Who to keep!!!! Muscovy ducks would love input! ETA PICTURES!!!

[cukooformarans]

Ok, I purchased eggs and young muscovies four or five months ago hoping to get a male to go with my two ducks. The two original ducks were chocolate pied and black pied. Of the 7 ducks I acquired, 5 are drakes and two are hens!! I've got to re-home some of them. I bought two pretty ducks this past weekend. (I wasn't really looking for any, but happened upon some beautiful blues.) So here is my line-up:

Ducks (Females)
1 Chocolate Pied
2 Black Pied (one of which is almost solid black, very very little white and the other only has a white head)
1 Solid Blue
1 Blue Pied
1 White with Some Light Brown/Fawn on Back


Drakes (Males)
3 Black, some with lacing. I have already picked a favorite. Here is his pic.

Here he is with his brothers

1 Blue Fawn
1 White with some Light Brown/fawn

I don't know anything about what color parents will result in what color offspring. Anybody have any input? Any ideas of combinations like to make the prettiest babies? I am planning on re-homing three drakes. I think I will probably re-home two of the first three (keeping the favorite) but I don't know. What happens if you cross a blue fawn drake with a blue hen? A blue hen with a black drake?? ETC...

Thanks!

 

[yinepu]

I love the one you picked!

sooo pretty!

if you ever decide to sell and ship eggs.. please let me know!

 

[cukooformarans]

If you were to pick one more drake, which would it be?

 

[froggie71]

I love your favorite. He is gorgeous. I have no idea how the genetics work. Tough choices though. I think I like the sound of the blue fawn 1 though.

 

[cukooformarans]

I will have to try to take more pics tomorrow!

 

[dianaross77]

I know blues are tricky because it's recessive. The BYCer I got my drakes from had a blue drake but no blue hens. He was surprised when I told him Nacho is a blue pied. He is the only blue duckling that he produced that he knew of. Sadly, he rehomed his drake not knowing that one of his hens is a carrier for blue. I'm going to let him borrow Nacho in the spring to breed to his hens and I'll get pick of the litter!

Your ducks are beautiful. If it were me, I would definitely keep the favorite drake. He could be a carrier for blue. I would sell the other 2 drakes each with a hen. For me, it would be the white hen and one of the black pied's. You should get lots of great colors. If you end up with a blue drake from the breeding, I would also keep one of those.

FYI: I know virtually nothing about genetics, so be gentle.

 

[cukooformarans]

lol sounds like u know more than me! thank you for the input! does this mean that i may not get blue offspring from the first crosses? kicking myself b/c the gentleman from whom I bought the two blues had a nice drake and more hens but I didn't get them b/c we have so many to re-home as it is

 

[appychick]

WOW ! Such beautiful colors as I had no idea Muscoveys had multiple colors, I had some a long time ago that were the plain white & white with a couple black spots. Then ended up butchering them as they wouldn't reproduce & got mean.But I had no idea they weren't purebred,but instead were mule ducks so sterile....Where did your parent stock originate or is it easy to find colored muscoveys these days ?

 

[brahmapapa]

Muscovy ducks and drakes come in all kinds of color patterns, unless you are looking to show, its fun to just let them mix breed and keep the ones you like. They are great at keeping flies down, and large full grown drakes will also make short work of any mice they come upon too. They can come in many shades and patterns of brown, gray, black, grayblue, white etc. I once had a massive drake that ate an entire clutch of newly hatched ducklings, he didn't last too long.

 

[spish]

with laced muscovies...do they keep that pretty pattern after they moult? i had 2 with barring last year...so gorgeous, yet when they moulted the pattern didnt come back.....
i then read barred ducks will lose that barring after moulting, does the same go for laced ducks??