Duck Breed Focus - Ancona

[sumi]

The Ancona breed was developed in the early twentieth century in Great Britain, but were not readily available in the United States until 1984. However, the Ancona duck was present in the USA in 1911 and was exhibited at major poultry shows for many years after this date. The original Ancona duck occurred only in a black & white variety and laid a pure white egg.

Ancona ducks are really beautiful birds. Their mottled plumage can be of any combination of a single colour and white, or it may be tri-colored. An adult's beak is usually yellow with greenish markings, and the feet, like the feathering, are splotchy. Anconas are generally moderately calm and friendly, and make relatively good mothers. They are very good foragers.


Details:

Purpose: Dual
Egg laying: 210-280 eggs annually
Egg colour: White, tinted, blue, green, spotted
Weight: 6-6.5lb


Pic by @TheBoonducks


Pic by @mamato3


Pic by @TheBoonducks


Pic by @toadbriar

BYC Breed review:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/ancona-350

Breed Discussions:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/422411/ancona-ducks/0_30


Do you own Anconas? Are you an Ancona breeder? If so, please reply to this thread with the your thoughts and experiences, including:

· What made you decide to get this breed?
· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose?
· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed?
· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc!

 

[learycow]

I'm a breeder!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this breed!

I breed for show. Color, plumage, body composition, foraging ability, temperament and production (meat and eggs) are my main goals.
I have black, blue, lilac, lavender, chocolate and silver anconas that lay a variety of cream, green, and black/grey eggs.

Happy to chat and help anyone who is interested in this breed!

 

[learycow]

If anyone is looking to raise these to help the breed, I would suggest doing extensive research before buying. There are many "breeders" who are actually cross breeding (resulting offspring can look like anconas but genetically are not pure) and selling as pure. Which does NOT help this breed since there are enough bloodlines of them where cross breeding is no longer necessary to improve and help the breed along.

 

[LynS1975]

I have always owned chickens since my childhood. We had some ducks when I was a kid, but they were Mandarins and they were more for decoration. They didn't make good pets. We also had a blue swede and a muscovy, but I was too young at the time to remember them much. This past Spring a picture of a Ancona duck came up on Pinterest and I was absolutely awestruck with their beauty. One picture led me to many others and I eventually started doing some research on the breed. Everything I read about them stated that they were a rare breed, so I never thought I would see one in person. But, I decided to test my luck and check on craigslist and see if there were any listed. Of course there weren't. Even less likely, I checked the website of my local co-op to see what breeds of chicks and ducklings they were getting in this week. Low and behold! Ancona ducklings were on the list for that coming weekend! A week prior I wasn't even thinking about adding ducks to my menagerie, but now that Anconas were a possibility, I quickly started researching ducks. I kept reading that the girls are noisy and considering the proximity of my neighbors, I should probably decide against it. But I just couldn't stop thinking about them and the days were counting down to their arrival at the co-op. This could possibly be my one and only chance. On the arrival date, I was at the co-op with my crate. "Pick me out two drakes", I said to the boy working at the co-op. "They will be the quieter of the group", I told him. "I can't have any noisy girls, my neighbors will complain". I named them Jake and Merle. Two manly names to will them to be drakes. I was still worried about the noise issue. Although a part of me was hoping for a girl so I could have duck eggs. Well, fast forward about 7 months and I now have two lovely Anconas...Jake and Josie. Yes, one is a girl. She is very soft spoken howsoever and only gets "quackie" when she is happy or being demanding, i.e. when I get home from work or when the food or water bowl become empty. They are so enjoyable. I love their wagging tails and head bobs when I come out in the morning to feed them and hose down the coop. They love playing in the hose no matter the weather. They love it when it rains. They love it when I change the water in their pool. I love it when they sneak up behind me and nibble on my jacket when I'm filling their feed bowls or cleaning out their bedding.
During the summer, I entered them in the Evergreen State Fair and they placed a Best of Breed (of course they were the only Anconas entered) and the other one got Reserve and the Best of Breed winner also received a Best in Medium class. I was very proud of them.
I love my duckies! I say it with enthusiasm every day. If it wasn't for their messiness and excessive food consumption, I would have more ducks and less chickens as I think their antics are so amusing. I would recommend Anconas to anyone considering ducks. If not for their beauty, definitely for their amiable dispositions.
I am enclosing some pictures of them when they were still just kids. I will try to get some nice photos of them as lovely adults to add tomorrow.

 

[learycow]

Just a few more of my standard anconas. These are some breeders and culls as they are all together for the winter now. Though I cull the non-keepers as people want them or as I have time to process for the freezer

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just gorgeous ducks..

 

[learycow]

I also breed and raise Ancona Call Ducks.

These are pure calls, some are a little larger bodied and have longer bills, but with the ancona pattern. I am working on size and conformation to get them smaller and more to the call duck body standard. So I usually have "culls" for sale if anyone wants some.

Here are some pics of my breeders and some of this years babies

 

[learycow]

How would I know for sure?

You would need to know the bloodlines of your birds (or the ones you intend to buy).
Ask around. There are many reputable breeders (I'm happy to chat via PM if you want names and such) who are happy to discuss their birds and lines.

 

[Doctorbeer]

I bought a set of 6 Ancona Eggs off ebay 2 months ago and they all hatched and are growing great. I love them, they are really sweet ducks and they mingle with the other group of ducks well enough that they are starting to merge into one group now. Their colors are amazing!

 

[minihorse927]

I also am a small breeder of Ancona ducks. I absolutely love the breed and all the patterns and colors. We have black, blue, chocolate, and lavender in our breeding stock but we will be producing all possible colors this following year. I have been breeding ours for size, laying ability, color/pattern, temperment, and foraging ability. We get an assortment of egg colors also ranging from green, blue, white, and even black/grey eggs. They have been an awesome adventure here as we continue to improve each and every year on markings and consistency in size. Again, I absolutely LOVE Anconas! I will help anyone out with this breed at anytime. Feel free to PM me or @learycow! We both love the breed and to talk all things ancona!