Saxony ducklings - Different colours at birth

[Quatie]

She looked different from the others!



She is still beautiful...!
But yes : she really does not look like she is mixed...

What breed is she mixed with, exactly?

Visually she really doesn't look too different. Her size is really the biggest difference. You can kind of see it here in this picture. The arrow points to her.

She is mixed with a snowy call duck, which I honestly never thought was possible. We wanted to hatch some eggs from our Saxonies, because we were hoping to get another drake like him. I didn't bother separating out my call duck drake, because as far as I knew it was impossible for them to breed. During the time we were collecting eggs, my husband saw one of my Saxony girls massively help him by arching her butt so far back. The little guy was able to hit his desired destination. I was still a bit unsure, and I didn't think a ton about it till the ducklings hatched. One looked a bit different from the others. There was something off with us face that couldn't place at first. A snow call duck genetically wouldn't show a whole lot of a difference. But the sooty colored ducklings fits and she looked so much like him as a duckling. That I was left with my call duck successfully mated my saxony.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

Visually she really doesn't look too different. Her size is really the biggest difference. You can kind of see it here in this picture. The arrow points to her.

Yes.
Even without the arrow, I would recognize her : she is, indeed, clearly very small compared with the other hens...!

She is mixed with a snowy call duck, which I honestly never thought was possible. We wanted to hatch some eggs from our Saxonies, because we were hoping to get another drake like him. I didn't bother separating out my call duck drake, because as far as I knew it was impossible for them to breed. During the time we were collecting eggs, my husband saw one of my Saxony girls massively help him by arching her butt so far back. The little guy was able to hit his desired destination.

Ah, ah, ah!
Good job, Mister Call Duck...!!

That's amazing a drake so small could fertilize eggs from a hen so big...!!

One looked a bit different from the others. There was something off with us face that couldn't place at first. A snow call duck genetically wouldn't show a whole lot of a difference. But the sooty colored ducklings fits and she looked so much like him as a duckling. That I was left with my call duck successfully mated my saxony.

Still, she has become big for a Call duck cross!
I would have thought she would have been smaller, you know...?

Even her overall appearance is more Saxony than Call duck...
I mean : she is very strong looking, whereas Call ducks are round, but also kind of slim...?

...Do you think you will let her make babies with another Call drake?
(I know bantam Saxonies already exist, but I am not informed about the actual process... or if Call ducks are actually, specifically involved.)

 

[Quatie]

Still, she has become big for a Call duck cross!
I would have thought she would have been smaller, you know...?

Even her overall appearance is more Saxony than Call duck...
I mean : she is very strong looking, whereas Call ducks are round, but also kind of slim...?

...Do you think you will let her make babies with another Call drake?
(I know bantam Saxonies already exist, but I am not informed about the actual process... or if Call ducks are actually, specifically involved.)

She is a bit bigger than I expected as well. Saxonies are one of the largest breeds of domestic duck, so those genes must of played a large part in her size. She is broodier than a Saxony. She flew at me this summer when I was collecting eggs . My Saxony girls will get really hormonal, but she was more willing to sit on eggs. So she picked up some of the personality traits of the calls.

My call ducks are not round. They are let quality call ducks. None of mine have the short beaks. They are mostly just miniature. One of my females is slightly bigger than the average call ducks.

I am not sure how much breeding I will do with them. I was originally thinking of breeding pure bred Saxonies, but there doesn't seem to be much interest for them here. I personally love the Saxony ducks and they are one of my favorite breeds. Ducks really are not a a huge interest here other than for Balut and salted eggs. Duck hunting is more prevalent. I have a pretty large flock at this point, so I don't know how much more breeding we would do, and since the ducks can be hard to sell.

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

I THINK I have found what is the deal with my darker coloured Saxony juvenile duck.

Indeed, boy actually looks to be a Blue Fawn coloured Saxony duck :

(I have made my research!)

Sometimes, ducks show a rare colour even though they are purebred...
And that is probably what happened here : my darker Saxony showing a rare phase (colour)...

Of course : we would have to wait for him to wear his nuptial plumage to confirm the fact!
But honestly, I don't know if I want to keep him until then : I own too many drakes, and I really have to get rid of some of them...

If ever I still have him when he has got his adult feathers, then I will post pictures of him - at least to see if I am mistaken by thinking he is Blue Fawn (instead of Apricot Trout) coloured or not...

...But for the time being, I make no promises!

 

[Luv Ducks]

Hi.

