Blue Silver/Snowy Call ducks

[call ducks]

Any one have some info on Blue silver Call ducks? I should be getting a pair, the shape is not the best, colour is not bad. I think i should be able to get some good silvers next year.

I should be able to cross to silvers right? As, it is just an addition of the Bl/bl+ gene correct. Silver is bl+/bl+ right?

 

[Alicia G]

You should get some typyer silver calls and breed them with your pair( sliver drake with blue silver hen/silver hen with blue silver drake) then raise the babies and pick out the best one with color and type and use them for your breeding stock

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
Alicia, That is what i am planning to do. Did you see the pair on Kijiji? not best type wise. But i know a few peeps out west with good Silvers.

 

[rollyard]

"Silver" can be a bit confusing because the term reffers to both the harlequin phase dusky mallard (m^d/m^d, li^h/li^h) & the homozygous blue diluted extended black bird (E/E, Bl/Bl). I believe that for your calls you are reffering to the harlequin phase dusky. Maybe less confusing to call them "blue silver dusky calls" rather than "blue silver calls" if this is the case, but understand this is the title some use. Genetically they (blue silver duskies aka blue silvers) are silver with the addition of one dose of blue dilution.

Yes, you can cross the blue silver dusky (blue silver) with a silver & you will produce approx 50% silvers (both sexes) & 50% blue silvers (both sexes). Mating two blue silver duskies (blue silvers) together will produce approx 25% apricot silvers (m^d/m^d, li^h/li^h, Bl/Bl), 50% blue silvers (m^d/m^d, li^h/li^h, Bl/bl+), & 25% standard silvers (m^d/m^d, li^h/li^h, bl+/bl+).

Good luck

Edited to add, almost forgot, silvers are called snowys (m^d/m^d, li^h/li^h) in the states, silver in the UK & elsewhere.

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
Thanks, i I will i know a lot about Blue in chickens and thought it was the same in ducks. I still do not know about a lot of the other genes.

 

[rollyard]

Hmmmm, re-read info I provided above & it does sound confusing in itself (comes from posting on no sleep). I guess what I was trying to say is that to me the use of "hobby" type names can be confusing, & names that fully reflect colour genes involved can help to limit confusion, but they can be long-winded. Maybe you should stick with the breed/variety names as you know them, & as accepted for your location. This site you may have seen & concurs with what you have said http://www.callducks.net/apsilv.htm re: your birds title.

Just to clarify what I was trying to say, & as I know it; a black bird with two doses of blue (E/E, Bl/Bl) is a silver/splash, & with one dose of blue it is a blue. A harlequin phased dusky (m^d/m^d, li^h/li^h) is not only known as a silver (has silver gene li^h), but also a Snowy in some places, & a harlequin in others, hence confusion. But it (the harlequin-phase dusky) is genetically colour-wise a harlequin-phase dusky. Add one dose of blue & genetically colour/pattern-wise it is a harlequin-phase blue dusky, your Blue Silver.

Sorry about the confusion, regards.

 

[CityChicker]

I think it is just confusing no matter who is trying to explain it. You did a great job though, Ross, and you are spot on with your information. Another layer of confusion is that we have Australian Spotteds here in North America, which also come in a "Silver" variety that it is not Silver and also carries homozygous Blue (Bl/Bl). With "Blue Silver", it might be more easy to understand if we use "Blue Snowy" in North America. I really don't know. It is confusing either way.

Anyway, what we call "Blue Silver" (that perhaps is more aptly called "Blue Snowy" here) is harlequin phase dusky with single blue dilution (Bl/bl). The "Silver" of the color, in this case, refers to the harlequin phase dusky, not to the Blue dilution (unlike with Silver Aussie Spots or Silvers from extended Black based Blues). Ross is totally correct on the breakdown of what you will get breeding Blue Silver to Blue Silver. You could also outcross to Silver (aka Snowy) and would get 50% Blue Silver and 50% Silver (again, Snowy technically here). You could also cross to Apricot Silver and get 50% Blue Silver and 50% Apricot Silver, but Apricot Silvers are hard to come by anyway. That color is confusing as well, because in North America, it really would be more aptly called "Pastel Silver" or "Pastel Snowy".

I can see why the genetics of color become confusing for people that haven't study it in detail and also have a working knowledge of genetics. What happens if they don't is that people quote someone else without really understanding what they are saying and then misinformation continues to spread. Once you have really studied all the research/literature out there though and begin to have a basic knowledge of genetics, it becomes much easier to understand. I remember when I first started though, I wanted to pull my hair out at times. LOL.

 

[rollyard]

I fully agree with you Dana re: how confusing & difficult it (genetics, colours, differing titles/hobby names etc) can be to explain. Even when someone understands the subject well, it can be so easy to miscalculate etc. And unless extremely careful of how the wording is put, & absolutely everything is considered/commented on leaving no room for misunderstanding, what is said can & often will be misinterpreted! I guess this is applicable across the board generally also.

Having said the above, I think, always have, that you (Dana) do one of the best jobs of explaining an often difficult to explain subject that I have ever seen

 

[Arthurcampbell]

I have never heard of a blue silver call duck. I raise and show them. You must have austrailin spotted..

 

[Alicia G]

I saw the birds on Kijji. I like the marking but they arent very typy(like you said) Love the color. If you plan on breeding these blue silvers you defentally will need typier silvers, watch the legs though you could end up with offsrping with set back legs. If it were me getting them I would buy silvers with good set legs, shorter beak and neck. dont worry too much on size at this point, but on a well built bird, that way you wont run into health problems in the future. Good luck!