MALLARD THREAD...not rouens, Mallards!

[NathanZee]

Yeah there are a lot of feathers in the coop. It looks like a duck died in there! Zambia looks amazing! Okay I can't wait! Yes they are molting I was confused at first I thought it was just the drakes that molted into the adult feathers.

Haha, yeah they drop a lot! Thanks! Nope, all ducks first have a juvenile plumage, then adult. Are they flying much recently?

 

[Spyderk117]

Haha, yeah they drop a lot! Thanks! Nope, all ducks first have a juvenile plumage, then adult. Are they flying much recently?

Okay. Yeah I throw them in the air pretty much every day.

 

[MallardNight3]

My two girls just started flying laps around the yard. You guys mentioned they are mallard Rouen mix is that normal for a mix breed? All photos taken after eating, they have lost a lot of weight since they started flying.

 

[buff goose guy]

My two girls just started flying laps around the yard. You guys mentioned they are mallard Rouen mix is that normal for a mix breed? All photos taken after eating, they have lost a lot of weight since they started flying.

If the mother was a mallard yes it would be normal to fly but if the mother was a Rouen they wouldn't be able to fly.

 

[Lilki]

Yes you have a true Mallard. Rouens have two eye stripes and Mallards have one eye stripe

Thanks!

 

[Spyderk117]

Thanks!

Your welcome!

 

[Table4Six]

I'm really new to ducks and I'm really curious about how some mallards are black mallards. Are they some sort of mallard/Cayuga cross or something?

 

[Spyderk117]

I'm really new to ducks and I'm really curious about how some mallards are black mallards. Are they some sort of mallard/Cayuga cross or something?

I would ask @buff goose guy.

 

[buff goose guy]

I'm really new to ducks and I'm really curious about how some mallards are black mallards. Are they some sort of mallard/Cayuga cross or something?

No, they are pure bred, it is a melanistic mutation. Melanism is the opposite of albinism so instead of all white they are all black. Ive explained this on here countless of times but I don't mind explaining it again . My family had been raising and breeding show quality mallards for about 50 years. Back then and even back to just several years ago we had huge aviaries for the mallards to fly in and breeding pens for the birds that we desired offspring from in the coming year. Now back in 2011 our desired pairs had been nesting and the babies were just hatching, well of one of the pairs we had i went into the breeding pen to check on any progress and laying there newly hatched and just fluffed was a odd Black duckling. I had no idea what was going on i ended up keeping a very close eye on it and raising it myself on and off until it was a juvenile and ready to go to the vet for testing. So the vet took blood tests to test herself and then sent some more to local colleges and our state university. The results all came back the same as pure bred 100% mallard, with an affected MC1R gene that causes the pigmentation to either lighten or darken ( so albinism / melanism ) so when we were explained about it i was very happy and went to looking it up on the internet. It had only happened once before in the USA ( i checked for purity there were many people out there who mixed bred ducks for the coloration, which made me slightly angery) So i found one other person in the USa i believe it was like maine or michigan somewhere really far up north that had the same thing, same tests done, and kept accurate pedigrees so it was legit. Sadly he never bred the one he had and it died off without passing on any melanistic genes. Then i found out that hey this has happened in europe. In belgium the pure melanistic black mallards go for $1,000, and in sweden they went for just a bit over that.


The reason a black mallard is so important is because purity in this line of work is everything. So yes my birds are 100% pure mallards, many people cheat the system by cross breeding different breeds for color purposes, but in my opinion this disgusts me sure they are pretty but their lack of quality means that you are just buying a mutt, and anyone who sells you those birds as pure mallards is a liar and a con artist who is cheating you out of money and spreading a lie. I have blood testing done that shows the gene affected and pedigrees going back decades. I have never owned any other types of ducks except for muscovies until 2013, when i got 2 production rouens for eggs and they went out t the pond instead of in any aviary and refused to go into a coop no matter how hard i tried, so i just fed them at the pond in our clearing behind the house but eventually predators come and there is nothing you can do for REALLY stubborn ducks. And i just got call ducks in 2015.

 

[Table4Six]

No, they are pure bred, it is a melanistic mutation. Melanism is the opposite of albinism so instead of all white they are all black. Ive explained this on here countless of times but I don't mind explaining it again . My family had been raising and breeding show quality mallards for about 50 years. Back then and even back to just several years ago we had huge aviaries for the mallards to fly in and breeding pens for the birds that we desired offspring from in the coming year.  Now back in 2011 our desired pairs had been nesting and the babies were just hatching, well of one of the pairs we had i went into the breeding pen to check on any progress and laying there newly hatched and just fluffed was a odd Black duckling. I had no idea what was going on i ended up keeping a very close eye on it  and raising it myself on and off  until it was a juvenile and ready to go to the vet for testing. So the vet took blood tests to test herself and then sent some more to local colleges and our state university. The results all came back the same as pure bred 100% mallard, with an affected MC1R gene that causes the pigmentation to either lighten or darken ( so albinism / melanism ) so when we were explained about it i was very happy and went to looking it up on the internet. It had only happened once before in the USA ( i checked for purity there were many people out there who mixed bred ducks for the coloration, which made me slightly angery) So i found one other person in the USa i believe it was like maine or michigan somewhere really far up north that had the same thing, same tests done, and kept accurate pedigrees so it was legit. Sadly he never bred the one he had and it died off without passing on any melanistic genes. Then i found out that hey this has happened in europe. In belgium the pure melanistic black mallards go for $1,000, and in sweden they went for just a bit over that. 


The reason a black mallard is so important is because purity in this line of work is everything. So yes my birds are 100% pure mallards, many people cheat the system by cross breeding different breeds for color purposes, but in my opinion this disgusts me sure they are pretty but their lack of quality means that you are just buying a mutt, and anyone who sells you those birds as pure mallards is a liar and a con artist who is cheating you out of money and spreading a lie. I have blood testing done that shows the gene affected and pedigrees going back decades. I have never owned any other types of ducks except for muscovies until 2013, when i got 2 production rouens for eggs and they went out t the pond instead of in any aviary and refused to go into a coop no matter how hard i tried, so i just fed them at the pond in our clearing behind the house but eventually predators come and there is nothing you can do for REALLY stubborn ducks. And i just got call ducks in 2015. 

Wow that's really interesting! And thank you for explaining it so well to me!