Wifezilla: I agree, WH drakes are delicious! Very sweet, flavorful meat. I actually like them better than Muscovy.
azhenhouse: I had a lot of trouble slaughtering ducks at first, having kept them as pets throughout my childhood. The end product made it worth it, though! Push comes to...
Oh, you meant Estes! They supply the feed stores with chicks around here. I don't know about the ducks, but their chickens are pretty standard hatchery fare.
"Country Poultry" is such a common name, we're going to need a link to even know what you're talking about. LOL Google did nothing for me.
You want your ducks to be at least in pairs, preferably in trios with a ratio of two ducks per drake. Drakes don't fight quite like roosters, but too...
I have a question. Everyone on here seems to have WH from either Metzer or Holderread... has anyone ever bought any from Sand Hill? I'm curious about the quality of their birds, as I want better quality WH than I got from Metzer, but also want to try out Golden Cascades. Thanks!
LOL, perfect use of a hot tub platform! Actually, it looks really nice for keeping the pool water less filthy... though I'm sure after they're done, they go underneath and dabble around in all the freshly spilled water.
Wifezilla, your Shelley looked just like my Keys! Here's hoping this means she'll get all pretty, too.
I ate a WH drake a couple years ago that a friend didn't want because he was a butthead. He was delicious and flavorful - I actually liked him much better than Muscovy.
I've had a gold drake who hatched with a light beak. I'm not sure how accurate the beak sexing is with golds, but he may also just have been one of those unusual WHs that made Holderread say the beak sexing is ~98% accurate instead of 100%.
That's cool to hear! I've got two Metzer girls named Wallet and Keys... Wallet is starting to look like she's supposed to, but Keys is really hanging onto that white coloration. She's cute, but I'm hoping she gets more of that harlequin color. Not sure she will, though - she doesn't even have...
If it's making any noise at all that can be classified as "loud," it's a girl. LOL Those Metzer girls of yours are a lot darker than mine (I have one who's nearly white and I'm jealous of your pretty girls!), but I've seen plenty of young Holderreads WH gals with dark heads like that. It will...
I do appreciate a duck with junk in the trunk! Especially if it's from eating lots of slugs.
Didn't realize they got that much heavier than the usual Khaki body type. Those guys aren't the best fliers, but in my experience they can when they're young. I had an imprinted Khaki once named...
Cute overload! I love WH hens!!
Lakota_elder, pinioning is removing the wingtips. It's done when the birds are tiny and is permanent. Wing clipping, on the other hand, is just cutting off the primary feathers on one side with scissors. You have to do it over each time they moult and grow...
Thanks for the welcomes! I actually tried to get some WHs through hatching eggs a couple years ago, but of the two that survived shipping, only one hatched. I gave him to a friend so he'd have buddies that weren't chickens. lol After that I tried to put in an order with the Ruffled Duck...
Only had her three years, some high school student broke my heart when I was 11 by killing her. ): I bred her children for years afterwards, but none were ever quite so special. Now I'm getting ready to start with ducks for the first time since then with some WHs! Just got done ordering some...
Wow, Dances with Ducks, the light gold duck in your last photo looks exactly like the first duck I ever had! She was my pet and constant companion when I was very young... and also a complete mutt from the local lake. Loved her to bits.