Ancona Ducks

[learycow]

How broody are Ancona ducks? I've got three Pekins, and I've never gotten them to set on the eggs (I'll be putting some in the incubator later this week). Every once in a while, I'll get one of my Buff Orpington hens to do what mama hens are supposed to do, but it's rare. How common - or uncommon - is it for Anconas to hatch out a brood and raise them? Yes, it's easy to just stick the eggs in the incubator, but what I really want is ducks that will hatch out their own eggs and raise the ducklings.

Pekins are not known to be a broody type as they are bred more for production. And when they do sit, they often tend to give up early on.

Anconas (especially if you get from a breeder that breeds for the broody trait) can be very good broody ducks and very good mothers. Generally if you let them start a nest (be sure its in a safe place where it will be undisturbed), they will wait until they have their desired number of eggs (3 to 20, it depends on the duck) and then sit on them.

Here, I had 3 older girls (I no longer have these three) sit on 3 different nests. Generally they will fight and swap eggs which is not good for them. But these three seemed to keep to themselves. One had 6 eggs, one had 9, and one had 12. Out of all the eggs, they hatched within 4 days of each other, and they hatched and raised 20 ducklings. I did take the drake out of the pens when they hatched though as he was a little rough with them

 

[Colonel]

Anconas (especially if you get from a breeder that breeds for the broody trait) can be very good broody ducks and very good mothers. Generally if you let them start a nest (be sure its in a safe place where it will be undisturbed), they will wait until they have their desired number of eggs (3 to 20, it depends on the duck) and then sit on them.

Excellent information! Thank you - that's what I was looking for. Do breeders generally advertise that they breed for the broodiness trait? (I haven't seen that yet in the few breeder web sites that I've looked at) Any recommendations for a breeder with broody ducks? I'm not looking for any particular color pattern or show quality - just looking for a resilient flock. Again, thank you!

 

[learycow]

Excellent information! Thank you - that's what I was looking for. Do breeders generally advertise that they breed for the broodiness trait? (I haven't seen that yet in the few breeder web sites that I've looked at) Any recommendations for a breeder with broody ducks? I'm not looking for any particular color pattern or show quality - just looking for a resilient flock. Again, thank you!

Some breeders may not advertise it but you can always ask most are happy to share the traits they breed for.
That is one trait I breed for in ALL my duck breeds as I tend to let the hens do most of the hatching for me. They do a better job than my incubators

 

[caj1985]

I am so excited. Just got my first Ancona egg from my two pairs. Unfortunately, it looks like they have been laying for a while actually in the pond because I saw at least two buried in the shallow mud close to the bank I found this one on. These are my first ducks. Does the act of them laying in the water happen frequently?

 

[eggorthechicken]

Mine bury their eggs so I always have to dig for them.

 

[ckoop7]

Can you guys give me your opinion on the quality of these Ancona ducks? I would really appreciate any comments about them. Critiques, praises etc. I am new to this breed and would love some feedback

 

[learycow]

Can you guys give me your opinion on the quality of these Ancona ducks? I would really appreciate any comments about them. Critiques, praises etc. I am new to this breed and would love some feedback

In my opinion, I don't think you have all pure anconas. The two heavily marked ones on the right do not look to be anconas at all.

The other two, possibly. Can you get better side pics of them? That would help determine body carriage, spotting, chest marks, feet and bill marks, etc

Very pretty birds!

 

[ckoop7]

In my opinion, I don't think you have all pure anconas. The two heavily marked ones on the right do not look to be anconas at all.

The other two, possibly. Can you get better side pics of them? That would help determine body carriage, spotting, chest marks, feet and bill marks, etc 

Very pretty birds!

Well they aren't mine, I am getting some pure breed anconas that I know for sure are good quality but I was wanting to add another line in with them so they wouldn't all be related and this lady lives close to me, I was pretty sure they didn't look pure ancona but I wanted to double check with everyone on here first, so much for convenience thanks so much. There just no one around me that has them and I am getting 15 ducklings in about a month and I was hoping that I could get a few more from someone else. Ohh well.

 

[wildsam]

Ckoop, where are you located? Most of the Ancona breeders are either in the west or south. I think there were also a couple on the east cost. I'm in northern Wisconsin and we're hatching some right now.

 

[ckoop7]

Ckoop, where are you located? Most of the Ancona breeders are either in the west or south. I think there were also a couple on the east cost. I'm in northern Wisconsin and we're hatching some right now.

I'm in oklahoma. I thought about maybe just having some hatching eggs shipped to me cause I haven't found anyone near me yet.