Have to brag about the Musky Babies

[neverbdone]

They are just too cute and they love the kiddie pool. Does anyone else spray their duckies down with the hose on shower mode? OK, it was a bit of a rough start for Mom, but she did a great job. Ended up with seven Muskys. They are so cute, but I can only keep a couple. Is it best to sell pairs or trios? I put them on Craigslist today. Too bad I can't sell to a BYC'er. I just can't ship. Don't have a clue how.

 

[Wifezilla]

You can give people the option of pairs or trios. For some reason people seem to buy from me in pairs.

 

[love_a_duck]

nevrbdone,

what a lovely bunch of babies.
they are so bright eyed and healthy looking.
(quite a golden in the background too!)

beth

 

[bock]

If you sold them in pairs and trios wouldn't they produce inbred offspring?

Or are they not related? Anyways, cute ducks, and I LOVE your dog!

 

[neverbdone]

Can someone tell me about the white head gene. The father of these babies was from pure black show line. The mom (I'm attaching a photo) I got when my pure black hen was taken by a bobcat. I got her from a neighbor that had many muscovys, but all were black and white of different styles. Mom also has white feet. The babies seem to be all black with a faded ring of white at the neck on a few and all have the black feet. Is the white head and feet a dominant or a recessive gene?

 

[neverbdone]

Oh, chicken obsessed. My understanding (someone correct me if I'm wrong), is you can inbreed ducks with no problems. However, as I mentioned, the pure black I got with the father (his sister) was taken by a bobcat. These two are not related at least not for many generations. Good question though. I received the information about inbreeding from the breeder/shower I bought them from.

 

[bock]

That's interesting. I got 3 call ducks a while ago that were extremely inbred. He said it didn't hurt them, but they were deformed and weaker than an un-inbred duck would be. It was really sad to raise those duck.

 

[neverbdone]

I'm sorry to hear that CO. Maybe the bobcat did me a favor. Anyone else want to share about inbreeding? I'd like more information.

 

[chickincoop]

The white head gene is partially dominant. Sometimes it will come out, sometimes it won't. We had babies a few weeks similar to these. Their mama is a barred blue with a white head. The daddy was black with a white bib. Even though the babies started out looking a lot like yours, now (as 8 week olds,) two have white heads. However, my understanding is that after they molt, their color patterns can drastically change.

 

[Wifezilla]

You wouldn't want to inbreed generation after generation, but an occasional inbreeding isn't going to give you 3 eyed ducks or anything.