Anconas - Opinions please

[LoreenH]

I found out I can get Anconas from someone in the Portland, OR area. Who has any? How friendly or skittish are they? Are they good egg layers? Any info would be greatly appreciated. I haven't done much research on these since I thought I had my heart set on Swedes, but after seeing pics of the ducklings I don't know now.

Thanks



Edited for spelling

 

[Widget]

I have five that are a week old now. My local feed store special ordered them for me.

So far they are typical ducks. Messy. Messy. Messy. But considering how cute they are at this age they can stay. For now. Can't wait to see what they look like as adults. If I get ambitious tomorrow I'll try and get some pictures.

 

[americana-chick]

Well i have only had 3 differnt breeds of ducks.. Runners Ancona's and Welsh Harlequins and I just love my Ancona hen, Alberta. She was a great free ranger, smart, very pretty, a decent egg layer, and she was pretty darn friendly too. I am sad to say that a fox got a hold of her about a month ago.

You should definatly get some, you will love them!
Here she is...

 

[LittleSquidgenHome]

I have some!

As far as friendliness goes, I only have experience with my OWN Ancona's so please do not take my experience as the end all be all. Mine are friendly and calm, but this did not happen over night. I spend a large amount of time with them daily and they have learned to accept me in their midst with little protestation.

Mine are great egg layers, I have 7 hens right now and I get 5 or 6 eggs a day. I have one hen who just hatched a clutch so she isn't laying right now, and I have another hen who is going broody so she lays irregularly. I have had 4 hens go broody so far this season and the only one I let sit is a wonderful mother. They have a have great potential for broodiness but from what I have seen they are also pretty easy to "break up".

They forage very well on their own. And during the growing season require no real supplement of food when given enough forage space. They love to swim and play.

I recommend 1 male to 3 females, but two ladies will work. My older male is a voracious breeder and he has 4 ladies to service, this keeps any one hen from being over bred. While my other younger drake gets only 3 hens and does pretty well himself.

I was drawn to Ancona because of their one of a kindness and the potential for different colors in any hatch. Their temperament and egg laying skills are a nice bonus. I recommend them whole heartedly, if their is such a word.

Best of luck!!

 

[nissa_loves_cats]

My Anconas are very nice, they are reasonably tame considering that I haven't handled them a lot. They are good egg layers and started before the chickens did this spring. They are also good foragers, and they have the intelligence to figure out where they can go where they are protected from my dog. (My dog won't hurt them but they don't know that.)

 

[toadbriar]

I'm only on day 3 of "mine" being in the bator

I hope they hatch out!

But in my researching what breed to raise, these guys appealed to me above and beyond any others (no offense y'all!) The respectable egg laying rate, large egg size, plus a reasonable carcass size for processing make them a very appealing dual-purpose breed in purely practical terms. The foraging ability is a definite plus.

On the fun end of things, I love that they have individual markings, and the several color possibilities add quite a bit of fun and suspense. I hope to develop a colorful flock - most of the ones I've been finding here on the east coast are just the basic black & white.

People keep saying they're intelligent and calm, and I've heard they're not as noisy as some. I can attest that my eggs in the bator are quiet so far and I can just TELL by looking at them that they're bright and well-mannered

Drawback being they're not recognized by the APA so you can't show them.

Yet.

 

[smithzoo100]

I LOVE my Anconas and can't wait till my next batch of eggs hatch!! We brought back 2 dozen hatching eggs with us from visiting family in Vancouver, WA since Boondockers Farm is on the way home to California

23 made it to the incubator (my mistake and slight fumble with the help of my exuberant Border Collie

) on Tuesday night. Boondockers Farm in Creswell, OR has all of Holderread's Ancona breeding stock. We have had Anconas for the last 8 years and ducks of some sort all of my life. My Anconas have been curious, good foragers, GREAT layers, appropriately broody (not too much, not too little), and don't tend to be as flighty and panicky as some ducks we have had in the past. Imho, they are the perfect dual purpose duck that has the benefit of being gorgeous to look at with all those Pinto patterns in every color!! I have one duck left from a previous breeding project that is still laying great at 6 and has babies that are 4 weeks old now!! I agree with toadbriar that their not being recognized by the APA is a drawback, but if there are enough of us that decide we really want to show our Anconas, it will come to pass. It's up to us as breeders!!

Let us know what you decide and make sure that we get to see pictures!! I know I can't wait to see what my eggs hatch out as far as color and pattern...then it is the suspenseful wait to see what color eggs I get out of my girls. Some of the eggs in the 'bator are the brightest blue that I have seen in any eggs of any breed. See, just one more thing to put in the pro column of everyone's Ancona list!! Eggs of many colors

 

[katemary63]

We love our Anconas from Holderread's. They are reasonably calm but not lap ducks or anything. They wander the barn yard during the day and often take naps in the barn. If we walk by they will just calmly walk the other way. They come running when I have a bucket in my hand at feeding time and yell, "Quack, quack, ducks!" Haha. (true story)

 

[darwish]

I have a flock of Anconas which I love, for all of the reasons already mentioned.

They are as friendly as you want to make them. If you want them to be friendly with you, and not skittish, then spend time with them and give them food treats. I throw worms to my Anconas while I am digging in the garden, so they follow me around hoping for a handout.

They really are great foragers. I had a very bad slug problem last year, before I got my Anconas. Like, bad enough I was ready to give up on my garden. Well, since I've been free-ranging the Anconas, I haven't seen a single slug.

Anconas are a great utility bird, very useful and low-maintenance. And the fact that they are cute as a dickens is a nice bonus.

Highly recommended.