Thought these were Blue Swedish, but now I'm not so sure. Help please?

[chicken_china_mom]

Ok, so 3 weeks ago this next Tuesday I went into TSC and I couldn't pass up the adorable little ducklings they had. I was initially only going to get their limit of 2, but then I was afraid I might end up with 2 drakes, so I grabbed 2 more hoping it would up my odds of getting hens. I questioned their coloring and breed in another thread in the "What Breed is This" section, and someone told me I had 1 Blue, 2 Splash, and a Black. I was happy with that, they're just for pets anyway, but now they are losing their down and growing in their adult feathers, and the one that was suppose to be Blue, her feathers are coming in white! All 4 ducklings have the exact same body structure, shape of their heads, beaks, etc., so I don't know what is going on. These Swedes look different than my Mallards did at this age, but I don't know if different breeds of ducks have different builds to them or not. Can anyone tell me if I really do have 4 Swedes, or did they sneak a Pekin in there on me? I don't mind, I always wanted a Pekin, but I'd like to know. Here are some pics:

The day we brought them home:

This is Puddles, he/she has pink on their beak, legs and feet

This is Jack, the supposed other Splash

Here is Sweetcheeks, the sweetest of all the ducklings, but still a nibbler, lol. It's suppose to be a Black

And here is Daffy, the supposed Blue Swede

Here they are today. You can see white feathers coming in on Daffy

And here are some of Daffy's feathers close up

Am I wrong? Are there White Swedes? Or did I end up with a mutt duck? I don't care if it is, I love my ducks, but I did specifically want Swedes cause I didn't want them flying away on me. All 4 of these babies have the exact same head shape, bill shape, everything, it's just the colors are different. And let me add, Daffy is clearly the most intelligent of all of them. I also suspect it's a female because it doesn't want to cuddle as much, it runs away instead if I reach in to pick them up. Jack bites, Puddles is mixed on the whole holding thing, and Sweetcheeks is all up for a good cuddle and foot massage (yes, it stretches it's little foot out and lets me rub the webbing between it's toes, lol). I suspect Sweetcheeks is a boy because he's friendlier than all of the others. My Mallards were like that as babies too. I have a pair, Jesse and Marion, and Jesse was more tolerant of being touched and held than Marion was. If anyone can shed some light for me on what exactly I DO have, I would much appreciate it. Thanks everyone!

 

[Outbackhill Kennels]

Blue swedes genes act just like chickens. Very highly likely you got 2 blue 1 black and 1 splash, The splashes color out to a silvery color.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

What about all the pink on Puddles then? He/she has a lot of pink on their legs, feet and beak. I thought that was a Splash? I am new to owning Swedes. I like the color that Daffy is turning out to be. Very pretty, but if these guys are like my Mallards, they'll like mud. Not fun with a light colored bird!

 

[Outbackhill Kennels]

That could be a really wild marked splash but i'd just say it's a crazy marked blue. And yes all ducks like mud. My splash hen you can rarely tell she is silver not brown.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I had no idea that Swedes came in so many different colors! I thought it was just blue, or black, and that was it. I can't wait now to see what she looks like when she is fully feathered. Oh, and do the males have the tail feather that turns up like Mallards and Pekins? Are there any specific characteristics I should look for in sexing them?

 

[canada-goose]

Quote:
I think the drakes of all duck breeds derived from Mallards have a curly tail.

 

[CityChicker]

Yes, the drakes will get the tail curl. You have 1 Splash/Silver (Daffy), 2 Blue, and 1 Black.

 

[tia]

I got eggs from someone who had black and blue swedes and Cayuga - I think they ended up being blue swedes... they had them free ranging. The first one is of the two ducklings that hatched, and the second one is one of them as an adult. I don't know if these pictures will help or not.

 

[UGAchick]

I just set 6 blue swedes eggs. These pictures are beautiful!! I am so excited to see what color my babies are going to be!!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Wow, what a pretty duck tia! I didn't expect colors like that! I tried Feathersite for info on Blue Swedes, but they literally only have Blue Swede pics, and a Black Swede pic. I wish they had pics of Splash and Silver. I'd love to see how the Silver comes out.