Hello.
Showing off my younger Splash Indian Runners hens...
(Both of them are born in my yard last Spring.)
Here is my lighter coloured Splash girl :
She is mostly white, but she actually has very pale, grayish feathers splattered on her plumage.
(So : she is NOT dirty on this picture!)
Her bill is black, and her leg are kind of dark - NOT orange.
And her juvenile plumage was white...
Now... the other Splash girl :
Her plumage is pale gray.
She has small dots of white feathers on her chest, that she has inherited from her Blue father... and some pale, brownish patches on her plumage that are similar to the black patch we can see on Blue coloured ducks.
Her bill is black, and her legs are darkish.
...Her juvenile plumage was pale gray - NOT WHITE...
I
think this colour,
such as, is what is specifically called "Pearl Grey"?
But DON'T take my word for it!
Before this girl started quacking,
I was persuaded that Splash was actually a colour sexable by the juvenile plumage!
I thought, indeed, that a white juvenile plumage meant the Splash duckling was a
girl, and a pale gray juvenile plumage meant the Splash duckling was a
boy...
But clearly, I WAS MISTAKEN!!
(Both of the Splash girls at the center of the picture!)
I don’t know what happened to all of them I did find a couple dead mostly it was just piles of feathers left so most likely foxes or coyotes.
Ugh... it had to be painful...
I am sincerely sorry for you.
Are you not afraid what has killed your ducks will do it again?
Can you do something
or get help...?
Yeah they do look brownish. Oh well, they really are black bibbed but apparently they want to be brown.
This is them as babies/teenagers
And they
really are Black...!!
I have Black Runners that lighten during Spring...
...Their feathers turn brownish, but NOTHING compared with
your ducks!
Thinking about it : do you think your boys could, in fact, carry Brown?
And that it could explain the fact they look more Chocolate that Black...?
