Comparing Australian Rouen stock to others

[Quacking Pigeon]

It seems our Rouen ducks are quite different. Unless you do have the bigger bird don’t worry.
An example of Australian Rouens:

Source: Peel ridge stud

An example of a USA Rouen:

Source: Purely Poultry

Can anyone explain why this is?

 

[Pyxis]

That's a utility rouen in the US. A US exhibition rouen looks like this:

 

[CayugaJana]

I’m not sure why someone would breed them that large. Those babies probably have a lot of health issues.

 

[Pyxis]

I’m not sure why someone would breed them that large. Those babies probably have a lot of health issues.

It's an elongated keel, and that's actually how the breed originally was in the US. The smaller ones were bred down. They don't have health issues that I know of, but can have some trouble mating due to the keel, so breeders will sometimes use males with keels that aren't as extreme.

Despite how large they look, they're really only a pound bigger than a saxony. They are very similar to the Aylesbury, which also has the same deep keel and also weighs nine to ten pounds.

I'm not a fan of the look, but I do breed Calls, which are extreme in other ways, so I can't cast stones

 

[CayugaJana]

It's an elongated keel, and that's actually how the breed originally was in the US. The smaller ones were bred down. They don't have health issues that I know of, but can have some trouble mating due to the keel, so breeders will sometimes use males with keels that aren't as extreme.

Despite how large they look, they're really only a pound bigger than a saxony. They are very similar to the Aylesbury, which also has the same deep keel and also weighs nine to ten pounds.

I'm not a fan of the look, but I do breed Calls, which are extreme in other ways, so I can't cast stones

That’s interesting! I would have thought they weighed a lot more than 9 pounds by the way they look.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

That’s interesting! I would have thought they weighed a lot more than 9 pounds by the way they look.

Me too! Wowsers those burds must have some serious fluff. They look like they are on steroids

 

[Quacking Pigeon]

The utility Rouens just look like standard sized mallards.

And doesn’t the Rouen duck originate in France?

 

[shawluvsbirds]

The utility Rouens just look like standard sized mallards.

And doesn’t the Rouen duck originate in France?

They do look a LOT like a mallard. Their posture is a bit different though and I think they are usually a little bit bigger than a mallard.

 

[SweetTea&Chicks]

I don't know anything about ducks and sorry if I'm sounding rude but to me, that's a funny looking duck. Am I looking at it at the wrong angle because it kind of looks like a block?

 

[Pyxis]

The utility Rouens just look like standard sized mallards.

And doesn’t the Rouen duck originate in France?

It does Then it went to England and the breeders there got ahold of it and bred it to look like it does, and then it came to the US from England, so we got the big boat-shaped ones, and over time some of them were bred to be production rouens that lay more eggs (since the big ones are terrible egg layers) and thus they lost the big size and boat shape. The production ones probably more closely resemble the breed as it originally was in France.