Crested duck breeding...

[Featheredfluffs]

So, I just got a totally random little crested duckling out of Ancona/runner mix parents, and I was really exited to breed him when old enough because he is a pretty perfect duckling in terms of temperment, growth, ect. (I’m considering breeding my own type of duck as as a little genetics project hopefully for school credit).

... However, I just found out crested ducklings carry a lethal gene, and I really want to be ethical when it comes to breeding animals. It’s such a bummer as this little guy is super sweet and just overall perfect... what is the likelihood of genetic defects if I cross him with a totally different un crested breed (say, a Welsh Harlequin?) I personally own his aunt, uncle, mom, and dad, and I’ve seen a picture of his grandfather and none of them have crests. Does this totally negate the possibility of using him for breeding?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Pyxis maybe able to help you or @casportpony

 

[chickens really]

Hello..Crested Ducks are a genetic deformity. Any breed of Duck can have it. The skull is not closed so many can suffer from neurological issues to brain damage. That is what causes the crest on the head. Your choice but really should not try to create more.
Best wishes..

 

[Featheredfluffs]

Hello..Crested Ducks are a genetic deformity. Any breed of Duck can have it. The skull is not closed so many can suffer from neurological issues to brain damage. That is what causes the crest on the head. Your choice but really should not try to create more.
Best wishes..

I’m not trying to create more per say, just wondering how likely it is to have genetic problems from it if crossed with a totally diffent genetic line with no crest I’d hate to have any of that stuff happen... it seems so wrong to breed animals for a trait that could cause damage. It has just ended up that my little one has a crest although no one else in his family does, and of course it was the one I wanted to breed...

 

[chickens really]

I’m not trying to create more per say, just wondering how likely it is to have genetic problems from it if crossed with a totally diffent genetic line with no crest I’d hate to have any of that stuff happen... it seems so wrong to breed animals for a trait that could cause damage. It has just ended up that my little one has a crest although no one else in his family does, and of course it was the one I wanted to breed...

You won't know?...Toss the dice...

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

This has a genetic chart and some pics of what happens when a crested duckling doesnt make it.
http://www.faithvalleywaterfowl.com/crested_call_genetics.html

 

[learycow]

If you use him and breed to a duck that you are sure (or pretty sure) doesn't carry the crested gene, then chances are very slim of there being issues.
A small percentage of babies will have crests.

A long as you understand the possible issues associated with breeding crested ducks, then there's no reason you can't breed them. Many do just for fun! And they certainly make excellent conversation starters in any flock

 

[dotporter]

That is so cool! So, I looked up the genetics, because I LOVE genetics. And, the crested gene is a dominant gene. The single dominant gene makes crested. Two crested genes results in a dead duckling.

Thus, any duck which doesn't look crested, isn't.

Breeding two crested ducks together will result in an average of twenty five percent of the ducklings dying. Fifty percent of the ducks will have a crest. Twenty five percent of the ducks will be normal (no crested gene).

Bred to a duck with no crest, the results are fifty percent crested and fifty percent non crested.

Thus, there is no point in breeding two crested ducks as there is no increase in crested offspring. Plus, who wants to breed ducks knowing that a quarter of them are going to be fatally deformed?

There is no such thing as a duck with two crested genes, since that is fatal. So, if you breed your duck to a non crested duck, you very well may end up with a good proportion of crested offspring and there is almost no chance that the offspring will have the fatal double dose of the crested gene.

I say almost no chance because, as you've observed, the gene can occur spontaneously.

BUT SO COOL!!!!

 

[chickens really]

That is so cool! So, I looked up the genetics, because I LOVE genetics. And, the crested gene is a dominant gene. The single dominant gene makes crested. Two crested genes results in a dead duckling.

Thus, any duck which doesn't look crested, isn't.

Breeding two crested ducks together will result in an average of twenty five percent of the ducklings dying. Fifty percent of the ducks will have a crest. Twenty five percent of the ducks will be normal (no crested gene).

Bred to a duck with no crest, the results are fifty percent crested and fifty percent non crested.

Thus, there is no point in breeding two crested ducks as there is no increase in crested offspring. Plus, who wants to breed ducks knowing that a quarter of them are going to be fatally deformed?

There is no such thing as a duck with two crested genes, since that is fatal. So, if you breed your duck to a non crested duck, you very well may end up with a good proportion of crested offspring and there is almost no chance that the offspring will have the fatal double dose of the crested gene.

I say almost no chance because, as you've observed, the gene can occur spontaneously.

BUT SO COOL!!!!

Well said........

 

[dotporter]

Well said........

Thanks. I just know it's heartbreaking when you get a cool genetic variation, but it turns out to be something horrible.

We had spontaneous dwarfism in our Muscovy. Fifty percent chance that it was the normal kind and they'd just be small, fifty percent chance that it was the fatal kind.

Turned out to be the kind that they die before a year old. So, we took out the hen who was throwing off dwarf babies because it was just so heartbreaking.