Pastel in Call Ducks

[onthespot]

Why is that the only breed that comes in Pastel? Is it the same as Lavender in other breeds, or blue? I just never see any "pastel" anything else talked about and was wondering if it was a gene particular to calls, or if it was nomemclature particular to the fancy.

 

[purelypoultry]

I suppose you could have a pastel mallard if you play with the genetics enough. There just hasn't been anything bred to match the coloring of the Pastel Call. It isn't the same as Lavender because Pastel is the combination of the Blue head, Red breast and the grayish body.

 

[Henk69]

In other breeds it is called apricot, double dose blue dilution

 

[onthespot]

Oh. THAT makes sense to me. I just couldn't figure out why there were no other pastel breeds of ducks. SURELY by now someone would have mixed things up and come out with a LF pastel. Thanks all who answered. This place is a never-ending source of info.

 

[CityChicker]

There are other breeds that come in Pastel- Runners and Mallards are two that come immediately to mind as I have both in Pastel. I just checked Holderread's duck book to verify if he says anything else comes in Pastel and he says that there are also Rouens and Crested in Pastel. Really, it is a pretty easy color to get as it is just wild type with homozygous blue dilution. Apricot is a term more used in Europe. The term "Apricot" in the US is only used in a few colors, like Apricot Silver (a completely different color than Pastel obviously). Anyway, another reason why Pastel might be less common in other breeds is because in some of those breeds, Runners for example, a LOT of birds carry recessive genes, especially light phase and harlequin phase. It is extremely easy to breed Blue Fawn. When you breed the Blue Fawns together though, in theory you should get 25% Pastel if no other genes are involved. In actuality though, you will have other colors pop up in the F2 generation, including Saxony, Apricot Silver, and others, some of which are difficult to even discern.

Lavender is a completely different color in ducks. It is extended black, sex-linked brown dilution, and homozygous blue. It is an *impossible* to color to get. LOL, actually, genetically it is pretty easy to get, but you basically end up with a white duck. There is no lavender gene per se in the Mallard derived breeds.

 

[bemba]

CityChicker, you are a wealth of knowledge, love reading your posts in regards to genetics! Fantastic..... All I have to do now is do some more research so I can fully understand all the terms, is there a good resourse you could reccomend?

 

[CityChicker]

Thank you! It is nice to know it is appreciated. There are a few good, easy to read resources. The first one would be "Colour Breeding in Domestic Ducks" by Mike and Chris Ashton. Their book, "The Domestic Duck" is also great, probably the best book on domestic ducks that I have ever read and it has a lot of genetic information. They usually have a few of their books posted on the UK Amazon (just make sure to go to the UK site as the US site usually doesn't have the colour breeding book). The other book that has a lot of genetic information (as well as great general advice) is "Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks", by Dave Holderread. HTH.

 

[bemba]

Thanks heaps, in a few weeks I'll be giving you advice