Bali Duck - Is that a crest or something else

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi Friends,

had a heated discussion with another duck owner (not a BYC member!) today: She claims that her Bali Ducks are not crested White Indian Runner Ducks, but another breed, hence »Bali Ducks« and the "microphone" on their heads is not a crest and not caused by that gene defect that caused the embryo to die before hatching.
I looked around at many hatcheries and they all sell "Crested White Ducks, aka Bali Duck".
Now is there in fact a breed called »Bali Ducks« with a feathery pompom on their heads that is not a crest?
(Maybe i should not have called it a "gene defect"…

 

[Texag87]

We hatched a runner/K/C last year that is doing very well at his new home down south. He has earphone crests that are not in the middle. I think it would be a disadvantage to him in a fight with another drake but as of now he is doing great.

 

[Isaac 0]

From what I've read indicates it is in fact a crest.

 

[MizzDeePekin91]

Hi im hopen u see my post, because I'm very curious about the topic on that crested or not ordeal...I have a 4mnth old blue Swedish magpie mix who has a wierd thing on her head..but its not a " normal crest. It's not directly connected to her head, like you noe the winter hats that have pom poms on a string. Well hers is attached like that, and it appeard like 5days after she hatched..n im worried cuz the other duckz go after it and inoe the background on the crested issues, so I'm hopen someone else came across something similar,because icant find one picture online

 

[SolarDuck]

Hi im hopen u see my post, because I'm very curious about the topic on that crested or not ordeal...I have a 4mnth old blue Swedish magpie mix who has a wierd thing on her head..but its not a " normal crest. It's not directly connected to her head, like you noe the winter hats that have pom poms on a string. Well hers is attached like that, and it appeard like 5days after she hatched..n im worried cuz the other duckz go after it and inoe the background on the crested issues, so I'm hopen someone else came across something similar,because icant find one picture online

Can you upload a picture of your duck?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Hi im hopen u see my post, because I'm very curious about the topic on that crested or not ordeal...I have a 4mnth old blue Swedish magpie mix who has a wierd thing on her head..but its not a " normal crest. It's not directly connected to her head, like you noe the winter hats that have pom poms on a string. Well hers is attached like that, and it appeard like 5days after she hatched..n im worried cuz the other duckz go after it and inoe the background on the crested issues, so I'm hopen someone else came across something similar,because icant find one picture online

I have two crested Black Swedish ducks: PomPom Duck and Pommes Duck. They are both named after their crest: PomPom's crest looks like a fluffy pom-pom that is attached to the left back of her head and Pommes' crest looks like she has a Pommes-Fritte (French-Fry) sticking out of her head.
Crests come in all sizes and forms and if your duck behaves like a duck, it eats, drinks, poops, likes water, makes a mess and maybe starts to quack at her age, don't worry!
But if you could upload a picture, we're all interested to see that.

 

[Repticake]

They were half correct about the Bali being different from a runner.
The Bali Duck (Balinese Crested Duck) weighs around 2.25–2.75 kg (5–6 lb) with a slender, upright body. The body carriage is not as varied as that of the Indian Runner: Balis tend to vary between carrying their body at angle of 60–70 degrees to the ground whereas Indian Runners can be anywhere in the range of 45–75 degrees. The Bali has wider shoulders and heavier-set body than the Indian Runner, and a coarser head and bill shape. It can be clearly distinguished by the crest on the top of its head.
The Bali Duck comes in a variety of standard colours, but the most common are white, brown and a Mallard colouring. It produces 120–250 eggs a year. These eggs are blue-green to white in colour.
The Bali Duck is one of the oldest breeds of domestic duck. It is uncommon outside of Bali, and has not achieved the same success as the Indian Runner. Although it is a good layer, it has not been the subject of selective breeding for egg production (as the Indian Runner has), possibly because of the high in ovo mortality rate. The same gene responsible for producing the crest codes for a number of defects including back and balance problems, arched necks and complications in the formation of the skull that lead to death before hatching. On average one of every three offspring which survive hatching will lack the crest. A quarter of ducklings are killed by the lethal double-dose of the crested gene (which results in severe skull deformities) either before hatching, or soon after. The method routinely used in Bali for producing the largest number of viable ducks is to cross crested and non-crested specimens — this results in a higher survival rate, and the number of crested offspring will statistically be 50%.