymore!!)

I never meant Splash. I know he isn't splash.