Breeding Crested Duck With Non Crested Duck

[proudduckowner22]

Hey all, I have a cool breeding project for my ducks that I got few questions on. I have a crested Cayuga duck hen she has a little crest on the back of her head and I was wondering if I would be able to breed her to my other duck breeds such as maybe a buff drake or khaki Campbell drake, or maybe even one of my welsh harlequins. I am wanting to breed her with my other duck breeds because I want to create something that will have the crest from its mother, but then also be a fun mix of colours like having a black crested hen crossed with a buff would be pretty cool I bet!! Would love to hear y’all’s feedback, would the offspring from a crested mother and a non crested father have crested offsprings? Thanks

 

[sourland]

Depending upon the hen's genetic makeup some or all of the ducklings should be crested.

 

[Canadian Wind]

This is a controversial subject, as the crest is actually the result of a hole in the back of the skull. Some consider this a deformity that should not be propagated.

I haven't looked deeply into it, others will have better info.

Look into colour genetics, this may be more difficult than you think. My Magpie duck was bred to a Cayuga, and the resulting ducklings were all black with a varying degree of white on the chest only., from only a few feathers to a heavier dusting. No pied.

 

[Quatie]

It is not recommended breeding female crested ducks. Because of the deformity of the skull, a drake can do serious damage to the female. Their is actually a gap in the skull and when drakes grab on the neck and head to mate can lead to brain damage in the females.

I personally don't agree with crested ducks. But if you are going to do it, you should only use crested drakes for breeding.

50% of the ducks will be crested. Two copies of the gene is lethal.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

So, I have a crested silver Swedish who I adopted as an adult. She is the duck in my avatar. She has a very large crest yet she has had over a dozen ducklings and none have even a little crest (which is fine by me). It is recommended that you not breed two crested because ducklings who receive the gene from both parents are suppose to die in the shell. Also, if you cross a female Cayuga to the ducks you mentioned, you will get lots of black ducks since this is a dominant trait. But, if you use a buff or khaki drake the girls will be brown instead of black as this is a sex-linked cross.

 

[KaleIAm]

Like others have said, some of the babies can die in the shell. I've read the percentage is 25 from the neurological defect. Also the problem of the crest being tugged on during mating.

The adult crested ducks are also more likely to have nuerological problems, and we have had members here with ducks experiencing issues.

Fortunately my adopted crested duck never had noticable neurological problems, but she seemed to have every other issue one could think of. Her crest did get pulled on by the other female ducks, but it never damaged her. She did have ingrown feathers that needed surgery under anesthesia about once yearly, and her vet said it was because of her crested fluffiness.

Personally I wouldn't breed or contribute to the breeding of crested ducks. Maybe research the conditions your ducklings might have and make sure you are comfortable with that for the sake of cuteness.

 

[proudduckowner22]

Like others have said, some of the babies can die in the shell. I've read the percentage is 25 from the neurological defect. Also the problem of the crest being tugged on during mating.

The adult crested ducks are also more likely to have nuerological problems, and we have had members here with ducks experiencing issues.

Fortunately my adopted crested duck never had noticable neurological problems, but she seemed to have every other issue one could think of. Her crest did get pulled on by the other female ducks, but it never damaged her. She did have ingrown feathers that needed surgery under anesthesia about once yearly, and her vet said it was because of her crested fluffiness.

Personally I wouldn't breed or contribute to the breeding of crested ducks. Maybe research the conditions your ducklings might have and make sure you are comfortable with that for the sake of cuteness.

I do keep my one female crested duck separated from my drakes to prevent any tugging on her crest, and she gets to live with all my Cayuga duck hens instead and they get along well. Thanks y’all for all the great info on crested ducks!! I am kinda starting to back off from that breeding idea now. I knew that crested ducks got their crest from a hole in the back of their skull but I had no idea of the neurological affects that she could have in the future, or that the mortality rate for ducklings can be that high. The crest on my hen is about maybe the size of a quarter and it’s not one of the large ones that you may see with the more popular crested ducks. I think I might not do that breeding project for crested ducks of mine now, Lol. Thank ya everyone for your responses and I hope that more people will get to see all this info as well!!