Snowy mallards

[Senna95]

You might be right about it being a male, except here's a picture of another I have:

Compared to the other (questionable) one:

Notice how the drake has more claret? and a black rump, and (it's hard to tell from the picture) a larger, blockier head...... and of course the green head and the drake feathers. They're all the same age..... Of course, like you said, there is a lot of variation in this color. I'll keep you posted.

What I need to do is separate them from the VERY LOUD Pekins, and the almost as loud Indian runners, and voice-sex them. (they're such nice, quiet ducks!)

I got these ducks to breed to my runners, and make my own silver runners. However, now that I've seen how pretty these ducks turned out, I would love to have some more little Cleopatras running around!

Dana, if they breed true, or if I can figure out how to weed out any unwanted genes, I'd be honored to send you some eggs later. I'd love to return the favor!

BTW, the 6 runners I got from you are doing beautifully. They're losing their fluf, and getting some real feathers. A beautiful pinkish-salmon color. Can't wait till they get bigger!

 

[CityChicker]

That's awesome! I can't wait to see how the Runners turn out! We are currently inventorying all the birds to see what sexes we have and how many more eggs to set this Fall (although fertility is really low right now). We have quite a gender disparity in some colors, so I probably will set more eggs, especially in the Saxonies/Blue Trouts/Etc...

You are finding the same thing that we have over the years. The bantam breeds can be *much* harder to sex by voice. We have had lots of bantam ducks that simply do not quack. That or both the drakes and the ducks will make a sound that is sort of in-between a quack and the sounds a drake makes. Once you know what gender they are, definitely put something on them to tell them apart so it is not a problem when they go into eclipse plumage! I would bet that your lighter colored bird is a drake that is just developing slower. Both of them are gorgeous.

I will definitely take you up on the eggs someday if we decide to add more Snowies! Right now, we are leaning towards getting rid of the few Snowy Mallards that we have left as we have someone that wants them and we also have Silver bantams and Snowy Calls. The Silver bantams especially look almost identical to Snowy Mallards since they are the same color. There are just slight differences in the three breeds, mostly size. I think two bantam breeds in the same color is enough for us. I think you are onto a great potential project with the Runners if you decide to go that route in developing the Silver. I absolutely love that color in Runners.

 

[Senna95]

One last question:

How do you get rid of your extra ducks? The ones you don't want to use in your breeding program? The extra drakes, etc. Out here I'm finding it difficult....... And I can only eat so much "duck soup"

 

[CityChicker]

LOL, I know it can be hard if you end up with a bunch of them. Of course, the first option is to try to sell them for breeding stock if they are high enough quality to do so. If they are not of that quality, we do a number of things with them. I have been pretty lucky with finding homes for excess males. If we have a lot, we will sometimes just give them away (try Craig's List if you haven't already). A lot of people do that. We really try not to breed more than we know we need. If we only have a few extras, we will just hold on to them until the next year if it is a variety that I want to continue forward with. It just all depends on how many extras there are, what they are, and if I have anyone that has contacted me wanting ducks. People contact me offering to take excess ducks on a fairly regular basis.

The other option is of course to eat them or sell them for eating. This is harder with the bantam ducks and the Runners, but there is still a definite market for them. We have not processed a lot in recent years mostly because I personally do not like duck meat, we have been breeding more females then males the last couple years for some odd reason, and because we always seem to have people asking for excess drakes. It is a good option though if you like duck or have someone that is willing to buy them for eating (considering their size). The larger ducks I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever finding people that want them for eating. I could easily make a full time job of breeding for that purpose. I just have never had much interest in that side of the business, especially since I raise mostly the smaller varieties. My brother is a large commercial meat wholesaler, but they are mostly interested in Muscovies or Muscovy-hybrids. HTH.

 

[courtneymporter]

Does anyone have snowy mallard hatching eggs for sale