Ancona Ducks

[m.kitchengirl]

ChickenCrazy, your Anconas are absolutely lovely.

I just got a trio of Anconas this year, and am still wondering how well I did. They are getting quite amorous, so I will be able to find out soon enough.
It is nice to see someone with "hatchery" birds get to where you are. It gives me hope that, even if I didn't pick as well as I TRIED to pick, I can get there eventually.

 

[Chicken Crazy12]

Thanks...... and another note about the hatchery thing is that cackle more than likely started with Holderread bloodlines. Ancona ducks were thought to be nearly extinct back in the 1980's and holderread is credited with bringing them back from extinction with a pair and an outcross. Holderread says that most ancona ducks in this country go back to that origional pair. I can't confirm where cackle got their anconas, but I suspect it was from holderread. Now since cackle is a hatchery and must produce quantity to keep up with duckling orders they probably aren't too picky about their breeders, but the genetics are there and with culling and selective breeding it most certainly can be acheived.

 

[AuroraSprings]

I've seen very few silvers at all, so finding them properly marked is super tough. I had a drake born once that had a decent amount color on him (more magpie pattern than ancona, but not terrible), but I "culled" him to my aunt & uncle's pond. I'd love to have him back, but it's not going to happen unfortunately. I don't have any good photos of him, but here's the best I've got. It's something at least.

I took the shot to try to show the difference in lavender, blue, and silver, but the colors blur together too much on the camera.

*Fingers crossed that all goes well this Spring* Since we are focusing on increasing size & # of dilutes. If we can get a few hundred silvers to choose from, then finding a well-marked one shouldn't be nearly as difficult.

 

[Chicken Crazy12]

Awesome, thanks

That silver has more color than what i have been seeing in pictures online.

 

[AuroraSprings]

Yep same here. The only other one we've had born was Bean and she had hardly any markings, more like a "lite dusting" of color. You could only see it when she molted too. Otherwise she looked solid white.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I think Toadbriar has some nice silvers, as well. I got my ducks from her, and they are very nice, but she kept her silvers and lavenders (and I don't blame her in the least

.)

 

[StevenW.]

Quote:
I love Bean! Your're a very beautiful Ancona!

Might try my luck at hatching more of your're eggs next year! ) They did so well until hatching time came.

I finally bought an incubator that I hope will last a LONGGGGG time since I coughed up a lot of $$$$ for it.

 

[toadbriar]

m.kitchengirl :

I think Toadbriar has some nice silvers, as well. I got my ducks from her, and they are very nice, but she kept her silvers and lavenders (and I don't blame her in the least

.)

No silvers yet....

I got a nice lavender-chocolate tricolor drake, a sweet lavender hen, and a slate blue hen out of the last hatch. I kept back a few black ones with patterns I especially like, and a couple of chocolates who favor the drake I culled last fall, in hopes of them taking after him in size. (He WAS a cull in the severe sense, no head-bobbing flirt but a chase-and-assault style creep with a couple favorites who got no peace from him. But he was a nice big substantial boy, and I wouldn't mind my line trending a bit chunkier)

HoneyBadger, the tricolor drake with a fantastic chill temperament:

And you see beside him Kateri, an overmarked, crested girl from Cackle. But she has an interesting marking more visible here:

A patch of odd color by her eye. When freshly molted, it's mallard pattern speckles. In this pic it's faded to buff. She's no ideal conformation specimen, but she is the most avid forager and the social glue of the flock - always the first to make overtures to welcome new additions. The flock would be greatly diminished without her.

Here's one of my older girls, Sugar Bowl, a lavender hen:

not much to look at, but she was only born with a stripe down her back

I DO wonder though if she's silver plus chocolate, instead of blue plus chocolate. I think in other breeds there's a distinction between those: lilac and lavender. It would be a useful distinction to make.

Considering my oldest hatched May 2010, I'm pretty happy with how the flock is turning out.​

 

[StevenW.]

Hey Kim! Do you have a picture of where you keep you're ducks?? I don't think I've ever seen it before.
I would like to see it, please! )

 

[m.kitchengirl]

Ok, my big concern is whether my drake is true enough to type. I have resisted getting opinions on BYC because some folks can be kind of harsh, but since we are on the subject of improving lines, how is he? He seems to be very solidly built to me, but something about his neck seems a bit off of type. Am I being too persnickety?
Personality wise, and color wise, he was the best drake I got (wasn't planning on keeping drakes, but he was a charmer, to boot).

Him, with something on his mind.

Him with his ladies after our first snow.

Him, trying to sneak a patty pan squash.

With the girls again.

I know he isn't that marked, but bearing that in mind Kim gave me some more heavily marked girls. I hope they breed some well balanced Anconas.
I hope he mates with the black duck, Kim that chocolate girl is quite the enthusiastic mate. She shadows him & does her little head flip at me every time I got into the yard. I keep trying to tell her I am not after her man, but she doesn't listen. I want to add a silver, blue, or lilac duck to my breeding pen next year, just so I can have as many colors as possible. (Kim, if you hatch any, I would LOVE more of your girls. They are just so sweet & funny...I think I am going to wait until next year to order from Boondockers, but I keep going back & forth about whether I should do it this year or next.)

I love that this thread is getting active again. I may pester all you folks with breeding questions as the time approaches.