Welsh Harlequins Uncovered: Breeding, Color Phases, and Mentorship with Tyrel
In this episode of the Poultry Nerds Podcast, we're diving deep into the world of Welsh Harlequin ducks with returning guest Tyrel, a seasoned breeder and duck enthusiast. 🦆 From the breed's unique Tennessee import history to the auto-sexing traits, color phase differences (silver vs. gold), and the nuances of eclipse vs. nuptial plumage, this episode is packed with insight for both beginners and serious waterfowl breeders.
Tyrell shares stories from showing against legendary breeders, gives tips on selecting for correct bill and leg color, and explains why type matters more than color in sustainable breeding programs. We also break down how to tell a quality Harlequin from hatch, why mentorship in poultry breeding is invaluable, and the importance of staying a lifelong student of the hobby.
Whether you're a duck keeper, breeder, or just duck-curious—this episode is for you!
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Jennifer: 0:02
Hey, poultry nerds. We're back again with Tyrell. He's joining us again to talk about Welsh Harlequins, so welcome back, Tyrell. How are you?
Tyrel: 0:12
I'm good. Good to be back. Excited to talk about another duck.
Jennifer: 0:16
I know, and I'm excited about this one too, because I have wel harlequins myself.
Tyrel: 0:22
They're they're a very popular duck. I think a lot of people will be very excited about this one.
Jennifer: 0:28
When I was reading the backstory on the welsh's did you know that when they were first imported it was to Tennessee?
Tyrel: 0:36
I didn't know that.
Jennifer: 0:37
Yeah, the first imports came to Tennessee and of course that's where I am. And so I was like, and it's Middle Tennessee too, so I'm wondering if maybe I got some from the original import. Who knows? I don't know. But wouldn't that be kind? I'll never know, but it would be cool to think about it
Tyrel: 0:53
just a little bit. Yeah.
Jennifer: 0:55
Where did you get yours from?
Tyrel: 0:58
So I actually got mine from Claire Shire. She was one of the first people she worked with Dave Holder a lot. I. She, she helped get them admitted to the standard. So she's been breeding harlequins, I think for 30 years. And that's where I got my first ducks from. She, I don't even remember how, I think I saw her name mentioned somewhere, and then I went, she's not on Facebook, so I had to go research and find out how to get ahold of her. And she communicates only through email unless you can get her phone number. So I emailed her and we communicated and told her I really wanted to get some harlaquins. And so that first year, my gosh, I think she sent me 40 hatching eggs the first year, and that's where I got my start from. And it's been fast and furious since then. Hatched a lot of them.
Jennifer: 1:53
Is she still breeding?
Tyrel: 1:55
She is actually, last year I went down, she's in Colorado. Last year I went down to Colorado. And it was a cool trip for me. It was exciting because she had been kinda my mentor in Harlequins. And I was always firing off, getting on the computer and firing off emails with questions and what about this and what about that? And she'd email me back and then finally we just, I'd call her and so it was pretty cool. I got to go down and meet her last year and Colorado and show against her and, yeah, it was great. But yeah, she's still, she's getting older and so I don't think her and her husband are traveling as much. And she still shows in Colorado every year. I saw her again this last fall when I was there. And no, she's still doing good, still breeding them.
Jennifer: 2:41
How did your birds stack up against hers at that show?
Tyrel: 2:44
I was fortunate enough that I won. Best in breed the last two years that I was there. If memory serves me they run a double show. And if memory serves me correctly, last year when I was there, I had a Har, a Harlequin Young Drake that was Reserve of Show or Third Best In Show. I don't remember, but he was up there. I was fortunate for that. And this year, I had one that was best of breed again and. I think Best light, I don't remember. That was last fall. I don't remember.
Jennifer: 3:21
They all just start running together.
Tyrel: 3:23
Oh my gosh, yes. When you go to enough shows, they start to just blur together.
Jennifer: 3:27
They do. So I love the Welsh's because they don't fly. They're sassy. They chitter chatter back at me constantly. The Drakes laugh at all my jokes, no matter how corny they are. And they are like laying machines. They, I swear I get two and three eggs a day sometimes, but I they're really good at hiding their eggs.
