Welsh Harlequin Genetics

[Duck Hill]

Does anyone know if Welsh Harlequins of Holderread stock ever
- Have head stripes (M+) genes?
- Have yellow bills?

I have offspring from a cross between runners and harlequins that suggest my Harlequin boy had one M+ gene and that my Harlequin girl had one "yellow bill" gene.

 

[Pyxis]

Does anyone know if Welsh Harlequins of Holderread stock ever
- Have head stripes (M+) genes?
- Have yellow bills?

I have offspring from a cross between runners and harlequins that suggest my Harlequin boy had one M+ gene and that my Harlequin girl had one "yellow bill" gene.

Welsh Harlequins are what is known as snowy in color. They do have M+ genes, usually two in fact, but the harlequin gene, li^h, removes the eye stripes. The li^h gene is recessive, so if your ducklings got only one copy, then they'll have eye stripes.

I can't answer you on the bill color question, that I don't know.

 

[Duck Hill]

Pyxis, thank you for the information! I had seen elsewhere that Harlequins were dusky (Md), not snowy (M+). I guess the one used here must have been snowy.

 

[Pyxis]

Pyxis, thank you for the information! I had seen elsewhere that Harlequins were dusky (Md), not snowy (M+). I guess the one used here must have been snowy.

Interestingly, the gold phase of welsh harlequins IS dusky, and the color is just called Harlequin. Silver phase however is snowy and is not

 

[Duck Hill]

Ohhhh that is interesting. Thank you, Pyxis! My Welsh Harlequins were silver phase.

I mated a trout indian runner (M+M+, lili) to the harlequin girl (M+M+, lih lih). If she was M+, then each offspring has M+M+ li lih genes.

Babies with "Li li" genes have colored head stripes because Li is dominant over li. Babies with "li li" genes have pure white head stripes. As the li gene is supposed to be completely dominant over the lih gene, I thought babies with "lilih" genes would have pure white head stripes. But all my babies have color inclusions in the head stripes, particularly on the cheeks.

Question: Does anyone happen to know... Is the 'li' gene only partially dominant, and the 'lih' gene created color inclusions in the cheek stripes?



I am trying to understand the genetics, because I am trying to breed pure white 'trout' head stripes, but I love the body and belly colors of the harlequin mixes.

 

[Knighstar679]

Ohhhh that is interesting.

View attachment 1462950 View attachment 1462951View attachment 1462949

I know nothing about it. But the first two you have pictured there are stunning.

 

[Pyxis]

Ohhhh that is interesting. Thank you, Pyxis! My Welsh Harlequins were silver phase.

I mated a trout indian runner (M+M+, lili) to the harlequin girl (M+M+, lih lih). If she was M+, then each offspring has M+M+ li lih genes.

Babies with "Li li" genes have colored head stripes because Li is dominant over li. Babies with "li li" genes have pure white head stripes. As the li gene is supposed to be completely dominant over the lih gene, I thought babies with "lilih" genes would have pure white head stripes. But all my babies have color inclusions in the head stripes, particularly on the cheeks.

Question: Does anyone happen to know... Is the 'li' gene only partially dominant, and the 'lih' gene created color inclusions in the cheek stripes?

View attachment 1462950 View attachment 1462951View attachment 1462949

I am trying to understand the genetics, because I am trying to breed pure white 'trout' head stripes, but I love the body and belly colors of the harlequin mixes.

There is a color in Calls called aleutian that results when you breed a duck that is lili to a duck that is li^h li^h and get offspring that are lili^h. I'm not sure if you can visually tell the difference between them and regular light phase, but I don't know why it has its own name if you can't tell the difference in some way. Perhaps it just has a name to differentiate in from pure lili ducks.

It of course doesn't breed true either, because aleutian to aleutian yields aleutian, light phase, and snowy offspring.

You might have fun playing around with this:

http://kippenjungle.nl/kruisingEend.html

 

[Duck Hill]

There is a color in Calls called aleutian that results when you breed a duck that is lili to a duck that is li^h li^h and get offspring that are lili^h. I'm not sure if you can visually tell the difference between them and regular light phase, but I don't know why it has its own name if you can't tell the difference in some way. Perhaps it just has a name to differentiate in from pure lili ducks.

It of course doesn't breed true either, because aleutian to aleutian yields aleutian, light phase, and snowy offspring.

You might have fun playing around with this:

http://kippenjungle.nl/kruisingEend.html

I love the duck calculator and use it often. It's just plain fun.

For the head stripes, I guess I'll just have to see what the F2 generation looks like!