MALLARD THREAD...not rouens, Mallards!

[Zombified]

Oh wow, that's a lot of drakes! Aww poor girl. ): Did you explain why?

 

[chicken pickin]

Hi new to this thread and I wanted to post a pic of my drake. On other threads BYC members have told me he is a Silver Appleyard because he was a dead ringer for one as a duckling but Im starting to suspect he is a mallard. Let me know what you think. He is almost 5months old and his head is turning green.

 

[Zombified]

I just googled it, so I could be totally off, but he looks like a Silver Appleyard drake, based on the pictures from google. The two Mallard drakes I saw grow(though only through pictures) never really looked like that, that I can remember. His head looks pretty similar in color to the Silver Appleyard drakes I saw on google.

Again, though, I could be totally off.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thanks for your thoughts! Ive been told he is an appleyard by many byc members, but to me doesn't resemble the Silver Appleyard his body shape and head shape are different and his colors are kind of off. And people have told be silver applyards don't fly and my duck flys very very well, like multiple laps around the neighborhood really high up in the sky. It doesn't matter to me either way. Im just concerned about the possibility of any of them migrating

So I thought I would check here just to ease my mind. Thanks.

 

[Learningstill]

Oh wow, that's a lot of drakes! Aww poor girl. ): Did you explain why?

I did not have to explain why, she already understands the reasoning. She cannot stand when the drakes target certain females to harass. We probably would not keep any of the mallards because of this reason, if they were not the first ducks she bought. We love the mallards, but not during mating seasons. They are the worst.

Some of the drakes are growing on me too darn it. Today, I was sitting on the lawn with a bag of stale crackers, crunching them up and feeding them from my hand. I could not believe some of the young drakes were climbing onto my lap trying to hog the treats. Also, one of our welsh ladies was accompanying them. We still have a couple untrusting pals, but for the most part everyone is super friendly.

 

[Zombified]

Thanks for your thoughts! Ive been told he is an appleyard by many byc members, but to me doesn't resemble the Silver Appleyard his body shape and head shape are different and his colors are kind of off. And people have told be silver applyards don't fly and my duck flys very very well, like multiple laps around the neighborhood really high up in the sky. It doesn't matter to me either way. Im just concerned about the possibility of any of them migrating

So I thought I would check here just to ease my mind. Thanks.

It's possible that he's a mix? Maybe a Mallard drake got in with someone's Appleyard hen and bam, little Mallard/Appleyard babies without anyone knowing? OR, he could just be a very off Appleyard? I don't know much about duck breeding, but I know with dogs, sometimes they have "throw backs" where one pup will come out looking like the breed did MANYYYYYYYYYYYY generations ago(I'm talking, like, hundreds, though; I don't know how old Appleyards are). With dogs, the throw backs are more built for what the breed was originally bred for(I hate most breeds today because they couldn't do what their breed was *meant* to do). A lot of working-bred dogs tend to stay true to form, whereas more show-bred dogs stray from that and look... "pretty" for the shows. Anyway, sorry for going a little off topic there. I know ducks work a lot differently in that sense, but still. There are a lot of possibilities.

It's my understanding that if they know where the food is, and they know there's a warm place, they won't migrate. Pyrrhos can very easily fly, but she chooses to stay in the pen. The Welshies are her flock, and I think she does really like them. I hope she really likes us, haha.

Learningstill, that's good! That she already knows, I mean. And yeah, I don't know if I would ever really be able to do that, which is why I plan on selling them as day-olds or week-olds. I wouldn't want to keep them around for several weeks and get attached to them. I couldn't do something like that, lol.

 

[fowlman01]

It is a Mallard but probably mixed. Mallards mate with anything.

Walt

 

[Zombified]

"Mallards mate with anything."

Walt, you have me and my partner laughing. He wants to know if there's anything they won't attempt to mate with. And yes, that's a serious question.

 

[fowlman01]

"Mallards mate with anything."

Walt, you have me and my partner laughing. He wants to know if there's anything they won't attempt to mate with. And yes, that's a serious question.

Not that I know of.....I have seen them try chickens and each other (males). They are pretty active ducks.

Walt

 

[Zombified]

I am quite happy that none of my drakes are Mallards, lol. Wasn't there a finding of homosexual necrophilia once?