Tyrel: 3:54
Oh, yes. Oh yes. My, my harlequins. Definitely lay some eggs. I've had, I've actually had some farm people that wanted some and I let'em know that they were out of exhibition stock and they were concerned about getting'em, because they're like, oh, exhibition birds, they don't lay very well. They don't produce very well, and I'm like, oh no they lay real well, I promise you. I promise you. But yeah, no they lay great. They're they little laying machines. That's what they were, that's what they were bred to do. They're I'm just going off memory here. At one point I knew it a lot better than I do now, but they're a I might get this wrong. So any poultry genetic people out there don't crucify me for this, but if memory serves me correctly, they were a, like a sport color mutation from the khaki Campbells. And everybody knows the khaki Campbells as like one of the premier laying ducks. Coming from the khaki, and I might get his name wrong, but Leslie Bonnet was the one that worked with them and developed'em and, yeah, no they're laying, they're little laying machines. And then it's actually it's a fun, fun little fact about'em is when Leslie created'em they were gold. They were what's called or considered the gold variety. Where here in the United States, a lot of people don't even know that the gold variety of Harlequins exist. Where the US is the only country that recognizes a silver Walsh, Harlequin Australia and the uk. All those other countries, they only recognize the gold Walsh Char Laquinn. And if you talk to any of those breeders in other countries, a silver Welsh Harlequin is an automatic call for them. They don't even have'em.
Jennifer: 5:36
So can you explain for our listeners what the difference is?
Tyrel: 5:39
I can try.
Jennifer: 5:41
Okay.
Tyrel: 5:42
The gold we harlequin and again, all you poultry geneticists out there don't crucify me to my knowledge and my understanding. The gold phase, Harlequin has a brown dilution gene. Where there's no black pigment. Black pigment, they have that dilution gene. So they come out and the gold harlequin is just shades of different, shades of brown. In the silver Harlequin, you'll have a blue speculum. And in the gold variety, it's a dark brown. It's a brown speculum. And then all of the markings in the female down through the breast, in the gold variety. There are a light, it's a light, just shades of brown, whereas you get some of the black markings or that, that dark claret in in the silver. And then the silvers will actually have the gray and the black markings. And then in, in the Drakes specifically is where you see the biggest difference really is the Drakes. Like we both know, your silver Drakes have that bright green head. And then down, down the center of their back they've got the gray and oh my gosh, I'm gonna get, I should know this better than I do, but visually I can look at it. But when I try to put put it into words, I am, I'm cheating right now a little bit and I'm looking the pattern,
Jennifer: 6:57
is that what you're talking about? The pattern?
Tyrel: 6:59
Yeah. I'm cheating a little bit right now and I'm looking at my standard to see what the color of the, and that's what
Jennifer: 7:07
it's for.
Tyrel: 7:08
Yeah, it's it just says frosted laced with white. But and then, yeah, the harlo ones, we've all seen the silvers, they've got all the colors in the Drake. There's black, there's the blue speculum there's the gray or silver. And then in, in those gold Drakes, they've got the brown head, and then they're different. They're, like I say again, they're just different shades of brown, which they're, myself and a few other people are working on. Raising those golds and hopefully we can, in the next few years, we can work on getting the golds admitted to the standard.
Jennifer: 7:49
I was just looking at my standard and yeah, it's just the silver I.
Tyrel: 7:53
Yep just the silver. But hopefully we can get that original Harlequin admitted to our standard here, and so maybe the rest of the world won't laugh at us as too much.
Jennifer: 8:04
How in the world did there get to be two different colors? I wonder,
Tyrel: 8:08
That's a great question. That's a great question for somebody who has a lot more knowledge of the breed than I do. So they climb
Jennifer: 8:15
over from Europe and the color just changes as it crosses the Atlantic,
Tyrel: 8:20
Yeah. I don't really understand. I don, I don't really know the backstory on the silver and how the silver came about. I just know that's what we have here and what is recognized here.
Jennifer: 8:32
Yeah, I am reading it really quickly and it doesn't say, it just says that the original was golden and, but the silver's most common, it doesn't actually say why it was changed.
Tyrel: 8:44
Yeah. Yeah. It, it just says that greater contrast and brilliance in the Plum was developed by Mr. Bonnet in the 1960s, so I'm not sure. I'm not sure where the silver came from. I really don't know.
