Showing a post molt drake

[FLGatorsDucky]

I want to show my call ducks in a local show next month. The deadline to enter is coming up quick but my drake is fresh out of a molt and doesn't have a drake feather at this time. Will that count against him enough to make it worthless to enter or is it not a big deal?

 

[Oregon Blues]

It won't hurt him to not have his drake feather, but it might hurt him if he is in eclipse plumage and is a breed where eclipse and nuptial plumage are a different color. Color and markings are part of the judging criteria.

In some breeds, eclipse and nuptial are the same color and in some breeds, it is not. My Appleyard drakes look a lot like the ducks when they are in eclipse. With the Swedish, drakes look like the ducks 365 days a year, so it doesn't make any difference whether they are in nuptial or eclipse; they always look the same.

 

[FLGatorsDucky]

It won't hurt him to not have his drake feather, but it might hurt him if he is in eclipse plumage and is a breed where eclipse and nuptial plumage are a different color. Color and markings are part of the judging criteria.

In some breeds, eclipse and nuptial are the same color and in some breeds, it is not. My Appleyard drakes look a lot like the ducks when they are in eclipse. With the Swedish, drakes look like the ducks 365 days a year, so it doesn't make any difference whether they are in nuptial or eclipse; they always look the same.

Thank you for the great information!

They are Magpie calls and to be honest I'm not sure about eclipse and nuptial plumage but I think they stay the same all year. I finally found the SOP for calls after searching all day and I don't think mind would show well...my drake has 2 black primary feathers and they both have extra black markings on their faces. My duck also has some extra black spots but only on one side. I still think they are pretty so hopefully they will give us some nice ducklings at some point.