Ever heard of partially crested?

[kodiakchicken]

I have three ducks I got from an Alaska hatchery that are about 10 weeks old.. My magpie showed up crested, which was not advertised, but that's okay as she's quite quite. The other two, the blue swede and black cayuga, were smooth headed, or so I thought. When the blue swede was little she had a little feather or two poking out on each side of her head toward the crown. I just figured it was baby feathers coming out, but the feathers persisted and now that she's almost fully feathered the little head feathers have become two little puffs on her head. It's quite odd looking, neither are even the circumfrence of a dime. Has anyone ever heard of this? I'm pretty much convinced that the hatchery's stock isn't very pure since my Cayuga has a white chest and other things, but I haven't ever heard of or seen a partial (or two partials) crest before. Very weird.

I don't have a recent picture, but here's one from several weeks ago with the poofs labelled.

 

[kodiakchicken]

So no one has ever heard of anything like this? Do you know where I could look it up to read about it? I have Storey's Guide to Ducks, just haven't brought myself to slogging through the genetics section.

 

[DuckLady]

How CUTE! The one in front has earmuffs!

I love crested ducks.

 

[kodiakchicken]

You should see them now. They are really quite the little poofs. I'll have to get a photo and post it.

terrielacy - do you know if this is common when breeding for crests? If I breed my ducks they'll most likely just be mutts, but I wasn't sure how this would pass on. I'm pretty sure baby blue is a girl.

 

[Sparrow]

Crests come in all shapes and sizes. I have 7 crested ducks of different breeds, ands not all of their crests are symmetrical or "normally" shaped. I have a young Khaki Campbell whose crest is so low it's practically on the top of her neck, and it is set towards the right side of her head. It is a small crest, about 1/3 the size of a "regular" crest. Everyone laughs at the way she looks, but I just say she looks like a classy Frenchwoman wearing a feather hat pushed to the side.

That's what she looks like to me anyway!

The duck in my avatar, Admiral, has a spectacular crest and so does one of my Fawn and White Runners. Huge and poofy, perfectly symmetrical, and they wrap all the way around the head. But, most of the other ducks' crests are a little irregular looking. I think any crest is great!