Are these ducklings chocolate color?

[Shoebox]

I think the camera still made them look a little bit darker than in person. Not sure who their parents are so I've been trying to work backwards to guess from the color genetics possibilities.

At first I thought they definitely could not be chocolate because their brown is so dark, but then I came across this picture labeled as chocolate in this article about sex-linked colors that looks quite dark too, so now I'm not sure.

Is brown or chocolate different when it's in the mallard pattern?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Pyxis

 

[bhaugh]

They don't look brown. What breed are they

 

[Pyxis]

Doesn't look chocolate - do you have muscovies? I think these might be muscovy babies

 

[Shoebox]

They don't look brown. What breed are they

I have Golden Cascades (chocolate) and Welsh Harlequins (gold and silver females, only silver males). These don't look like either of those breeds' ducklings so I assume they must be a mix. The Golden Cascades had the same pattern but were much lighter and clearly chocolate.

Most likely, my Golden Cascade female is their mother because it was her nest and she was very territorial about it. But she did steal some other eggs to add to her collection, so who knows for sure.

Doesn't look chocolate - do you have muscovies? I think these might be muscovy babies

They really do look like the darker muscovy ducklings!

Is there another color allele for brown that's not chocolate? They are dark but it's definitely not black, unless there are different shades that are still considered "black." But especially compared to this duckling that belongs to a friend, mine definitely have a brown tint instead.

 

[bhaugh]

Here is a pic of a chocolate baby. The dark one in the center turned out black.

 

[Shoebox]

Oh, that's so helpful to see an example and know what color they may grow into. Thank you!

 

[Pyxis]

Is there another color allele for brown that's not chocolate? They are dark but it's definitely not black, unless there are different shades that are still considered "black."

If mom was a Golden Cascade and Dad was a Silver WH, these guys wouldn't be chocolate. The boys would be carrying chocolate, though.

Likely they're going to come out some sort of light phase pattern

 

[ibarbidahl]

Hmmm... I'm thinking emory penciled/malard/wild type feathering.

 

[Shoebox]

If mom was a Golden Cascade and Dad was a Silver WH, these guys wouldn't be chocolate. The boys would be carrying chocolate, though.

Likely they're going to come out some sort of light phase pattern

That makes sense.

This is their Golden Cascade mom. Is she light phase? I would guess that her bill color and lighter feet mean she has buff, but I'm not sure how to tell the difference between how that would lighten her body color too vs what light phase would look like.

Also does she have the runner/pencil pattern? Or would the spots have more white?

Hmmm... I'm thinking emory penciled/malard/wild type feathering.

Is there a difference between emory penciled and "regular" penciled? I'm not having much luck finding examples.