crested runners

[aladatrot]

I know there is a potential problem in breeding cresteds, am I safe running two crested hens on a non crested drake?
Cheers
M

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
That should be safe, It is more common to have one crested drake breed plain ducks but you breed what you have. Crested X crested is the cross that gives problems.

 

[Duck Keeper]

There aren't really problems unless you consider a fifty/fifty mortality rate too high. Which I do. Personally.

A crested x crested cross can produce any number of gene variants (I'm no good at genes, but I'll try to explain).


Let's say X = crested, and x = not crested, okay?

If a crested duck (we'll say it's genes are Xx, meaning it's crest gene is dominant, so it 'shows' up on the duck) breeds with another crested duck (because I'm lazy, let's say this one is Xx too), the off spring should be...



X x
-----------
X | XX | Xx|
x | Xx | xx|
-----------

This is called a Punnet Square, if you research a little bit, maybe you can understand this better.

The first duckling (top left corner) would die in the shell before it hatched, because a double dose of the crested gene is normally fatal.
The second duckling (top right) would have a crest, and would theoretically survive to hatch.
The third duckling (bottom left) would also survive and theoretically hatch with a crest.
The fourth duckling, the one on the bottom right, would NOT have a crest, because it's genes ae both recessive[/] and the duckling would merely be a CARRIER for the crested gene. If this duckling mates with another duckling that is a carrier of the crested gene (XX (can't happen), Xx, or xx) then their offspring would more than likely have crests.

I am not a scientist or a crested breeder, so don't take my word as law, but it follows the basic principles of inheritance and junk, so you could go by it if you didn't have anything else.

Crested ducks are funny, by the way.

I call them AFRO DUCKS.

 

[Duck Keeper]

The crested gene is by nature a dominant gene.

Like goosedragon wrote, a crested drake will turn most (if not all) of it's offspring into crested types.

 

[Calebs Acre]

Awww, THANK YOU...NOW I understand why you prefer the DRAKE to be the crested ones!!!

 

[Duck Keeper]

Yes, but it works the same for females. The only 'issue' with using crested girls is that they can only lay so many eggs. Males can 'get around' to a lot more females, if you catch my drift.

 

[Calebs Acre]

If you would see my little "charts" of how to re-arrange my ducks once my oldest six crested are added to the mix, you'd die laughing. I keep recalculating about who goes where over and over and it's like trying to do a seating chart at wedding between the Hatfields and the McCoys. LOL.

Once I figure out the crested genetics, I am going to TRY to understand the dreaded COLOR genetics....

 

[Duck Keeper]

Yay genetics...

I'm not very good.

And I make tons of lists too, don't feel bad about it.

All I remember about the whole inheritance thing from school was the guy with the peas crossed them and got different colored flowers. Forgot his name.

 

[Duck Keeper]

Oh, and colors are fun too. o_o;

Black + Black can make blacks, silvers (a gray color), or splashes.

Too many fun combinations.

I say, stick a couple in the 'bator and see what comes out.

 

[Calebs Acre]

It seems like everything I put together ends up looking like it's fawn and white....LOL. I've not seen many runner babies so I don't guess well about what color they WILL be. Thank goodness people buy my runners are pets most of the time. "OH, this one is soooo cute" and that's all she wrote. I'll figure it all out in time and I am as honest as I can be with people when they come to buy their ducklings. They are all cute to me.