Blue Swedish Ducks-Genetics

[Table4Six]

I have a blue Swedish hen who will be two years old this March. I know blue Swedes tend to have less uniform bibs than the black variety, however, my hen is basically splash. It’s now got me wondering about the facts of blue Swede genetics. Here are pics of the transformation, and what she looked like as a duckling.

I guess I’m just wondering, is this common and a side affect of blue on blue?
@casportpony @Pyxis @Miss Lydia

 

[DuckyDonna]

WOW!

 

[Jpat]

Beautifull birb what a change!

 

[PirateGirl]

From what I understand is that the bib gene is the bib gene and it gets passed along, however how messy or neat a bib is can vary, which is why it's difficult to breed for the perfect bib that show birds require. So a duck with a messy bib could have offspring with neat bibs and vice versa.

I also believe that after every molt a bird will have more white feathers, and this happens in a few different colors/patterns of chickens and ducks both (though I'm not sure on what other breeds this includes). I have never seen a transformation as complete as yours, but I do have Blue Swedish that are a few years old that have quite a bit of white at this point.

 

[PirateGirl]

Further to this, breeding blue and blue results in blue, black, and splash offspring. The genetics are always their genetics, so if your duck is blue it will pass on the same genes as any other blue duck even if after a molt it has more white coloration.

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Pyxis

I am seeing the same in my Blue Runner duck and my black Runners too. Not a dramatic as your Swedish. She is beautiful in all 3 stages.

 

[PirateGirl]

This is my girl Helga, who has the most white on her of any of my Blue Swedish. You can see she's got quite a bit. She's about 3 years old in this picture.

 

[Table4Six]

From what I understand is that the bib gene is the bib gene and it gets passed along, however how messy or neat a bib is can vary, which is why it's difficult to breed for the perfect bib that show birds require. So a duck with a messy bib could have offspring with neat bibs and vice versa.

I also believe that after every molt a bird will have more white feathers, and this happens in a few different colors/patterns of chickens and ducks both (though I'm not sure on what other breeds this includes). I have never seen a transformation as complete as yours, but I do have Blue Swedish that are a few years old that have quite a bit of white at this point.

Thank you for chiming in. I too have never seen such a complete change in such a short amount of time.

 

[PirateGirl]

Thank you for chiming in. I too have never seen such a complete change in such a short amount of time.

I have not seen it that extreme either! I would have guessed her to be older and that the change happened over many molt cycles in her life.

 

[Table4Six]

This is my girl Helga, who has the most white on her of any of my Blue Swedish. You can see she's got quite a bit. She's about 3 years old in this picture.

View attachment 1640458

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.