Jennifer: 9:27
There's no telling. Somebody in Tennessee just changed it, rednecked it, and then it went from there.
Tyrel: 9:34
Some redneck came up with a silver aloquin. That's too funny.
Jennifer: 9:40
Okay, so here's my next question for you. So when we talk about the plumage, we are always talking about the phases. So can you kinda explain the phases of the deck plumage?
Tyrel: 9:55
Sure. And I always get these backwards. So there's nuptial plumage, and then there's eclipse plumage. I hope I'm saying this right,'cause I always get them backwards and I always have to correct myself. Eclipse plumage is their summer plumage when Drake's molt and they lose that brilliant color and they look more like the females do. And then that nuptial plumage is going into fall. They get their green heads back and they look brilliant and bright and pretty again. And in the harlequins I don't, I should have had some notes for this, so I'm going off memory. The female Harlequin, I believe goes through five different kind of color phases where as they get older, they'll get darker. And so in that first year you'll see, and you'll see'em in show halls too, you'll have some people that'll show some young females that are more white. They don't have that fawn color in'em. And then you'll have some that have more of that fawn color to'em. Excuse me. And then as they get older, I've noticed those lighter colored females get more white. I. They get more and more white, whereas your females that have font end up getting a little bit darker and darker in their color tones. And that's one thing like, like judges. I don't even know if they're aware of, but judges need to be aware of is that those older females will be a little bit darker and that's just the natural how the harlequins go. And like I've got some females that first year that I've shown that had excellent type, but they were just, they were a little bit too dark. I'm gonna use'em with specific Drakes that might not. Have as great a color as I'd like. And I'm test breeding, I guess you could say, and experimenting with him just'cause I've only been raising him for about four years now. Jake Wilson actually, he's been raising him for 20 plus years. He'd be the guy that might even be more deserving to talk about him than I am. He's been raising'em for years and years. So he'd have more experience experiential, I don't know if that's even a word, but he'd have more experience in some of the test breedings that I'm probably playing with now on, on the different color phases and birds being too dark or too light or, but I guess I, for the first few years I've just selected more on type, and tried to get. That good Harlequin type in there. Versus focus,
Jennifer: 12:30
do you like
Tyrel: 12:31
on color? Do you like
Jennifer: 12:31
yours more upright or more down?
Tyrel: 12:35
In between. I, the, the Harla Harlequin should stand about 25 to 35 degrees. I cheat, I totally just cheated and looked at my standard. Like I say I'm not a text person. I'm a visual. I'm a visual person. I'm a visual learner. Show me what they're supposed to be and I'm good with that. But so for other people who might learn differently, I'm cheating a little bit and I'm looking at the text, but yeah. Standard calls for a carriage elevated 25% to 35%. And I've seen both. I've seen for the most part, if anything, I've seen harlequins, it'll stand a little taller and a little higher than they should be. I haven't seen too many of them that have a lower carriage. But I just, I don't know. When I look at birds I look at'em and I say, Hey, that bird is appealing to my eye.
Jennifer: 13:23
Or
Tyrel: 13:23
there's something about that bird that just looks off, and then maybe then I go in and I dissect about what is it about this bird I don't like? And but yeah I like a Harlequin that has that nice carriage to'em.
Jennifer: 13:35
So one I don't show mine I just have them for fun. But I do try to breed the correct characteristics. And I have found that on the Facebook groups. I suspect it's because there's people from other countries that their standards are very different, and that's why I asked that question is because some of them really want them upright and then some of them seem to want them more down.
