Muscovy caruncle

[iajewel]

I think most people do breed them they way they want.. that wasn't the question.. the question was... if we breed for pure standards, why is red, not black the set standard?

 

[MrsKemmerlin]

Quote:
My babies are 14 weeks today - one drake and two girlies

And my chunky-butt boy has a dark face and the caruncles to match! And I have to agree with you, I'm loving the difference!

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Because whoever wrote up the standard liked red, and added that in.

 

[iajewel]

I don't honestly believe one person randomly wrote up the standard. I have to believe there was a committy and it was decided upon. So.. for what reason?

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Regardless of whether it was one person or a group, the standard was written for the goals of selective breeding. It's likely that prior to them being written, the muscovies with reduced pigmentation on their caruncles (less black/brown, allowing more red to show) were deemed more attractive (for whatever reason), and when the standard was written, the preference for red over dark caruncles was inserted.

There are characteristics written into a standard that have different "reasons." Body shape is related to function, but pigmentation and other "decorative" markings are really more aesthetic. I will add that in some actual breeds, keeping a certain hard-to-breed characteristic in the standard is a method of making sure that crossbred animals (or animals with crossbred ancestors) can't meet the standard, thus keeping the breed pure. But this doesn't apply to Muscovies, which don't have breeds (they are one domesticated "breed" of a species...there aren't "breeds" of Muscovies in the sense that there are "breeds" of Mallard-derived ducks). So I contend that the coloring of the caruncles in the standard was merely an aesthetic choice -- basically, people liked the way it looked.