Bessemer Thread Revisited - No Flaming :)

[gofasterstripe]

so does a wild Mallard lay the same as a domestic Mallard. How often does a Mallard lay

 

[Kevin565]

Quote:
No i believe Domestic mallards were bred to lay more than their wild counter part.

 

[Senna95]

Quite honestly, if you haven't been working with this new "breed" for at least a couple of years, and you don't know for sure their weight, or exactly how many eggs they lay on average (hard to tell from just one hen), and you've never bred them, nor had ducklings from them, and only have 3 specimens to work with, then I think you still have your work cut out for you. I'd be building up my breeding flock to at least 40 or 50 ducks, (the more, the better, but I know that space and feed costs often limit how many ducks one can keep), and hopefully not all from the same gene pool (search for some other specimens in your area).

I think that you have a beautiful duck, and if they really weigh 14 pounds, then you've got a great possibility for a new breed, or at least something that others would be interested in buying, but the next few years will tell. Keep good records, and impliment a very strict breeding program and cull heavily those that don't fit the "standard".

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Quote:
I certainly do understand that I have my work cut out for me. That is why I decided not to sell any specimens for a year or two. I have to make sure the breed 'works'. I was able to take stewardship over Bow Lake fowl so quickly because, I am not the only one who raises them, there are many who raise them, and they are proven to breed true (as true as they can get. some varieties have 'bue type' genes that spit out two other colors when bred together.) These ducks however, a couple of people (who I don't know) raise the breed, without breeding it to the same standard as I, of course without the name, and nobody seems to know anything about them. That is why, like you said, I have to study them. I will be weighing them soon, probably sometime around the weekend, or whenever I can find a box big enough! As I find certain things out (like weight, or if I hatch ducklings, etc.) I will certainly keep everyone updated here.


But like I said, I am not going to sell any Bessies next year (2012), but someone might see this thread, compare their ducks to the photos, and sell their's as Bessies. Although I don't object to this, I would certainly like to know about it.

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Quote:
No i believe Domestic mallards were bred to lay more than their wild counter part.

Not neccesarily, some breeds, like Rouens, (probably the Bessies), Spotteds, Aylesburies, and a few others, have not been bred to extend laying.

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Quote:
No i believe Domestic mallards were bred to lay more than their wild counter part.

I know that, you know that but I wanted to know if they know that. This duck at around 14lb and looking a bit like a buff duck is going to lay more than 1 months worth of eggs a year. I was being a bit like creaping Jeasus and asking slowly to make sure they knew what they were on about but with what....3 ducks that they have, 2 drakes and 1 hen...hmmmmmm gonna take quite a while to get the numbers up to any sort of breeding flock. If he/she hasnt had them that long then how does she know they breed true...word of mouth or what. As I said before, I think April 1st has come early, or do you want me to put it into simple words and not beat about the bush. I think they are talking BS and dont have a clue and are making it up as they go along. There I said it.

How do I (he, by the way) know if they breed true? Genetics. It is genetically impossible to arrive to an american Buff and not have it breed true. You know, it is possible for someone who has 3 buff ducks to know how many eggs ducks of that type will lay.

 

[gofasterstripe]

So...What are the Genetics of your ducks? Genetics is all fine and good if you know who the parents are of your ducks are!!!

oh let me quote you here.....................The exact origin is clouded in oblivion

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Quote:
All three: {md/md; Bl/bl+; d/d; bu/bu} As you can see, the genetics of a Buff are very weak and can't easily have any hidden genetics (recessive).

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

Quote:
Yes. So let me ask you a retorical question in answer.... What is the exact origin of the Dorking? Or the Termonde? Or the Malay? Yes, we don't know the origin of the Bessy, but that means nothing more than that.

 

[70%cocoa]

Yes, that is right. Buffs are homozygous for several recessive colour genes that we know about (dusky, chocolate and buff). You can tell that by looking. No testing required for those genes. Are you sure they only have one Blue dilution gene though? That'd be something to test for.

You already know they don't have any black. No sign of bibs. That's all good.

It'd also be good to rule out recessive white. I'm not sure how one dose of Harlequin would show up (if it did at all) so ruling that out would be good too. Also crests.

Then there are other things like leg/feet, bill and eye colour to establish. And then there's type.

It'll take a while to see that the desired characteristics are stable abd to establish them as stable if they are not.

It's worth a go, I think. After all, if people had not done the same thing 150 years ago we'd have half the duck breeds we have now. Getting new or newly discovered ones recognised is not easy but it's not impossible either, if you have something worth developing.