Muscovy coloring/genetics question

[Tessaturtle]

Is it rare to have a completely white duckling from parents who are not white? The mom is chocolate with some white mostly sprinkled on her chest and head. There are 2 possible fathers, one drake is light chocolate, the other is black with a couple of small white marks on his chest. I expected black and white, chocolate and white, and maybe solid black or chocolate, but the all white duckling was a surprise!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Like many birds, ducks can have a recessive white gene. I'm not real familiar with ducks, but the way it normally works is that if only one of the genes at that gene pair is the recessive white, it has no effect. You can't see if it is there. But if both of the genes at that gene pair match up, that turns the bird totally white. I suspect the mother and whichever of those drakes is the father have a recessive white hiding underneath and it just happened to match up.

 

[Smartconnect]

@Tessaturtle Imagine the Drake's surprise!
Has the momma duck been going out with friends to bars, drinking a lot, and coming home late? Just saying...

 

[holm25]

@Tessaturtle Imagine the Drake's surprise!
Has the momma duck been going out with friends to bars, drinking a lot, and coming home late? Just saying...

 

[hugz4all4]

Nope. Muscovies pop out some pretty bizarre colors. Last year I had several all blue babies and chocolate babies and the parents were white.

 

[Tessaturtle]

@Smartconnect LOL!

 

[Tessaturtle]

Ok, just had another chocolate mama hatch out (first time mama) today and she has several all white (yellow) ones! Weird