Silver Appleyard Ducks?

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

That's where I got mine! Listen for the mailman Sunday; that's when mine came because the box was marked "live animals"!

I believe he sent me one extra egg too. I had a horrible hatch but it was my fault - not his. I ended up with 5 beautiful ducks - I think I have one female and 4 males. Not a good ratio but they are all very happy and healthy - not one problem.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Here's a pic that I just took the other day:

 

[Lextextrapper]

Very pretty ducks! I can't wait to get mine and hopefully have a good hatch.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Yes - good luck with your hatch! My ducks are young; hatched the day after Easter. I'd never hatched ducks before and had them in the incubator with chicken and quail eggs. Totally my fault that the hatch was bad; can't say enough good things about David and if I need more eggs, I will buy from him again.

 

[goosedragon]

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Why not? Appleyard developed both the standard and the mini in England. Why would you think that only the standard size made it to America?

 

[Duck Keeper]

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HA! I've been eye-ing that auction!

Hope you get a great hatch, with lots of dark babies! ^-^

 

[Duck Keeper]

ɱůşçōvý :

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Actually the birds I got were from a breeder and were purebred and as I am not the only person this has happened to I don't believe it to be a fluke. My experience with SAs, limited as it was (precisely because they had nothing I felt was worth keeping them around for.) has nothing to do with my preference for Muscovy. I raised Welsh for several years and will do so again in the future most likely.

I am partial to Muscovy because they're a practical duck and have a lot of traits that I feel are worth promoting but I have owned an array of mallard derivs over my lifetime, in fact, like many I refused to even consider buying Muscovy for many, many years before I bought my first ducklings. I like to advise people to find out what they want out of their birds and then I like to offer an opinion based on their wants/needs based on what the various breeds have to offer. I have no compunction telling someone that Muscovy might not be for them. Not every duck fits every situation. Silver Appleyards aren't rare, they might not be as easy to find as other birds but if a person knows where/how to look they can find them. Of course, if few people raise them there might be a good reason for it!

I certainly think people shouldn't hesitate to go with what they like and if that's the SA then by all means they should get them and make the most of it. I also think, though, that it's nice to know what might be a pitfall prior to purchasing so that you don't feel like you've been taken when the birds you get aren't what you were led to believe they were.

Like I said, I haven't been a duck owner for a year even...
I gain most of my knowledge by researching, so when I read something on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy ( found here ) about Silver Appleyards' rarity being "critical" I take it for face value. o_o;
Probably not the best way of doing things, but hey, I haven't even been alive as long as half of the people here, either.

And no, as I have previously mentioned, I do NOT have first-handed experience with breeding them, so I do NOT have any conclusive information about genes or colors appearing. Sorry for assuming that you'd only had muscovies before as well.

I hope to remedy the whole breeding situation as soon as possible.

When I can purchase my first incubator! Yay. Fun. Waiting...



EDIT:
Spelling.​

 

[CityChicker]

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Why not? Appleyard developed both the standard and the mini in England. Why would you think that only the standard size made it to America?

What I meant was that most of the birds we know as "Miniature Appleyards" in the US are actually not miniature versions of the Silver Appleyard. The bantam that Appleyard developed *did* make it to the US, but it is not the same color as the full size Silver Appleyard.

The bantam developed by Appleyard is now known as the Silver bantam. Most of what are sold in the US as Mini Appleyards are Silver Bantams. They were developed from Khaki Campbells and White Calls similar to how the Abacot Ranger was developed from Khaki Campbells and White Runners. In fact, our "Mini Appleyard" would probably be more appropriately called a Mini Abacot Ranger.

The Silver bantams sold in the states as Mini Appleyards really do not bare that much similarity at all to the large Silver Appleyard. They do not share the same characteristic masks of the Appleyard drakes and the females are almost always hooded. There was, many years after Appleyard developed the Silver bantam, a Mini Appleyard developed that does share the genotype and appearance of the full sized Appleyard. If we have them in the states, they are not at all common. All of my birds are in actuality what is known in Europe as the Silver Bantam (mine came from Holderread's and I think are fairly representative of the birds generally available in the US).

There is, of course, also the Appleyard color in Call ducks. That *is* available in the US. I don't know how the color was developed in Calls, but it does seem more representative of the phenotypic Appleyard color.

 

[Bri134ok]

I got 4 Mini Silver Appleyard ducks a while ago, two boys and two girls. They are the sweetest, and most beautiful ducks I have ever seen. They are very smart too, they put themselves to bed every night, and always stay safe and close to the house. I got them as ducklings, so I am their mommy, and they follow me everywhere. They even try to come inside the house a lot of the time. And they are so friendly, they always let me hold them and pet them and whenever I walk outside, they run to me and greet me, I love them so much and am so lucky to have them. I think you will love them just as much as I do.

These are my beautiful Mini Silver Appleyard Ducks.

 

[TannerDH]

Hi! I know this is an old post, but where did you get your miniature silver appleyard ducks? I've been searching forever. Also, how well do they lay? Not the main reason I want them at all. But just curious.