Here is an update on my ducklings. These black ones are 6 weeks old now. Their parents are both black and have very good bibs and 5 white flight feathers on each wing. It is interesting to see that this neither of these things are necessarily inherited.
This is a boy. He obviously has a blotchy bib and no white flight feathers.
This is a duck. She is pretty nice and I think I will keep her.
These are the blue ducklings I put up earlier in this thread. They are 4 weeks old now. I've labelled them with the same numbers so you can see how they have come along. The father is silver and the mother is black. The father has good type but a blotchy bib and no white flight feathers. The mother has 5 white flights on each wing and has a reasonable bib.
Duckling 1. Small bib and no white flights. This one originally had white eye marks but they are reducing.
Duckling 2. Somewhat messy bib that extends more to the right than the left side. Has white flights but may have uneven numbers on each wing.
It's the one on the right in this pic.
Duckling 3. Messy bib and no white flights.
Duckling 4. Messy bib and perhaps one white flight on each wing (or might be a white flight on one wing and a white covert on the other wing)
So, amongst the blues I don't think there are any keepers, which is a shame. But with this breed you have to hatch lots to get a good one. I will breed more from the silver drake and will see how his offspring turn out - hopefully he is capable of siring something that turns out well. Even though he has poor markings I want to try breeding from his as his type is so good and he has absolutely no white on his face/head (hard to get). The blue ducklings are pretty good on that front - not much white around the bill area and none on the upper neck. Just have to get bibs and wing tips right!!
I've just had a few hatch (only three out of 14....still getting the incubator settings right! Had eggs from two ducks in and one lot of eggs did not lose enough moisture and the other lot lost too much....couldn't adjust for both).
Here are two black ones, still in the incubator (but itching to be let out).
Here they are having their first swim in a roasting pan. The yellow one was a help-out and it's a little small. I think it's a white sport, or possibly a pale splash...but my money is on white. That means my adults are carrying recessive white, which a lot of Swedish do in Australia. The paper towel in the roasting tin is to help them get in and out.
YAY!!! UPDATE PICTURES!!!!!
lol thanks 70.... WOW they grew fast in a few short weeks didnt they
to bad they arent what you where hoping for.. time to start allllll over
whats the white one in the background... it has a very white bill.. never seen that before.. crazy.
the back one with the good bib.. i think she looks great.
Thanks, Evelle - I am really happy with the black one!
Yep, time to set more eggs! And, yes, they grow so fast it's unbelievable!!!
The white one is the product of two 'recessive white' genes - meaning that my blue duck (the mother) and one of my drakes are both carrying this gene. Aylesbury ducks (large white ducks with pink bills) were part of the 're-creation' of Swedish in Australia many years ago and as a legacy of that white ducklings pop up from time to time. It is not the same as a splash or silver duckling (which also can turn out almost pure white) as the 'recessive white' ones have a pink bill whereas splash or silver Swedish have a blue bill.
Believe me, if I could get her to you, you could have her. I'm sure she'd have a great home with you. She is a sweetie too - loves sitting on your lap.