Tyrel: 14:01
Yeah. And see that's exactly it is with these Facebook groups. Facebook groups, especially breed specific groups can be very beneficial. Or they can be very detrimental because just like in groups of people, sometimes you get people who are quieter and sometimes you get people who are louder and sometimes there's. Real loud people on Facebook who don't know what they're talking about. But then again, you get people from other countries who are in these groups. I have a friend of mine in Australia and their standard is very different than ours. Their harlequins are a lot bigger and deeper bodied and shorter bodied than what our standard calls for here in, I'll call'em The American Harlequin is like in our American Harlequin. You want a real long, almost like tubular shaped bird that's flat across the shoulders and parallel, top and bottom lines. And then I personally, when you look over the top of the bird, I wanna see parallel lines running down the side from their shoulders, basically to their stern. I wanna see a straight line. You'll see some harlequins especially in that stern. For anyone that maybe doesn't know what the stern is, I'm talking from the legs to the tail. That's their stern, their butt, basically. You'll see if you look over top of'em where they'll have good lines through the shoulders in the body, and then they get to that stern and it's real pinched. And those are birds. I don't keep, I don't like to have birds like that. If I'm showing'em, I try to have, I like to see nice lines on all of'em. Now, some people who are listening to this who have maybe seen my harlequins are gonna laugh because I have a problem with overfeeding and my harlequins tend to get a little big, a little chubby. Last year I raised them with the heavy ducks and they ate a little too much and they probably were more medium harlequins than they were light ducks.
Jennifer: 15:55
In your defense, I do not care how much you feed them. They are always starving.
Tyrel: 16:02
Yes. And I think a lot of other people can attest to that in waterfowl, in general, low pigs. Waterfowl are little pigs. They
Jennifer: 16:11
are I have some Facebook videos. I called them my stalkers for a long time. I've since thinned them down. But I had stalkers and I would go across the property in my gator and I could hold the phone up and you could. See, 60 of'em racing after me.'cause they know there's feed in the back of that gator and they're gonna have some
Tyrel: 16:33
Oh yeah. Yep. If the feed, especially this year everyone teased me so much last year. I feel like I've gotten pretty good type on my harlequins, but I definitely have a problem. I need to learn to become a better conditioner. Especially with the light ducks. I'm really good at making things big and bulky and heavy. Which is why I'm starting to enjoy the heavy ducks a little more is they have be little and petite. So this year I'm learning on how to become a better conditioner with these light ducks because I love this Harlequin breed. And I feel like I've got my type there. But I need to learn to condition and feed them differently. So this year, I'm gonna try a different feeding regimen and see if I can't keep'em on the smaller, lighter end where they're,
Jennifer: 17:19
well let's talk about the females coloring for just a minute. So the bills and the legs, are they supposed to be black or is it more like a smoky gray color? Like when you select.
Tyrel: 17:34
So this is an area of contention sometimes. There's a lot of people out there that think the female's bill is supposed to be black, and it's not supposed to be black. The standard calls for greenish black. So my females, when you, when I'm selecting, I'm picking females, I will, I'll breed from a female that has a solid black bill. I will that won't stop me, but. I won't show a female with a solid black bill. They're supposed to be a little green in that bill. And that's where a lot of people I know when I first started showing'em, everyone said Females need black bill, dark legs, black bill, dark legs. And then I learned otherwise that wasn't actually correct. And those females are supposed to have the standard calls for a greenish black with a black bean. And so when I'm selecting, that's something that I started looking for and now those legs I. They are supposed to be the standard. They are supposed to be darker now. Now, young duck, young ducks when they're real young obviously have orange legs and once those females hit anywhere from between four to six months is when I've really started to notice those legs will darken up as they mature. And hit that sexual maturity where they get ready to start laying. Like the standard calls for, I'm looking at here the legs and feet standard says for the duck is supposed to be orange shaded with brown when young, and then a grayish brown with age, the toenails should be black. And you look at some of these females and I've had'em, I've had females that never did darken up in the legs. And I got rid of'em. I didn't keep'em or breed from'em. But yeah, they, those legs definitely should be darker.
Jennifer: 19:14
I just, I have a hard time with the greenish black part. I think I air to the two dark, honestly,
Tyrel: 19:23
which I think that's probably a safer bet than losing that darkness in them. I have noticed, and maybe that's because I've been selecting females that have a more greenish tin to their bill. But I've noticed that some of them are starting to get more green and I'm losing some of that dark black color. So I'm gonna, something this year I'm gonna definitely select for and watch a little bit closer in the young birds I produce this year and see where, how those bills are coming out.
Jennifer: 19:54
So is your line auto sexing?
