list of duck breeds, including rare and unusual ones you have probably never heard of

This is a thread about all duck breeds, meant to make a big listing of as many as possible. It was inspired by the thread: "Tula, Emporda, Normandy and other unusual breeds " in the goose section. Check it out here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/850812/tula-emporda-normandy-and-other-unusual-breeds

It is also for discussing the breeds and finding out more information on them. There are many breeds that are so rare that it is actually unknown if they still exist or if they have gone extinct.

So, here is the first list:

Quote:
If you have questions about any of these breeds, go ahead and ask. Tell me if there are any breeds you think I should add. Also, how many of the above ducks are new to you (and which ones are they?)


Now, there is currently a much longer list on Wikipedia, but it is highly flawed. "Eiders" are listed as a domestic variety, even though they are a type of wild sea duck.

Here is wikipedia's flawed list:

Quote: Does anyone know anything about the ducks I have bolded above? I would like information on them.

Thanks for compiling this list. I was looking for something like this.
The only bolded one I have heard of is the Silver Appleyard Miniature and Silver Bantam. I think they are the same thing. They are just a bantam variety of the Silver Appleyard. I don't know much about them, though, and have never heard of the rest.
In your first list, the ones I had never heard of were: Coast, Forest, Huttengem, Long Island, Merchtem, Pomeranian, Semois, Shetland, Silky, Swedish Yellow, Ten Pounds, and Termonde.

So you think the Silver Appleyard minis and bantams are the same? Makes sense..

"Long Island" is another name for American Pekins. I prefer it because American Pekins are very different from European ones, so I feel they deserve a name of their own.

Silky ducks are new-ish. They're ornamental bantams with strange feathers. They are cute but can drown easily because of a feather mutation.* (*Some people say they drown easily, others say they have no problem. Its controversial)

The Ten Pounds duck has a Chinese name, the shi-chin-ya-tze. That is probably the more common name since it is (or was?) Chinese, but I wanted to use English names to make things easier. I can only find historical information about it, so I think it may be extinct.

The others you mentioned I only know a tiny bit about.

I'm glad you like the list. I'm trying to make a huge list that includes all known duck breeds. Most lists I found had only American and/or British breeds.

Interesting. Thanks! In my website (in my signature), I'm working on a breed guide. Right now, there's only a link to the BYC breed reviews, but I'm working on it. I'll probably keep the link even in the final version, and maybe add this thread or something, too.

Nice looking website!

If you want to know more about some of these breeds, try these two sites.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html

http://users.telenet.be/jaak.rousseau/english version/watervogels/dendermondse_eend.htm

The BYC breed reviews section is nice, but lacking, so I hope this helps!

I'm sorry, I just looked into it, and Silver Bantams are a different breed from Silver Appleyard Miniatures.
Bantams weigh 1 ¾ to 2 pounds; minis weigh 2 ½ to 3 pounds. Bantams lay 30-80 eggs a year; minis 80. Bantams aren't very common; minis are relatively common. However, the minis are the true miniature Silver Appleyards. The bantams are actually a cross between a Khaki Campbell and White Call. The minis look like miniature Appleyards with the “restricted mallard” pattern; the bantams are silver.
I found this information in Keeping Ducks and Geese by Chris & Mike Ashton.

Oh okay. That is what this thread is for, clearing up misinformation.

Does anyone have pics of these silver minis and/or bantams? It would be nice to see what they looked like in comparison to one another.

I found some information on some of those breeds you didn't know much about. I don't have pictures of the mini or bantam ducks, except in the book I read about them in, and those pictures aren't the best.

The Pomeranian is almost an equivalent to the Blue Swedish, but it is bred in Germany.

Termonde, Merchtem, Huttengem, Blue Swedish, Pomeranian, and blue Lancashire ducks all are blue ducks (all similar to the Swedish). They were bred from Aylesburies, Rouens, and Cayugas in the 1860s. Today, only the Blue Swedish and Pomeranian are recognized. I'm not sure what happened to the rest.

Then the bolded Gimbsheimer...I found that as Gimbsheim. It is a German breed and is like the Blue Swedish, only with no white feathers, and it is smaller. The Belgian Blue Forest is similar to this Gimbsheim.

So, the breeds I still know nothing about of the first list: Coast, Semois, Shetland, and Swedish Yellow.

The breeds that are bolded that I have not found information on: Alabio, Allier, Bau, Blekinge, Bourbon, Challans, Danish, Dendermonde, Estaires, Faroese, Havanna, Hungarian, Overberg, Tsaiya, Ukranian Clay, Gray, and White, Watervale, and White-breasted black duck.

I found that you didn't list the Blue Orpington. Seemingly, this is a breed like the Blue Swedish instead of the Orpington. The blue Lancashire is also not listed.

I've been working on collecting information about all of these, as well as some other ducks. When I finish (soon), and if I remember, I can post my spreadsheet here.
The guy who is putting together the Wiki page is doing it as a pet project, and seems a bit territorial about it. I tried to clean it up a bit, and had my changes reversed.
I hope this is helpful!

Here are the (online) references I have found in my research:
Org URL Notes
American Standard of Perfection http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/
Australian Poultry Standard
British Poultry Standards http://www.poultryclub.org/conservation/the-british-poultry-standards/
British Waterfowl Standards http://www.waterfowl.org.uk/standards.html
Cook's Info http://www.cooksinfo.com/ Excellent!
Duck Breed http://duck-breed.info/category/the-duck-breeds/
European Standard
eXtension http://www.extension.org/pages/65354/which-duck-breed-is-best-for-small-and-backyard-poultry-flocks#.ViCVQH6rR7c
FeatherSite http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html
Holderread Waterfowl Farm & Preservation Center http://www.holderreadfarm.com/breeds_list_page/breeds_list.htm
HubPages»Pets and Animals»Birds»Domestic Fowl
HubPages http://shorebirdie.hubpages.com/hub/populardomesticducks
Live Ducks http://www.liveducks.com/duckbreeds.html
LookSeek Knowledgebase http://knowledgebase.lookseek.com/category/ambddk/listtype/current/page/0.html Unreliable
Metzer Farms http://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparison.cfm
Meyer Hatchery https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productlist.a5w?cat=1021&A5WSessionId=00e55dfbb3ae425abdd28369e92b8f61
Moose Manor Farms, LLC http://www.moosemanorfarms.com/waterfowl.html
Murray McMurray Hatchery https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/ducklings.html
OSU Department of Animal Science http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/poultry/ducks/ducks.html
Poultry Breeds Encyclopedia http://www.zooenc.eu/en/ducks/
Poultry Keeper https://poultrykeeper.com
The Livestock Conservancy http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/duck-chart
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_duck_breeds
French Ducks http://volaillepoultry.pagesperso-orange.fr/canard2.html
Roy's Farm http://www.roysfarm.com/duck-breeds/
Ashton Waterfowl http://ashtonwaterfowl.net/index.html

Thank you!

This is very important information. What I personally am especially interested in is 3 things:

• how the breeds are related to one another
• which breeds are common, rare and extinct
• what countries each breed can be found in

I will check out those links.