Duck Breed Focus - Buff Orpington

[N F C]

Beautiful, all of them @Amiga !

 

[Amiga]

Thanks!

They are hardy, cooperative, beautiful, good layers, Bean is a pretty decent drake in spite of his fixation on Romy. We keep Romy with the all-girl flock because of that, and that has worked out fine. Thrifty - did I mention thrifty? They maintain a healthy weight even with their frequent laying on not that much food - of course, my comparison is a flock of nine Runners, a Buff and a BEI.

They are nearly six years old now, and rest longer between laying. But during laying season, we get one or two eggs a day from the two of them - Carmella and Hazel - for months. Neither has gotten seriously broody, it seems their desire to stay together is stronger than the broody feeling - they do make a nest, though, and I know Carmella has been reluctant to leave the nest sometimes.

Romy (with the Runner flock) does get seriously broody, and this past summer the Runners actually decided she had to quit, so they poked at her and flattened the nest. She was such a grouch about that!!!

---- Thanks to the folks who shared their photo's for the OP. Such great images!

 

[Trepidus]

· What made you decide to get this breed? I ended up getting this bread because I live the Northwest and it gets really cold here and my research concluded that they are one of the more "hearty" breads when it comes with dealing with such wide temperature ranges. I also read they are the best to eat (if one so chooses to do so, I dont have such plans at this time, doesnt mean it wont happen in the future). I also read that they will lay a decent number of eggs every year. (though I got them in summer this year and have not received this prize from them yet, I also do not supplement their light for the winter). I also read these little guys do not fly, which was a concern for me as I let them free range in my backyard. The final straw was their color. I liked the way they looked over other non flyers.

· Do you own them for fun? Breeding? Some other purpose? I own them for fun/eggs. I think these little guys are quite funny. We have a slightly chaotic house and they fit in well.

· What are your favorite characteristics about this breed? The fact that they are VERY EASY to take care of, I do not have a feeder system as we get a lot of rain, I do not want the food to get wet/damp and mold to start developing. I have a 10'x15' pin for them that has a standard bath tub sunk into the ground as a pool. I have to change the water about every three days, and put the new straw in the coop (8x4 house) about once every week. It stays very clean, someone could probably go longer but this schedule works for me and the ducks stay quite clean as well. I am guessing it stays so clean as it I let them out during the day to run around or swim and put them up at night.

· Post some pics of your birds; male/female, chicks, eggs, etc! I will get them up. I do not have any on this computer (when I saw the post).

 

[N F C]

@Trepidus welcome to BYC!

I enjoyed reading about your Buffs. Looking forward to seeing your pictures!

 

[blkjak]

I have 4 BO ducks. 2 hens and 2 drakes. I plan to pen them next summer to get some pure ducklings. My hens prefer my Cayuga drakes for some reason.

 

[Lozuufy]

Now I need to get some of these... they are so beautiful!

 

[LeslieR]

It started last spring of 2015, I bought three little ducklings and four little barred rock pullet chicks from Atwoods, to add to my flock of three rhoade island red hens and a rooster. I was not exceptionally particular what kind of ducks they turned out to be, I was hoping they were pekin females. As they grew from cute little yellow fuzzy ducklings, into bigger yellow ducklings I noticed the feathers growing in were not white but more of a beige color, initially they looked like female buffs then they started to show the line around the neck and then the curly feathers showed up on their tails, all three. Since my plan was to add duck eggs to my mix, I ordered ten sexed female buff orpington ducklings from a hatchery and received them through the USPS. My mentor into chicken keeping, since my father's death, had coyotes clean her out, all but one buff drake. I could already see that one of my drakes was smaller than the other two, and was picked on already, so in order to get her started again, I gave my mentor one drake and five ducks. That left me with five ducks and two drakes which until a couple of weeks ago appeared to be working well until I found one of my ducks drowned in the swimming tub. I have yet to find any duck eggs, but I am still getting three to four eggs a day from my nine other hens. My ducks and chickens all live in the same enclosure and seem to get along great.
I did not deliberately pick buffs but after researching the drakes I had, they are beautiful ducks and have good history for what I hope to achieve.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It started last spring of 2015, I bought three little ducklings and four little barred rock pullet chicks from Atwoods, to add to my flock of three rhoade island red hens and a rooster. I was not exceptionally particular what kind of ducks they turned out to be, I was hoping they were pekin females. As they grew from cute little yellow fuzzy ducklings, into bigger yellow ducklings I noticed the feathers growing in were not white but more of a beige color, initially they looked like female buffs then they started to show the line around the neck and then the curly feathers showed up on their tails, all three. Since my plan was to add duck eggs to my mix, I ordered ten sexed female buff orpington ducklings from a hatchery and received them through the USPS. My mentor into chicken keeping, since my father's death, had coyotes clean her out, all but one buff drake. I could already see that one of my drakes was smaller than the other two, and was picked on already, so in order to get her started again, I gave my mentor one drake and five ducks. That left me with five ducks and two drakes which until a couple of weeks ago appeared to be working well until I found one of my ducks drowned in the swimming tub. I have yet to find any duck eggs, but I am still getting three to four eggs a day from my nine other hens. My ducks and chickens all live in the same enclosure and seem to get along great.
I did not deliberately pick buffs but after researching the drakes I had, they are beautiful ducks and have good history for what I hope to achieve.

2 drakes can and will gang up on a single duck and drown when both try to mate at the same time.Sorry for your loss. You'll have to watch your drakes around your hens too. When hormones are raging some don't care who they breed with and it's a death sentence for a chicken hen.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

My Bean


Muddy Hazel



Romy up front, Michele behind.

Nice pics @Amiga

In the bottom pic Michele is quite a bit darker than Romy. Is this their personal variation, or is it something that changes over time? Both are very pretty. A Buff is definitely on my shopping list for March (primary ship dates are 7th and 14th I will wait until the time gets closer to avoid any avoidable blizzards if those days are snowed out it will be March 28th or April.) Metzer does not ship any ducks the week before Easter and I commend them for that. So far her name will be Latte, but that could always change...

 

[Amiga]

Thanks, @Tevyes Dad -

The colors on the Buff girls changes. When Hazel arrived, she was nearly platinum. She molted, and came in standard Buff colors (shades of buff). Next time she molted, she came in pinto - some snow, some buff, but more like a tortoise coloring pattern. Carmella arrived standard Buff colors. The next couple of molts, no color changes. This most recent one just finished, her feathers are shades of nearly platinum, perhaps one could call it oyster shell.

La Rome (Romy) was lighter at first, and now, just finishing a molt, her feathers have come in standard Buff.