wild type V standard type

[Spanky]

ok, i'm really confused and i don't really understand a lot of the genetic talk etc so i'm hoping someone can just tell me straight and simple ..

how can you tell what is wild type and what isn't??

is there a major difference?

how does wild do at shows compared to "standard"?

[macl27]

The original (wild type) coloration is black and white, but domestication has produced many more colors, including white, black, chocolate,blue.
So wild type is based on colour but also here it refers to size wild type muscovys are seen as small birds that fly well and perch.Over the years we have produced birds that are bigger ,more pronounced faces.Very stocky in legs ,lower to the ground.
Others may have different opinions of this but the muscovys we are seeing today have little apptitudes to the original species.This is just the way they are evolving.
The meat market wants big birds so that is what they are getting.
Showing "wild type "muscovys whether you are concentrating  on colour /size you need to be a brave person or maybe like me a few screws short
The show circuit does not look well on small birds the only area you really can play in is colour but you will not be able to win over a bigger/stronger bird and that is the fact

And thats my five cents worth will be interested in what others have to say.

[Natobeth]

Wild type as a base vs. atipico is not as good when showing.  Wild type lets alot more white bleeding in colour through in the long run, although I have managed to get good size through on it here / on a similar par to atipico - wild type makes for good white winged blacks or blues.  If you do a google search for atipico muscovy or muscovy genetics you should get a few results through, there is one great article on muscovy genetics that should come up, I can't remember the name right now - maybe Rollyard will come along and add it for you.  In my gallery there are some duckling pics that will show you the difference between wild type, atipico and barring duckling down colour - that is the only sure first way to tell the difference as the pattern dosen't stay as they get older.  Hope this can be of some help.

[rollyard]

I think both macl & Natobeth have covered your question well so will just add my little bit

Wild-type (when talking of colour) refers to that which is found in the original wild coloured bird, be that chicken, goose, duck, or turkey etc, & it includes the compliment of genes (for colour/pattern) that produce the "wild-type" colour/pattern.  Any colour/pattern that deviates from the "wild-type" colour/pattern is a mutation. 

The original wild-type adult coloured muscovy is/was black with a bronze hue & white "patches" on wing, head & neck.  This white often becoming more apparent as the bird aged.  So in the wild-type Muscovy you have a black bird, but, one often confusing mutation which is an allele to the wild-type black (designated (A+)) is black (designated (a)).  It differs from the adult "wild-type" black bird in that it doesn't have the strong bronze hue to the feather, so is solid black coloured with "green &/or puple irridescence".  It is this abscence of bronze hue in the mutated black form I believe which makes the "black" bird (as opposed to wild-type) a better base for breeding blues & lavenders (cleaner colours).  Bronze birds (& chocolate & brown-rippled & lilac & pastel & blue-fawn & buff) would I believe be fine on a wild-type base.

Differentiating between wild-type black birds & the mutated black bird may be best assessed during the duckling phase.  Wild-type black ducklings have the dark & yellow patterned down ie eye-stripes, dorsal spots, & yellow ventral surface, whereas the mutated black ducklings are more of a solid black colour.

And it follows that anything that doesn't express the wild-type black in adult birds, or the "wild-type camoflage pattern" in duckling down isn't wild-type, but rather, a mutated colour/pattern.

Regards