Tyrel: 19:57
Oh yes. And I guess my personal opinion on it is anybody that wants to maintain the integrity of this breed that's something that you should, in my opinion, select for as ducklings or at least make a note of, when they're ducklings, those females, the males when they hatch their bills will be dark. They should be dark. If you have a male that hatches and he doesn't have a dark bill, I wouldn't keep him. Whereas the females will have more of a dark bill and then the sides of their bill will be more of that paleish orangey color. And so if they're not auto sexing like that, I wouldn't keep'em. Personally and you can even as ducklings anyone's that's raised a few of'em I'm not even real great at it yet, but you can actually pick out ducklings that'll have bill faults when they get older. I haven't seen it in any of my males, but every year I get one or two females that'll have a bill fault where their bill will be like just a pale color or a paleish orange color. Which is something obviously not. Desirable and harlequins, and I never keep'em, I usually sell'em off or give them to somebody locally as a pet.
Jennifer: 21:10
And what would you be looking for as a duckling if you think it's gonna be orange later,
Tyrel: 21:16
You'll see ducklings that you're not sure about when they hatched the female's bill won't have that dark bean or the tip of the bill won't be dark. And those ones probably end up, will end up having a bill fault when they get older. That's one nice thing about the harle and breed is if you look at a duckling in the first two days and you can't clearly distinguish Yep, that's a male, that's a female. Me personally, those are birds. I, I. I call, or I, like I say, I give away to somebody as a pet, or I sell'em as pets locally. I only keep, to me that's phase one of culling is same way with people who raise mag pies. The magpie ducks when they hatch, you can see exactly what their color pattern is, and you can call'em as ducklings. And that's to my, to me, to maintain the integrity of the Harlequin. That's something that breeders should be looking at or be aware of. Is the distinction of the auto sexing in their day old ducklings. Now, once, one thing I see, and you've probably seen it online, this time of year, everybody starts posting, is this a boy or is this a girl? Is this a boy or is this a girl? And people who know what they're talking about in the comments will ask, how old is it? Because at about three days old, those female bills will darken up. And then you can't tell anymore. And that's normal. That's good. That's what they're supposed to do. And then as they reach maturity, the male's bill will go from being dark to that olive, green color.
Jennifer: 22:49
I. I swear people think I'm crazy when I tell them that, this is only good for three days and I'm not keeping two brooders. So if you want these ducks, you have to come right now.
Tyrel: 23:00
Yep. Yeah. And that's, there's so many people online. They've got ducklings that are four or five days old asking if it's a boy or a girl, and no idea.
Jennifer: 23:13
I will say that last year. I just hatched like. Oh, I don't know. I probably had at one point 80 or 90 of'em running the property'cause I called'em. Yeah, you looking at me like that?
Tyrel: 23:27
Oh my goodness. I don't even, I don't even hatch that many duck or I do hatch that many ducks, but I don't hatch that many harlequins. That's a lot of harlequins.
Jennifer: 23:33
We have a larger farm I guess, and we have a mosquito problem. So I didn't sell any, I just hatched them, just, I called them Skeeter eaters, right? And so they just fattened up eating all the mosquitoes and they grew up, wild and free and feral. And so this spring I captured'em all up, which is always interesting capturing. Feral ducks, and but I have a system, I have, I have a system to it, and it works every time and they always act so shocked that it worked. The ducks, they just, they're just shocked. But anyway, I rounded'em all up and I picked out the ones with the best markings and I. And I put'em up in a breeder pen, just a group mating pen. I kept two Drakes and probably, I think there's 10 hens in there. And I started selling'em the other ones, and then I was like, man, I started backing off. I was like, we're gonna get mosquitoes again. So I ended up just keeping some. But I will say that my, my auto sexing this year has been spot on and very clear with the males and the females. It does make a huge difference.
