Black swedish/cayuga breeding qiestion

[Fishkid919]

I have a Male swedish and female cayuga they recently started laying (in the middle of winter). The eggs are fertile, hur my real question is will the offspring be mules, or will I be able to hreed them?

 

[Fishkid919]

 

[PirateGirl]

Perhaps @Pyxis or @casportpony or @chickens really or someone with more knowledge of hatching and genetics can chime in, but I believe the crested gene is dominant and will be passed on to offspring. I believe with crested ducks there is low fertility or a low rate of successful hatches as neurological problems tend to arise. Normally, yes, you could breed a Swedish and a Cayuga and get offspring that are capable of reproducing, but I'm not confident that you will be entirely successful due to the crest...

 

[casportpony]

I don't know anything about crested genetics, but I do know that if the eggs are fertile the offspring will *not* be mules. Mule duck happen when you breed a Muscovy to a Mallard derived duck (pekin, rouen, runner, cayuga, etc.).

 

[PirateGirl]

I found this...

https://www.cooksinfo.com/crested-duck

 

[PirateGirl]

This is a bit more detailed...

http://www.faithvalleywaterfowl.com/crested_call_genetics.html

 

[Fishkid919]

Thanks for the information, I'll check out that link.

 

[Fishkid919]

Also is there anyway to confirm an egg is fertile before starting the incubation process?

 

[PirateGirl]

Also is there anyway to confirm an egg is fertile before starting the incubation process?

Not exactly. You could check eggs by cracking a few open into a pan/bowl and check for fertility. Once you have confirmed that most of your eggs seem to be fertile then you could start collecting eggs for incubation and be fairly certain that most are fertile. After just a few days of incubation you can candle them to see which are developing.