Question Post: The Mystery Duck

[Beau Claverie]

Hi everyone, we have a mystery duck on our hands and I'd like to get some answers and/or theories you might have as to what kind she might be.

She's a rescue duck from a park named Sophie. We figured she was domestic because she's black and white and she LOVES people. She is a cuddle machine. She needed to be rescued because she was starving and blind.
The only question is: what kind of duck is she?

She is 3/4 black with a white bib and white on her eyes, first we thought maybe Black Swedish, then maybe Cayuga, then maybe Magpie. But she's TINY. Fully grown, but tiny. Like a mallard.
She hasn't displayed much sign of flying ability, but being that she's the size of a mallard we suppose it's possible. We looked some stuff up and found that- in the rare (very rare) case that a domestic duck mates with a mallard, the offspring is big like domestic. So we figure she's not a mix.
What kind might she be?

Here's a picture.

 

[cottontail farm]

Oh she is ADORABLE.
My vote is for some kind of mixed breed, that's all I can say. Not sure what genetics would give you such a small duck besides a Call duck, but she doesn't have the fat little face they do. Either way she's really pretty.

 

[Krazyquilts]

Hi everyone, we have a mystery duck on our hands and I'd like to get some answers and/or theories you might have as to what kind she might be.

She's a rescue duck from a park named Sophie. We figured she was domestic because she's black and white and she LOVES people. She is a cuddle machine. She needed to be rescued because she was starving and blind.
The only question is: what kind of duck is she?

She is 3/4 black with a white bib and white on her eyes, first we thought maybe Black Swedish, then maybe Cayuga, then maybe Magpie. But she's TINY. Fully grown, but tiny. Like a mallard.
She hasn't displayed much sign of flying ability, but being that she's the size of a mallard we suppose it's possible. We looked some stuff up and found that- in the rare (very rare) case that a domestic duck mates with a mallard, the offspring is big like domestic. So we figure she's not a mix.
What kind might she be?

Here's a picture.

Are her black feathers iridescent in the sun? If so, then she might be a Cayuga (they tend to get more white feathers every time they molt) or a Cayuga cross.

Could you weigh her?

 

[Chickiemom25]

could she be a young muscovie? I can't see her feet well to see if she has that toe on the back

 

[Beau Claverie]

Are her black feathers iridescent in the sun? If so, then she might be a Cayuga (they tend to get more white feathers every time they molt) or a Cayuga cross.

Could you weigh her?

It's not iridescent. She even has patterns of a mallard under her belly and her butt. She only weighs 2 and a half pounds she's so small. But she's full grown for sure. I read that domestic ducks would kill a mallard if they tried to mate (since mallards are so small), and if there were to be an offspring, the offspring would be the size of a domestic duck... So we figure she's a mallard... but the colors... we just don't know.

 

[Beau Claverie]

could she be a young muscovie? I can't see her feet well to see if she has that toe on the back

She's not a muscovy for sure. And she's fully grown

 

[cottontail farm]

It's not iridescent. She even has patterns of a mallard under her belly and her butt. She only weighs 2 and a half pounds she's so small. But she's full grown for sure. I read that domestic ducks would kill a mallard if they tried to mate (since mallards are so small), and if there were to be an offspring, the offspring would be the size of a domestic duck... So we figure she's a mallard... but the colors... we just don't know.

I have personally witnessed a wild mallard drake with my runner hen. So it's possible that dad was a mallard and mom a domestic, maybe a Swedish?

 

[Beau Claverie]

I have personally witnessed a wild mallard drake with my runner hen. So it's possible that dad was a mallard and mom a domestic, maybe a Swedish?

When that happened, was the offspring big like domestic or small like mallard?

 

[chickens really]

East Indie Mallard cross....?

 

[CarleeAnn]

She looks like maybe a Black Swedish to me but could just have a growth defect? Did you raise her or get her full grown? Could she have had some kind of nutrition deficiency?