Ancona

I have one Ancona now and getting more in the Spring because I have fallen in love with the breed.

Eggs: Our Ancona is an amazing layer who has not missed a day in 6 months - laying through the winter. Eggs are white and shaped a little more oblong than my Pekin and Runner.

Temperament: She gets along great with other breeds, including my very aggressive Pekin drake. She has the energy to keep up with my Runner but is calm enough to hang out with the Pekins. She doesn't love to be picked up but doesn't fight it either, making it easy to do health checks. I've read that some people consider them loud, but I don't find that to be the case with my Ancona. She rarely makes a noise unless it's feeding time - and the occasional really loud 'quack laugh' which we just find to be adorable.

Flight Risk: Sometimes she will jump straight up and fly about 2 feet - then struts around so proud of herself - there's no need to worry about Anconas flying away.

Size: The size is perfect in my opinion. Legs are sturdy and body is tight so very minimal risk for leg injuries or issues.

Foraging: My Ancona will eat anything in her path. She's the only one of my ducks that's eaten a large frog and a mole - with no digestive issues whatsoever. She has no issues catching them either!

Water: I wouldn't recommend getting this breed if they won't have access to water regularly for swimming. Our Ancona loves to swim!

I own three Ancona ducks, one black, one chocolate, and one lavender. They're active foragers and fairly sweet. Their colouring is quite fun to look at and they really just make me smile. Overall I'd recommend them for any flock.

I have had these ducks for a couple months now, I get an egg a day 9 months out of the year. Don't know how broody they are, but I hope I will get some ducklings by next spring. They are kept in the pasture but leave the other animals alone which is a good thing. They forage most of the day but get a little bit of feed every evening before they get put to bed. Overall one of my absolute favorite ducks!!!! Just wish they were more common.

Our Anconas are just over a year now. They've laid better than the laying hens we used to have. We have 5 girls and for the spring and into mid summer we got 5 big, delicious duck eggs a day, every day. We were amazed as our chickens never did that. Only now are they starting to taper off but still we get 3 or 4 a day. The eggs have gotten a bit smaller in size from spring but still bigger than chicken eggs. They are quack-ey when they want to either: get let out, get fed, or have some green peas thrown to them. Otherwise we don't find them terribly noisy. Everyone admires their pretty feathers and how cute they are. We live on a small river so they get all the swimming they can stand.
The only thing that isn't great is when it rains they drill into the dirt and can really mess up a patch of lawn but isn't that all ducks?

I got these hatching egg's from harriedhomemaker's sale page and the eggs where $2.50 each but for some reason this page will not let me do anything number wise in the cent area. NPIP cert is a big thing in my house and the price was unbeatable. I hatched out 5 ducklings out of 6 egg's they had 100% fertility but #6 piped on the wrong end into a vein. They are nice to their hatch mates which is more then i can say from some no-name breeds i had in the past that killed each other in the brooder.

I can not say this enough GET A BROODER WITH TALL WALLS!! These little fuzz balls think they are wood ducks and will pile on top of each other to climb and jump over the brooder walls on to the floor i almost lost a duckling this afternoon because of it (not from injury but from a Terrier mix). Picking up these little guys is a two handed affair they hate being picked up they will kick "peck" at you anything to jump out of your hands be careful. Every little noise sets these ducklings into a peeping frenzy so i haven't gotten allot of sleep during lock down or since they have been hatched so these are definitely outdoor brooder ducklings. If you are going to brood these ducklings indoors be warned they are very messy i had to set up a rig feeding station to keep the brooder dry they love to fling water.

It has been a 28 weeks since they where born and no behavior change they are still as skittish as the day they hatched so go figure

I've had Anconas for over a year now, after admiring them for awhile before then. I LOVE them. My two hens are fantastic egg-layers. Since they started laying early this spring, they hardly ever miss a day (except for my hen who went broody - she took a few weeks off during incubation, and then about 1-1/2 weeks after they hatched she is back at it!). They are also quite calm and friendly, and will eat out of my hand. My two drakes are quite protective of their hens, and will chase our labs away (though the dogs don't really pay too much attention). They also will chase people somewhat, but if you turn around toward them they usually back down, and only very rarely bite - if you offered your hand to them. They'll come up and eat out of my hand with the girls.

I think they are beautiful birds, and they are very practical, too, with their great egg-laying (and I've read their meat is good, too, though I don't think I could ever butcher any of mine). I hope more and more people are able to keep and breed them, as they are so rare.

If i was allowed to own a huge flock ancona ducks would be my choice they are so friendly, but they get a bit shy if they are with a big flock of waterfowl. i enjoy them so much!

i really like the duck