I THINK I have found what is the deal with my darker coloured Saxony juvenile duck.

Indeed, boy actually looks to be a Blue Fawn coloured Saxony duck :

View attachment 3972371

(I have made my research!)

Sometimes, ducks show a rare colour even though they are purebred...
And that is probably what happened here : my darker Saxony showing a rare phase (colour)...

Of course : we would have to wait for him to wear his nuptial plumage to confirm the fact!
But honestly, I don't know if I want to keep him until then : I own too many drakes, and I really have to get rid of some of them...

View attachment 3972375

If ever I still have him when he has got his adult feathers, then I will post pictures of him - at least to see if I am mistaken by thinking he is Blue Fawn (instead of Apricot Trout) coloured or not...

...But for the time being, I make no promises!

View attachment 3972377

They are beautiful ducks!!!

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

Today, I have given my Saxonies to an acquaintance : these boys have become much too big for me to not be worried about them hurting my Indian Runner hens once they are sexually mature...
...and so, I decided to get rid of them.

(They won't be culled : they are gone to a person who already has some of my former drakes!)

Thus, I won't be able to post newest pictures of them in the future.

Meaning : we sadly won't get to see what my darker Saxony will look like in his nuptial plumage...
(A shame...!)

They are beautiful ducks!!!

They are, right?!!

(Thank you.)

 

[HamsHen50]

Hello.

Among ducklings born on AUGUST 9th, two are Saxony ducklings... and they are born with different colours.

Here they were at 3-days-old :

View attachment 3939935

And then, at 17-days-old :

View attachment 3939936

I... actually first thought the darker of the two was not a Saxony duckling : after searching on the Internet, I could not find any picture of a so dark Saxony duckling; and so, I thought this duckling was actually, maybe, a Trout coloured Rouen duckling...

But now, at 1-month-old, both of these ducklings have their juvenile feathers emerging... and these feathers are the exact same colour : grey/blueish and brown!

Thus, I can tell they now are confirmed to be Saxony duckling :

View attachment 3939942

...Could someone explain to me why, exactly, one of my duckling was, is so dark coloured...?

I had thought it could be because Saxony are sexable by colours at birth; but apparently, it is not the case...
So... what?
Even my darker Saxony's bill and feet were darker coloured!

Again : I did not find any picture of such a coloured Saxony duckling online.
(Maybe there are pictures, but I have not seen them...)

...I like them : they are my first Saxony ducklings ever, and I got them by buying fertilized eggs online and putting them underneath a broody hen... and I feel really lucky to have then got these two babies.

I don't know what gender they are, but I feel the lighter one is a girl, and the darker one is a boy...?
(Still : help sexing them would be much appreciated!)

Thank you in advance to the ones who will reply!!

I have two Saxonys just like yours I had three hatch.. 2 yellow and one with a grey back and a yellow belly??? One died by a snake…. But the others (a yellow and the weird grey) both turned out to be boys. Saxonys aren’t an auto sexing breed, it all comes down to luck. I also haven’t seen a dark Saxony in the internet but have hatched them…. Weird…




In the pic it’s difficult to see but, the duckling closest and in the middle was grey and the others yellow (they’re with two maran chicks on the photo)

 

[HamsHen50]

Oops didn’t realise this thread was from months ago

 

[Papaye]

Hi!

I have two Saxonys just like yours I had three hatch.. 2 yellow and one with a grey back and a yellow belly??? One died by a snake…. But the others (a yellow and the weird grey) both turned out to be boys.

How old are they now?

Could you post a picture of your darker one in his juvenile plumage, and then in his adult plumage?
I would like to see if there are differences with an ordinary coloured Saxony...?

I'm pretty sure mine was actually a Blue Fawn coloured Saxony... which has to be very unheard of, right?
(Huh... I should have kept this boy in my flock!)

In the pic it’s difficult to see but, the duckling closest and in the middle was grey and the others yellow (they’re with two maran chicks on the photo)

Thank you for the picture!

The difference in colour is, indeed, very apparent!

Oops didn’t realise this thread was from months ago

Don't worry : it is not because a thread is old that people do want it to be "dead"...!

Thank you for your post : it is interesting to see there are, in fact, other Saxony ducklings that are darker coloured than they should be!
(Maybe it is actually not so rare...?)

 

[HamsHen50]

Yes, pretty crazy. I’ll have a look and see if I do have any other pics. Both we kept are boys. The one that was darker at birth is identical to the other, but has a darker chest, almost all dark brown, whereas the other has some white. It’s pretty weird!