Welsh Harlequins: Keeping gold and silver phase together for breeding?

[Golden Egg]

1. Is it better to keep the phases separate or together for breeding, and why?

2. My understanding is that the phase gene is sex-linked, and silver-phase is dominant. Therefore, my guess is that gold drakes and all females are "pure" (i.e. can only pass on the color phase they show) whereas silver males can sometimes carry and pass on the recessive gold gene. Is this statement correct?

3. Is it undesirable to have a silver Harlequin that carries the recessive gold gene?

 

[Golden Egg]

bump

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Golden egg- sorry I don't know the answers to your questions. However, I did read on Metzer Farms website about how they set up the breeding flocks for their Blue Swedish... I'm wondering if that info might help you? Here's the link http://www.metzerfarms.com/BirdInformation.cfm?Breed=Blue Swedish&BirdType=Duck&ID=BS&CustID=1878217

 

[Golden Egg]

Holly, thank you for your reply! That was an interesting read.