Tyrel: 24:48
Yes it does. And that's, anybody who might be listening to this, who's just starting out in Harle winds or maybe they've been breeding for a while and they're just disgruntled'cause they aren't getting what they want, and. Type over color, always type over color, and that's, those harlequins should have a longer body to'em. And one of the things that I really look at is you'll have a bird and a, when I say front, I'm talking from the legs forward to their breast. They'll have a good front on'em. They'll have a nice long front, but then their stern will be short and they'll have a kabi stern. And so that's as, as my birds are growing up, I've gotten to a point now I can almost pick out which ones are gonna have a shorter cobi, stern. But especially once they do get older and I, I can see what I'm working with. I, anything that's got a short copy, stern is gone. I don't keep them. I try to keep. Everything I have, I try to keep a nice long stern on'em just because, in the poultry world everyone talks about balance, like a bird has to be balanced and that to me is part of the balance. In a harlequin, you can't have a bird with a nice long front and a short little back end. It's like a human with sky, high, long legs, and then they got short little torso or the other way around. They got a real long torso and short little, tiny legs. In the Harlequins. It's the same thing. Just I try to, everyone that I'm, it's crazy to say that I'm helping mentor people in them, but people that I've helped mentor and have sold aches to, that's, they'll send me pictures and videos and we all know pictures and videos are the hardest thing to try to judge a bird. But I just, I tell them the same thing. Try to find your nice, long, almost tubular shaped birds that have a good long stern on'em.
Jennifer: 26:34
So you've mentioned it a couple times, and you actually mentioned it when we talked about the Saxon Ease. For people who are just wanting to dabble in breeding before they decide that it's really their thing can you explain how invaluable a mentor is?
Tyrel: 26:52
Oh my gosh. A mentor. A mentor is everything. When I started out doing this, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I was just some weird guy that showed up from Montana shows that nobody had ever seen or heard of before and came in with my ducks. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I ran around and asked people and. I tried to learn and I talked to judges and Hey, what am I, what are you looking for? What do you, and I talked to other breeders and now that I've been in the hobby for a few years now I've made some great connections with other breeders and other people and having a mentor to me is in invaluable, having Claire to answer questions was invaluable because I didn't know, every everybody in this hobby, we all started somewhere. I, I started in this hobby as an adult. Some people grow up in the hobby because their parents did it. We all started somewhere and we've all had to learn, you know what I mean? None of us were born knowing how to breed a wels Harlequin duck. We've all had to learn and the way I look at it is people gave me a lot of grace and I want to give that grace back to people who don't know or don't understand and no there's no stupid questions. And just try to help other poultry hobbyists. Learn in the breeds that they're interested in. So anyone out there who doesn't have a mentor, and they're feel like they're just floundering through whatever breed they're raising, find somebody that raises that breed, that's willing to talk to you and ask'em questions. There's a lot of good breeders out there who have done this a very long time, who are more than happy. To just help new people. They want to see the breed flourish. They don't care about anything else. They just wanna see the breed flourish. And they're more than happy to help with breeding. Breeding advice. I just got off the phone, not a wels, Harlequin breeder, but a breeder of a different duck, but I just got off the phone with him and. Asking questions about things that I wasn't sure about. They, you never stop learning. And so having someone that is willing to mentor you is pretty invaluable.
Jennifer: 29:04
I will say when you do find somebody, listen, stop talking and just listen. It may not make sense to you right that second, but eventually it will make sense what they're saying.
Tyrel: 29:18
Absolutely. I have, I've. We've all been there, but I've had people that have come to me and asked me a question and I gave them an answer and they didn't like the answer, and so they just wanted to argue. If you're gonna go to somebody because you wanna learn and you ask questions, just listen to what they have to say, even if it completely goes against everything you've ever thought or learned or known. Because maybe they know something you don't or other people don't know.
Jennifer: 29:47
So you
Tyrel: 29:47
have to, that's something in this hobby is you have to be a student of the hobby is what I like to say all the time. You have to always be learning and once you think you have nothing else to learn, then you're gonna start regressing.
Jennifer: 30:00
Exactly. As as much as I have enjoyed this, we need to wrap it up'cause I have to get back out to the barn and I'm sure you have chores to do.
Tyrel: 30:10
So I actually I am, I'm late this year on setting up my indie breeding pens and I actually have birds out there right now in showcases that I am sorting and going through and trying to get indie pens set up. And so as soon as we get. Get done here. I'm headed right back out to start sorting indies.
Jennifer: 30:29
It never ends.
Tyrel: 30:31
Always come. I
Jennifer: 30:31
have enjoyed it. Thank you so much for coming back.
Tyrel: 30:34
Yes, thank you for having me.
Jennifer: 30:37
All right.