Rav's Duckumentary - Call duckling babies (pic heavy)

[buff goose guy]

Quote: Yeah they always have to have it their way

I was very surprised though, when they were teens they acted like they no longer needed me and then plop them outside and they follow me all over the aviary when I have to change water.

Thanks for the compliment I'll be sure to mention it to isis, but I'm sure your new little snowy and bubs will be just as if not more beautiful!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Yeah they always have to have it their way

I was very surprised though, when they were teens they acted like they no longer needed me and then plop them outside and they follow me all over the aviary when I have to change water.

Thanks for the compliment I'll be sure to mention it to isis, but I'm sure your new little snowy  and bubs will be just as if not more beautiful!

We spoil them so much they think that having their way is a right, not a privilege, lol...

Mine go through that same teenage angst too... then they see the big, bad world and all of a sudden it's BFF again!

Aww, thanks, buff... I'm hoping for good Snowy's, but you know Isis has her own special place in my heart...

 

[buff goose guy]

Yeah we sure do

Im kind of sad that I'm not gonna have any call babies this year, but I know it's probably for the best since having them right before I have the project going would probably postpone most of the plans.

 

[Ravynscroft]

That is sad... but you're right... better to get the big things done first, then you'll have that extra room when you need it... rather than needing the room before you get it, lol...

 

[buff goose guy]

Plus it does give me more time to work with the black mallards anyway so I'm not complaining that much lol.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Wait... you have black mallards??? Why am I just learning this??

Got any pics??? Please?

 

[buff goose guy]

Ohh you bet I have pics, it is caused from a case of melanism with the MC1R gene and a hox gene that releases the pigment into the feathers, melanism just makes too much pigment and well this is what happens... (It happened like back in 2011 or 2010) (this was the first)






(her daughter and nephew)

(her and her sister)

( both of her daughters, 3rd batch, with the call ducks )



( her first hatch of babies were these 2)

here second hatch of babies just had 1 but she didnt live too long



Im the only one in the usa right now with pure bred Black mallards, My family had been keeping a geneology track of the mallards they bred for shows and after she was hatched we had to go get a Dna test which showed that there was no mixed breeding or hybridization ( our pedigree also proved that) and it also showed that the MC1R gene which supplies pigment was not turned off by the hox gene(increasing how much the gene had replicated or something like that it is some degree of mutation). The hox gene distributes how much a organ / body part forms by turning other genes on and off. Anyway long story short they could go for about 1,000 to 2,000 dollars if I ever decided to sell them.

 

[Ravynscroft]

I am at a loss for words, buff... that is incredibly amazing... she is gorgeous and so are her daughters... all of them are beautiful... you certainly have a rare treasure...

Have you gotten black males yet, or just the females? Just curious as I didn't see any in the pics...

 

[buff goose guy]

You see I might have had a male since the baby that died I never got to know the sex of, I do have a batch in the bator now and her in the breeding pen on a nest so fingers crossed .

But other than that I have never had any males from her except the one normal grey pattern and he was taken by a jagurunde I believe

 

[Ravynscroft]

Ugh, the losses are the worst... but will keep my for your 2 batches!

Do you have a thread for them, or will you keep us updated here? Would love to see how it all turns out... and would very much like to cheer on your success when you get a male...