*~*Runner Duck Club*~*

[DuckyDonna]

The first of February I got a 3-month-old chocolate runner drake. He's almost 5 months now and is really pretty. He's very very dark, has a green head, has violet/teal colored feathers on his wings and on his butt. He's also got a green bill and a little tiny white mustache all around his bill. I've taken lots of pictures of him and can never get them to come out showing all the colors that he's got. These are the 2 best pictures I have. The second one shows some of the colors.

Does anyone have any thoughts on chocolate vs black runner?

 

[Pyxis]

@Miss Lydia told me someone was having some questions about color genetics. I would be happy to answer any questions

She was also asking me how she got black ducklings from eggs from a breeder that had no blacks. The answer is, she got them because the breeder has blues and chocolates. Two blues together can produce black. In fact, they will produce 25% black offspring, 50% blue offspring, and 25% silver offspring.

Also, chocolate is a color based on extended black, but it itself is recessive (and sex-linked). So if the breeder had a blue male breed with a chocolate female, then all the ducklings would be blue and black. The males would also be split to chocolate. If the breeder had a male chocolate breed with a female blue, all the males would be blue and black, and split to chocolate. All the females would be chocolate or lilac.

 

[Pyxis]

Does anyone have any thoughts on chocolate vs black runner?

This guy is black, not chocolate

 

[Miss Lydia]

@DuckyDonna

 

[DuckyDonna]

This guy is black, not chocolate

Is it because of his additonal colors that you can tell?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I see purple also on my blacks. it's so pretty!

 

[DuckyDonna]

I see purple also on my blacks. it's so pretty!

Yes, I definitely see that on Sambo too but sometimes it looks teal sort of. Depends on the way the light hits him. It is just about impossible to get a good picture of them.

 

[Pyxis]

Is it because of his additonal colors that you can tell?

It's because he's dark black Chocolate would be brown, with a dark brown head with maybe a hint of green. There aren't different shades of chocolate, so there isn't really such a thing as a very dark chocolate. Chocolates also don't show sheens of other colors.

This is what a chocolate would look like:

He could be split to chocolate, though, and there's an easy way to find out. Breed him with literally any non-chocolate female (by this I mean whatever color they are can't involve chocolate, so for instance fawn and white wouldn't work for this). If he's split to chocolate, half the female ducklings will be chocolate. If he was actually chocolate, all of the female ducklings would be chocolate.

 

[DuckyDonna]

It's because he's dark black Chocolate would be brown, with a dark brown head with maybe a hint of green. There aren't different shades of chocolate, so there isn't really such a thing as a very dark chocolate. Chocolates also don't show sheens of other colors.

This is what a chocolate would look like:

He could be split to chocolate, though, and there's an easy way to find out. Breed him with literally any non-chocolate female (by this I mean whatever color they are can't involve chocolate, so for instance fawn and white wouldn't work for this). If he's split to chocolate, half the female ducklings will be chocolate. If he was actually chocolate, all of the female ducklings would be chocolate.

My little boy looks nothing like these ducks! The funny thing is the only ducks I have to breed him to are fawn/white runners! Thank you so much for this information!

 

[Pyxis]

My little boy looks nothing like these ducks! The funny thing is the only ducks I have to breed him to are fawn/white runners! Thank you so much for this information!

Actually breeding him to those can tell you in a different way - if any of the ducklings are chocolate at all, then he has to be carrying chocolate. A chocolate female can't produce chocolate ducklings unless she is bred to a chocolate male or a chocolate-carrying male.

If he's not carrying chocolate, all you would get are blue pied ducklings. If he is carrying chocolate, you would also get some lilac pied ducklings.