What kind of duck?

[Ravynscroft]

Sounds like they were definitely mixed... if they both carry extended black from their mix, then babies can come out black... have any feathered in yet? Just curious if the wild type pattern (mallard pattern) is gonna express through the black...

 

[WVduckchick]

Glad your babies are doing well!!

I defer to Ravyn on the genetics stuff. I only have black Swedish ducks. Actually got 3 solid black ones from my broody momma's hatch, they are about 6 weeks old, so maybe I'll learn something too!

 

[carzan]

I'll take a picture of my oldest ducklings when I go outside It's raining here and yucky! Here is a better pic of mom and dad that I had from the people we bought them from..

 

[Ravynscroft]

I'll take a picture of my oldest ducklings when I go outside It's raining here and yucky! Here is a better pic of mom and dad that I had from the people we bought them from..

Aha! Mystery solved!

Sorry, I got distracted... the reason people said they were mixes is because they aren't typical mallard colored as Rouens usually are... there are a few other rare colors that Rouens can be, but they won't be found at a feed store for sure...

Your ducks are dusky mallard color, also can be called gray dusky... drake doesn't have a claret bib or the white neck ring of typical mallard coloring... duck doesn't have a blue wing speculum either, and I bet she doesn't have an eye stripe too?

Sorry the pics aren't the best, but wanted to show the differences...

Typical Rouen coloring, mallard type...

These are dark Campbells, but it's same coloration... dusky mallard...

In dusky mallard color, the ducklings hatch out very dark...

 

[carzan]

Yes @RavynFallenyou are exactly right! She does not have the blue or the stripes! So this may be a really silly question, but are they still considered rouen? If one turns out to be a male I was hoping to trade someone for one of their males to avoid line breeding. Since you know so much about ducks how do you feel about line breeding? Since our male was ran over, I was really hoping to find a mate for mom to hatch out more babies next year Thank you again for your help!!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Considering their body type, they look more Rouen than anything else... I cannot say whether they're pure or not, but at least Rouen mixes... as long as you explain that they are dusky you should be fine... it's up to you if you'd rather get a different male, but I have no issues with linebreeding... a son of hers would be less related to breed to than her brother considering her son would only have 50% of her DNA, while a full brother would have identical DNA to her... make sense?

She may bond easier to a son than another adult male brought in too... I'd wait and see how it goes...