Mandarin questions! Talk to me people. :P

[cluckcluck42]

I am going to be getting mandarins shortly.

The fiance not only ALLOWED it but is totally excited to get them. I've been googling and googling but I have a few questions that googling has not answered...

Breeding a normal male to a white female will (technically) give 50/50 of normal and whites?

Is it best to keep them in pairs or are trios okay too? I get the gist of it that pairs are best.

And finally, what is the best feed to have them on in the winter??

Any other info you have about mandarins, please feel free and encouraged to share. I was surprised to not see any threads about mandarins on here. They are such gorgeous birds, there must be quite a few of us with them!

 

[KansasKid]

normal male to white female using a punnett square with only 4 offspring

total outcome

normal male=o
split male=2
white male=0

normal hen=2
white hen=0

just in case you didn't know already, splits are males that look normal but still carry the white gene. females cannot be split because the white gene is sex linked and cannot be carried on the W gene.

this will be your outcome every time with the exception of different numbers of drakes and hens, but still the same genetics.


i love mine, just posted some new pictures in the link in my signature
as you already now they require raised nest boxes 12x12x18 with a 3-4 inch hole cut out
really east to keep, typically first year breeders
i feed mine the purina flock raiser with chicken scratch mixed in for winter

the reason there are no threads is because they are all directed to the migratory/ornamental waterfowl thread in the stickys ill post a link in a sec.

 

[Hattiegun]

theres lot-a peeps on here with Mandarins~~ seems alittle slow on here tonite but someone will chime in.. very happy for u.. they are gorgeous birds !! Good Luck

 

[KansasKid]

heres the link--> https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=345303

 

[cluckcluck42]

Quote:
Oooh thank you!! Now- pardon my ignorance- what is a split male? And so does that mean I probably won't get any whites? So great to talk to a breeder, thanks for responding.

I will be checking out that thread thoroughly at work tomorrow. Thanks for directing me to it, I wouldnt have found it on my own, that's for sure.

And thanks Hattie

 

[KansasKid]

I'll upload some pictures of a punnett squares i made in a few seconds once they upload....
o and i explained a split after i edited my first post.

 

[KansasKid]

in sexlinked traits drakes have the chromosomes ZZ and females have ZW the W is like the Y on a mammal chromosome. since it can't carry alleles like the X or Z can the females can't be a split(heterozygous recessive) so females can carry the white gene on the Z and be white or not carry it at all.

does this make since?

(man i have been editing my posts alot.

)

are they fully colored or real young birds?
and actually i got mine back in june so this will be my first go-around with them i have just done lots, and lots, and lots, and lots, of research. spent hours looking up the genes. White and Apricot (no apricot mandarins in U.S.) are sex linked traits and silver (unfortunately no such thing as a silver mandarin) is autosomal

 

[debilorrah]

How much did you guy pay for your mandarins and where did you get them? Ken wants some so badly!!!

 

[destinduck]

60 dollars. I been feedin mine layer pellets for years (No flock raiser here) They can be trioed up (He will favor one then when she sets on to the other girl) got mine from game bird gazette

 

[cluckcluck42]

Thanks for that post KansasKid. I am trying hard to get it LOL. SO- basically- normal to white mating will ONLY result in split males? Does that mean no possibility of normal males? Then I can breed the split males to whites to get some more whites?

That is great info. I really need to learn all the genetic lingo, I am so lost when it comes to this stuff. I appreciate you taking the time to share the info.

Deb- I am buying the normal male for 50 and the white female for 70. We're in Canada thought, not sure about U.S prices. I'm sooo excited to get them! We've been drooling over them since my friend bought some a few months back. I really hope they hatch some ducklings for me.

So- is it bad to keep them in trios? Because I was hoping to get a normal male and either two white females or one normal and one white. But is it best to keep them just in pairs??