Are these really Anconas?

Date sort Score sort
kara_leigh

kara_leigh

Songster
8 Years
May 3, 2011
442
11
113
Bradleyville, MO
Most Anconas I've seen have been mostly white with some black spots, but mine are have a mostly black body (some white spots on their belly or tush) with a white bib and speckled head. It doesn't matter too much b/c they are just pets, but I'm curious.

(I fixed the pictures, sorry.)















 
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I don't think there is any standard for the placement of markings on Anconas. If they came from a hatchery, you get what you get and birds are often far from the standard, so they could be hatchery Anconas.

Whatever they are, they are beautiful. As long as you don't plan to breed or show them, they look like perfect eye candy and pets.
 
It is possible that they are anconas, but they would be very poorly marked ones. Magpies are more black than they are white like the ducks you have pictured. Anconas are generally more "spotted".
Here is a pic of my anconas from this winter. As you can see, they have spotted bills and feet, and their bodies have lots of white with black spots. I have seen some similar to yours that are pure and mostly black. It's just not as desirable in the breed because it makes them mistakable for magpies. Where did you get yours?
 
Where did you get them from, and did you get them as babies, or hatch em? Were they sold as Anconas? Anconas can come out so heavily marked that they look like Swedes, plain-marked like Magpies, or even occasionally pure white.

If you got them as babies from an Ancona flock, I could definitely see them as purebred but not with ideal markings to keep back. Mix them with some lighter-marked birds and they'd make pretty babies :)

If they're Anconas they'll still be good layers and good foragers with sweet personalities, even if they have more dark feathers than ideal. Your birds are adorable!
 
They seem to have way more black than even Magpies do (pictures I've seen anyway), and are WAY more mottled. They also have black beaks and feet/legs with orange mottling. My male has quite a bit of orange on his beak and mostly orange feet but black legs. My oldest duck has a solid black beak with just a couple tiny orange spots on her feet.
 
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I got them from a lady off Craigslist, and I was told they were purebred Anconas. I got them as babies (youngest two were 3 days, the older ones were 3wks and 4wks old). The lady I got them from hatched them. My avatar is the 3wk old the day I got her.
 
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