Ancona Ducks

[learycow]

Uh, I have a quick question that's probably dumb.

To order the Ancona breed guide from Holderread you just mail in an order form with it and a check/money order...?

Sorry, my generation has never had to do anything but online, and at worst, phone ordering, haha.

Yes, i sent a personal check with a note stating which one. I got it in the mail shortly after
And it doesn't hurt to send them a quick email and let them know what you are looking for and that you are sending payment for it. Just so they keep an eye out for it

 

[TeePants]

Okay, thanks! Yeah, I mailed the form & check the other day, I will drop them an email. My Ancona hatch eggs are officially in the mail!

 

[ChristineR]

Okay, thanks! Yeah, I mailed the form & check the other day, I will drop them an email. My Ancona hatch eggs are officially in the mail!

How exciting! Where did you get them?

 

[TeePants]

Someone on eBay actually, I'm not sure if they are on here but they're from North Carolina?

I read over the 'to breed or not to breed' thread and saw the 'cull' anconas and explanations- this person's ducks seem to, insofar as I can tell, have good face/beak/feet markings but I only saw one with a chest marking and they seem under marked overall? But I had also noticed the few hatcheries that sold ancona hatching eggs seemed to be over-marked, and well, Holderread's eggs are very expensive and I only have a Brinsea Mini Advance so I couldn't use a full dozen at once.

And then I read something here about blue eyes, but I can't really tell duck eye color from most of the pictures I've seen... is it supposed to be really apparent or is it a dark blue?

We're just starting with ducks, but I was hoping if I really liked them we could try and get/develop some good birds but...I guess I can't count anything till they hatch, right?

Ha, I don't know what I'm saying I guess. I'll see how well marked or not marked these turn out. It will be an adventure.

 

[learycow]

You won't be able to tell for sure until they are fully grown (so you can tell their body type/ size, etc). And once they get their adult feathers, that's when you can pick out who's great and who to cull. When they first hatch, they will have spots but its hard to tell how their facial markings/chest markings/wing markings will look until they get their feathers.
And they change colors once they molt into their adult feathers. Some of my blues actually molted into multicolored feathers! They are SO much prettier once they get their adult colors

 

[ChristineR]

You won't be able to tell for sure until they are fully grown (so you can tell their body type/ size, etc). And once they get their adult feathers, that's when you can pick out who's great and who to cull. When they first hatch, they will have spots but its hard to tell how their facial markings/chest markings/wing markings will look until they get their feathers.
And they change colors once they molt into their adult feathers. Some of my blues actually molted into multicolored feathers! They are SO much prettier once they get their adult colors

x2

I think I saw those eggs on ebay. They looked a little undermarked, but I thought they were pretty. Personally, I would rather have smaller, random spots than big chunks of color over the back.

The Holderread pamphlet that you are getting has a lot of great info and I think you'll find it very helpful. I don't think Holderread sells Anconas anymore, though, unless something recently changed. Their flock was sold to Boondocker's Farm in Oregon. Some of us on here sell Ancona eggs: Worth It Farms, Coyote Night Acres, me

(I got most of mine from Worth It).

The eyes aren't a bright blue like a Sebastopol goose; it's more of a dark grayish blue, at least that's how I would describe it.

It's a lot easier to estimate what the black, blue, and chocolate ducklings' markings will look like. My lavender ducklings' looked so light as ducklings that some of the markings weren't visible until they got their feathers in.

This drake in the front looked black for a long time and then he ended up being blue. The markings on the lav drake in the middle ground were really hard to see as a duckling.



This blue duck is a little heavier marked over her back than I like, but she has a lot of other good qualities, so I kept her. Plus, she is one of our favorites (my daughter named her "DJ Quack" as a duckling) so I would have kept her in the pet/egg flock regardless of what she looks like.

 

[ducksliketoswim]

Theres nothing better than an entire thread dedicated to anconas! Good lookin' ducks guys! I love how unique each duck is. This is my 2month old ducky. He was hatched in a from a group of mixed ducks so I dont think he is full ancona but I sure do love 'em!

 

[Alabama ee]

I love the way he is looking at you. Cute duck.

Theres nothing better than an entire thread dedicated to anconas! Good lookin' ducks guys! I love how unique each duck is. This is my 2month old ducky. He was hatched in a from a group of mixed ducks so I dont think he is full ancona but I sure do love 'em!

 

[eggorthechicken]

oh that's adorable! I wanna hatch ducks now!

 

[Iain Utah]

I got some new pics of my ancona trio today that I thought I'd share. They are almost a year old. Seems like yesterday that they were hatching in my incubator.

My girls:

My drake: