Blue Swedish Ducks-Genetics

[PirateGirl]

Your girl is beautiful. I appreciate you taking the time to add a pic for comparison crazy too that your hen is three in that pic and isn’t showing too much white, yet my hen isn’t even two, and has a majority of white feathers.

Yes, and my others are the same age and have even less white. There's got to be something more to it, but I don't know genetics all that well!

 

[Table4Six]

Yes, and my others are the same age and have even less white. There's got to be something more to it, but I don't know genetics all that well!

I think so too! I’m hoping @Pyxis will be able to give some insight.

 

[Table4Six]

This pic is a little blurry, but you can see the splash coloring goes all the way down her chest as well.

 

[Pyxis]

She's gorgeous

Blue bibbed is based on extended black, and all colors based on extended black are prone to growing white feathers after a molt instead of the usual color. This can be especially striking in old cayuga hens:

This hen was once solid black, but as she's aged and molted, her new feathers have come in white instead. The same thing is happening with your girl

The affect can set in more rapidly in some individuals than others. I have a female Call duck from a line that the breeder was calling "Chocolate Sprinkle" because they were selecting for the white to come in sooner and more than usual.

 

[ShannonR]

What a beautiful bird!! When I bred Swedish, I just tried to stick to a goal of blue offspring. I still got a lot of black from my matings-- but never a splash like this!! I knew it was a definite possibility, as splash is linked to the blue and black genetics. Getting the blue to breed true must take a lot of generations, something that I never accomplished.

 

[Table4Six]

She's gorgeous

Blue bibbed is based on extended black, and all colors based on extended black are prone to growing white feathers after a molt instead of the usual color. This can be especially striking in old cayuga hens:

This hen was once solid black, but as she's aged and molted, her new feathers have come in white instead. The same thing is happening with your girl

The affect can set in more rapidly in some individuals than others. I have a female Call duck from a line that the breeder was calling "Chocolate Sprinkle" because they were selecting for the white to come in sooner and more than usual.

Thank you! I love that “Chocolate sprinkle!” I think they look gorgeous with it, I don’t mind her not having a uniform bib. I feel like I feel like I got a bonus!

 

[Table4Six]

What a beautiful bird!! When I bred Swedish, I just tried to stick to a goal of blue offspring. I still got a lot of black from my matings-- but never a splash like this!! I knew it was a definite possibility, as splash is linked to the blue and black genetics. Getting the blue to breed true must take a lot of generations, something that I never accomplished.

Thank you! It certainly must take a lot to get the pure blue/with white bibbed, if that’s even possible.

 

[learycow]

She is blue. Splash (silver) is a dilution of blue and much lighter in color.

As mentioned, due to certain genetics in this bird, she whitened with age. It's very common in some breeds (runners, cayugas, calls usually) in darker colors such as chocolate and blue.

 

[learycow]

She's gorgeous

Blue bibbed is based on extended black, and all colors based on extended black are prone to growing white feathers after a molt instead of the usual color. This can be especially striking in old cayuga hens:

This hen was once solid black, but as she's aged and molted, her new feathers have come in white instead. The same thing is happening with your girl

The affect can set in more rapidly in some individuals than others. I have a female Call duck from a line that the breeder was calling "Chocolate Sprinkle" because they were selecting for the white to come in sooner and more than usual.

I breed chocolate calls like that but refer to them as "mottled"

This hen is less than a year old. Hatched solid chocolate with a small white bib. But as you can see it didn't take long for her to whiten!

 

[Miss Lydia]

She so pretty.