Barred vs rippled in Muscovy ducks?

[thoeffel1994]

I was given 20 free Muscovies a few weeks ago and didn't know that barred and rippled Muscovies existed until this year. I always had the black and white pied color. It turns out that 5 of the new ones are either barred or rippled, but I'm not exactly sure about the difference. I haven't found great pictures of rippled vs barred.

Any idea about these?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Canadian Wind

 

[ruthhope]

I was given 20 free Muscovies a few weeks ago and didn't know that barred and rippled Muscovies existed until this year. I always had the black and white pied color. It turns out that 5 of the new ones are either barred or rippled, but I'm not exactly sure about the difference. I haven't found great pictures of rippled vs barred.

Any idea about these?

I am not informed on barred and rippled. However, I have a black barred muscovy and this was him in his juvenile plummage. The barring is reduced in mature ducks. mine still has barring on his undercarriage and feathers under his wings. I don't have a photo that shows his remaining barrin on his undercarriage but I will try and get one tomorrow

 

[ruthhope]

I was given 20 free Muscovies a few weeks ago and didn't know that barred and rippled Muscovies existed until this year. I always had the black and white pied color. It turns out that 5 of the new ones are either barred or rippled, but I'm not exactly sure about the difference. I haven't found great pictures of rippled vs barred.

Any idea about these?

You might be interested in this discussion from 2014. I think yours are ripple which I had not heard of until today!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rippled-muscovy.929380/

 

[Canadian Wind]

They look barred to me. I have several of them, and it always saddens me when they lose their markings. But you get to enjoy it until they moult!

20 free muscovy? LUCKY!!!

 

[thoeffel1994]

They look barred to me. I have several of them, and it always saddens me when they lose their markings. But you get to enjoy it until they moult!

20 free muscovy? LUCKY!!!

Yup, I was so happy when I saw the post for 20 free Muscovies. It happened not long after I had a snake kill my broody Muscovy hen and I lost several of the eggs. It really made up for the loss. I've always been surprised at how feather color can change so much when they molt. Silver appleyard drakes, for example, look like females until their first molt.

Is it true that if they were rippled that instead of having white bars it would have a lighter color of the primary color. So dark brown with light brown bars would be considered a ripple or black with grey bars?

 

[ruthhope]

Yup, I was so happy when I saw the post for 20 free Muscovies. It happened not long after I had a snake kill my broody Muscovy hen and I lost several of the eggs. It really made up for the loss. I've always been surprised at how feather color can change so much when they molt. Silver appleyard drakes, for example, look like females until their first molt.

Is it true that if they were rippled that instead of having white bars it would have a lighter color of the primary color. So dark brown with light brown bars would be considered a ripple or black with grey bars?

Did you check out the link I posted?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rippled-muscovy.929380/

 

[Canadian Wind]

According to this website (and a few others, but this one is my go to) https://www.muscovyduckdynasty.com/colors-patterns

Ripple is a pattern of darker and lighter stripes on individual feathers. If you suspect your bird is ripple, you will see these stripes covering feathers mainly on the wings and tail. You may even see a few random rippled feathers on the wings or tail of solid colored birds, which could mean your bird is carrying the ripple gene.

and

When I think of barring, I think of the Barred Owl. Not to get barring confused with ripple, barring is white stripes on feathers of a bird. They appear on the head, chest, wings and sides of the bird, not on the tail. They only last for the first few months after hatch, then disappear except for a small patch underneath and between the wings, and sometimes on their undersides. Barring can sometimes reappear shortly after a molt and then disappear again.

 

[ruthhope]

According to this website (and a few others, but this one is my go to) https://www.muscovyduckdynasty.com/colors-patterns

Ripple is a pattern of darker and lighter stripes on individual feathers. If you suspect your bird is ripple, you will see these stripes covering feathers mainly on the wings and tail. You may even see a few random rippled feathers on the wings or tail of solid colored birds, which could mean your bird is carrying the ripple gene.

and

When I think of barring, I think of the Barred Owl. Not to get barring confused with ripple, barring is white stripes on feathers of a bird. They appear on the head, chest, wings and sides of the bird, not on the tail. They only last for the first few months after hatch, then disappear except for a small patch underneath and between the wings, and sometimes on their undersides. Barring can sometimes reappear shortly after a molt and then disappear again.

Here's my black barred at 26 months old. He still has a lot of barring on his sides and undercarriage. But he has changed colour dramatically from his adolescent plumage [photo posted in a comment above] notable his head and neck were black and are now white.

He's a big, soft lump of duckiness who doesn't think he should sleep in a shed with "ducks". He was rescued in a rainstorm in a parking lot one night soon after he was hatched. I didn't find him others ducks of suitable age/size until he was 7 weeks old. By then he was accustomed to living in my brooder in the house.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Here's my black barred at 26 months old. He still has a lot of barring on his sides and undercarriage. But he has changed colour dramatically from his adolescent plumage [photo posted in a comment above] notable his head and neck were black and are now white.
View attachment 3647546
He's a big, soft lump of duckiness who doesn't think he should sleep in a shed with "ducks". He was rescued in a rainstorm in a parking lot one night soon after he was hatched. I didn't find him others ducks of suitable age/size until he was 7 weeks old. By then he was accustomed to living in my brooder in the house.

Yeah, the white-head gene is an odd one, where the ducklings and young will have solid coloured heads that then turn white. On babies, you can tell if they have this by them having a light coloured spot at the back edge of the eye. It's dominant, so difficult to get rid of it trying to breed for a solid colour.