Silver Mallards

Silver mallards are a bit of a mystery. It's virtually impossible to find anything online about them. The only thing I have been able to find is that hunters occasionally shoot one and that they are super popular with taxidermist. 

I managed to get a small number of silver mallards from two different breeders. For several reasons, I know they are unrelated to each other. But, because I had so few, from both breeders, I decided to outcross the few I had to hatchery mallards. The result would be natural colored mallards that carried silver. I have now bred the silvers back to the natural colored mallards who carry silver to produce silver mallards. By introducing the new genes from the hatchery mallards, I know the birds are not inbred. They may not have been inbred, but you just never know when you are getting birds whether they are or they are not inbred. Better safe than sorry. It took an extra year but now I know I have genetically diverse silver mallards.  These are very pleasant ducks. They are not messy and or nervous, and are very quiet for a duck. 

This year I am mating some silver mallard drakes to some standard Rouens. If they manage to mate, I will have Rouen's that carry silver. I will mate them back to themselves, and, with any hope, next year I will have silver Rouen's!