mandarin duck egg color?

[Scott]

Quote:
What kind of hen do you mean? Smaller than a standard chicken hen egg? Then, yes. They are about the size of a bantam chicken egg.

 

[Scott]

Quote:
not really, all I have ever had are always tan/buff, do you have wood ducks, they are white, never seen a white mandarin egg though

I thought mandarin's where wood ducks?

Anyway I don't have the "wood ducks" I have mandarins. and the person said they could be Ivory, I think of Ivory as off white not any shade of brown or beige.. so thats why I wanted to be clear and asked if they could be sort of white...

No, mandarins are not North American Wood Ducks. They are in the same genus - Aix. They are very similar in habits and behaviors, but they are a distinct breed. They are considered Northern Wood Ducks by some authors.... meaning the ducks of the northern hemisphere woodlands. Mandarins are from Northeastern Asia (Siberia, China, Korea, Japan), whereas Wood Ducks (i.e. Carolina Ducks) are from North America. Same genus, but distinct breeds.

There are actually several breeds of ducks that are called wood ducks. Australia, for instance, has a wood duck called the Maned Duck. But what we call a wood duck in North America is the Carolina Duck. Mandarins are a woodland duck, but not the common wood duck native to North America. There are, however, feral populations of Mandarins in the United States in Northern California. Unlike their Asia cousins, however, they do not migrate. They have escaped from captivity and begun breeding in the wild. The mandarins in Asia migrate throughout their range.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

do you have any pics of them, the two, wood ducks and mandarin, hens are very similar, if your guys didnt know what he had, he very well could have sold you a wood duck hen, in that case they will all be sterile as it's genetically impossible to cross breed the two.
If you can post some pics, I can help better on an ID.

 

[trinitymare]

Sure here are some pictures.

I got My original pair from a breeder who had about 50, all the males where in color and not a wild wood duck in sight.. theses where birds from his original stock. but I blive his brother raised them also and brought a bunch down so I could have been sold a wood duck female as I have no idea what his brother raised.

I would not know a wood duck hen from a mandarin that is true, but all the males he had where mandarin for sure. all the breeding pens he had only had mandarin pairs as they had babies that year.

We have North American Wood Ducks in the wild here and I belive you have to have a permit for them so I have no intrest in keeping them so I looked for mandarins.

The male was VERY wild, the female was pretty laid back.

I belive some had come from a white pair stock but where not white.. the colors of my two males I got from him are VERY diffrent.

Maybe you could tell me why or if they are diffrent colors or types. I thought it was probably one had the white in it's background.

my older male was lighter and did not have white white sail feathers before his main sails.

A year later I had to go back and get a new male sense the original one he sold me misjudged the plat forum box when he lost his feathers and broke his neck..

The new male is much calmer and we enjoy him more.


I do not have a nest box for the ducks yet.


The new replacement male with the same female.

My original male with the female...

The female

 

[Scott]

That first picture is a great photo! Very nice.

 

[1lpoock]

Yep that's a mandarin hen!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

yep they are mandarins, the difference, to make it easy and not a hole lot of detail is the thin white ring around the mandarins hens eye, a woody will have a large oval tear drop (going backwards) patch, and the are a few shades darker, the brest pattern is more finly speckled than blotchy like a mandarin, so now you too can tell them apart

As for the shade difference in your males, never seen that, even ones split to whit (carring the white gene) are normal colored with no indicating markings, there is a new mutation called the white throat mandarin too, but it looks the same to me with just a white throat patch. Who knows there???

Hate you lost the other male too, they tend to be that way, they come in two types, flighty as all get out or fairly calm, looks like you got 1 of each.
Another way to judge you egg in question if you are thinking it may be other poultry, chicken or what not.
Feel the shell, waterfowl eggs are very waxy feeling, not slick and smooth like chickens.
This is to protect them from all the water the mothers bring in on them from swimming, it's basically a super thick modified egg bloom (the protective antyibacterial coat the hen secretes on them when she lays them) Anyway, that's a dead give away to it being a duck.
If you ever hold a duck and a chicken egg at the same time, you'll easily see the difference.
Good luck with them, there are pretty!

 

[trinitymare]

Ok thanks!

I still wonder why my males are soo different looking... one had green behind the hood the other purple..

One has blonde cheeks, the other red... and I love the white little sails before the main sail which it seems the wild ones have...

Thanks for the tips on the eggs!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

the replacement bird is what they are supposed to look like, the green/purple can change in sun light, but ALL are supposed to have that line of feathers in front of the sail, not sure what's going on there unless, he had just molted them at that time, how long did you have him, ?

 

[trinitymare]

he went thow two full color changes and he never had the white. I like the white and was dissapointed my first one never had it.