anybody have rouen's?

[annie3001]

i have some in my shopping cart with mcmurray hatchery. havent placed the order yet... been reading. i already have a spare coop for them. so housing isnt a issue. from what i have read, they are a nice small breed of duck. does anybody have any from byc here that can share some great/positive insight on them? i plan to buy them from mcmurray as ducklings. very very excited. i wont actually have them till march. thanks in advance everyone!

 

[MysticalMom]

I have a pair. They're just.... ducks. lol My girl, Gypsy is a loner. She is smart though... on a rainy morning when all the other ducks head for the food dishes, she runs for the driveway to eat all the earthworms that the rain brings up. Gets them all before the other ducks even realize what she's doing.

Here's a couple of pics of my drake, Decoy, ( with his best friend my Black Swedish, Draco) I don't have any good pics of Gyspy. I need to take some.

 

[annie3001]

oh how sweet they look.

thanks for sharing your pictures!


btw: curious on the hose in the pool. i see alot of people do that. is that because it spills out? we have well water at our house. never ran out, but i wonder do you leave the hose constanly running?

 

[KansasKid]

Small breed of duck, i don't think so. Mine eat as much as my dogs do and are at least 7 pounds. ill post some pics in a sec.

 

[duckking]

I have Rouens. Sorry, but you might be thinking of Mallards. Rouens are HUGE, one of the largest ducks, but their coloration is just like a Mallard. They are so big, mine can't fly.


The drake, Victor is a Rouen and the duck behind him is Soap, my female Rouen. The other three are Mallard hens. They are half the size, easily.

 

[MysticalMom]

Quote:
No I don't keep the hose in there all the time. Notice how pretty and clear the water is? I was just filling their pools and they couldn't wait until I pulled the hose out so they jumped in while the hose was still on. Believe me, the water doesnt stay all pretty and clear for long.

And yeah, Rouens are not small ducks. Not as big as my Appleyards, but still a pretty big duck.

 

[duckking]

Appleyards are larger than Rouens? Wholly crow! They must be huge! My drake is only 7 months old and he's already over 9lb. My almost 6 month old hen is just about 7 lbs. I understand they don't actually come to physical maturity until 16-18 months. And I thought THEY were scary. My little Mallards are these dainty little things in comparison. Appleyards are beautiful. I love the fact that the females also have such pretty colouring. Now my son wants Pekins......Ummm...honey, you know our little tiny duck house.......It needs an extension!

 

[MysticalMom]

Quote:
My Rouen drake must be small then because he tops out at about 8 lbs. But my Silver Appleyards, oh yeah.. they're big suckers. Fat, heavy bodied comical ducks. And they lay huge eggs too. I love the girls, but my drake, Spidey... he is a BEAUTY. I haven't taken any pics of them since last spring before they had all their colors and patterns. I am so lazy when it comes to taking pics. My pekins are some of my favorites though. 6 of the famous Clarksburg Quackers. ( Search the forum for the really cool story) And I just got 4 beeeeeautiful runners from another forum member.... and I have some French Toulouse Geese from Metzer's coming in the spring... It's an addiction I tell ya. Look at my signature.... I have a few ducks.

But the Geese are it. I swear.

 

[ARose4Heaven]

I have a drake and a hen. My drake is just plain MEAN to my chickens sometimes. He does not like to be handled at all, the hen is even worse. And they are water hogs. I have to put out a special pan of water just for the ducks. Currently my drake has puss in one eye. I am very worried, but don't have a clue what to do for him.

I got mine from Thiesen's Farm Store. I also got 3 Pekins at the same time. The Pekins went to freezer camp, but I kept the Rouens because the hen was laying eggs, and I was hoping for ducklings. She quit laying eggs when winter hit. If she doesn't start again in the spring, it will be off to freezer camp or.... I might just turn them loose down to the pond with a dog carrier for shelter, and see if they can survive on their own. Lots of grass, berries and tadpoles to chase down there.

My hen laid a white egg that was about the same size as my chicken eggs. It was easy to tell them apart, because the duck eggs have a much thicker shell. I didn't notice any difference in the taste.

 

[duckking]

Quote:
My Rouen drake must be small then because he tops out at about 8 lbs. But my Silver Appleyards, oh yeah.. they're big suckers. Fat, heavy bodied comical ducks. And they lay huge eggs too. I love the girls, but my drake, Spidey... he is a BEAUTY. I haven't taken any pics of them since last spring before they had all their colors and patterns. I am so lazy when it comes to taking pics. My pekins are some of my favorites though. 6 of the famous Clarksburg Quackers. ( Search the forum for the really cool story) And I just got 4 beeeeeautiful runners from another forum member.... and I have some French Toulouse Geese from Metzer's coming in the spring... It's an addiction I tell ya. Look at my signature.... I have a few ducks.

But the Geese are it. I swear.

NOOOOOOOOOO....don't talk to me about geese or I'll have a 5 page essay from my son on why we should have "a couple"! That's how we ended up with ducks!