in ducks, does lavender affect chocolate?

[CityChicker]

In the Mallard derived breeds, "Chocolate" is simply the combination of sex-linked brown dilution (d/d) combined with extended black (E/E). Unlike Chickens (and I'm not sure about Muscovies because some of their colors are different), there is no Chocolate gene per se (like choc in chickens). The sex-linked brown dilution (d/d) is the same gene in all of the Mallard breeds. The absence or presence of the gene creates several different colors, for example-

Turns Dark Campbell to Khaki Campbell
Turns Black Runner to Chocolate Runner
Turns Black Ancona to Chocolate Ancona
Turns Silver Welsh Harlequin to Gold Welsh Harlequin
Turns Black Magpie to Chocolate Magpie
Turns Self Black Call to Chocolate Call
Turns Grey Mallard to Brown Mallard (not common in the US)

There are a few other examples, especially in Runners (Calls too), but these are some of the more common colors with sex-linked brown dilution. The term "Chocolate" is usually just used as a breeder term for the combination of black and brown, not the brown gene itself. The addition of the homozygous blue changes the chocolate to lavender (like chocolate, there is no lavender gene per se in the Mallard breeds) and it also lightens the plumage substantially. Lavender is a hard color to get any depth to in the Mallard breeds. The blue just lightens the color too much. Bl/Bl can turn a solid black duck almost white. Occasionally though, you see birds with great Lavender color which makes me think that there may be some other unnamed gene at work in some birds.

 

[Henk69]

the choc gene in chickens works the same way.

 

[CityChicker]

Yeah, the choc gene in chickens is sex-linked, right? There is another gene in chickens that is d/d, but that is not sex-linked? I am not sure. I know that you know a million times more about chicken colors than I. I think what we call d/d in Mallard breed ducks is similar to what is called choc. in chickens (the d/d in ducks is sex-linked). There are not two distinct genes in ducks, just d/d as opposed to d/d and choc. Doesn't d/d in chickens create Dun and Khaki rather than chocolate (although chocolate is sometimes misapplied in chickens)? It is confusing when we try to think of duck genes relative to chicken genes, especially when breeder terms come into play.

 

[Henk69]

The dun gene in chickens inherits like the Blue gene (in chickens and ducks). It is a form of the dominant white gene.