Anyone have Australian Spotted Ducks?

[ducklover15]

Does anyone have Australian Spotted ducks? I would love to see some good pictures of them!

I'd really like to see pictures of drakes. =]

 

[rflagg2]

Here are a couple pictures.

Female

Male

 

[NYREDS]

http://holderreadfarm.com/photogallery/photo_gallery_home_page/photo_gallery_home.htm

 

[CityChicker]

I do! I am trying to get better about taking pictures, but it always seems like when I want to take a picture, I don't have my camera with me, LOL. I know there are pictures in various threads in the archives as well if you search as we have a few members here that have them.

I love the Aussies. I have raised them for several years now in all three colors. I have really been rebuilding my flock the last couple seasons and now have a flock of about 50 of the Aussie Spots (and more incubating right now). I am still stunned sometimes by how calm and friendly they are. I went out yesterday and banded a ton of birds and almost the whole time, I had Australian Spotteds at my feet or jumping in my lap. Over and over again, I would band one and record what we have and the birds would just sit in my lap and not even want to jump back down when it was done (and these are birds that were flocked raised and haven't had continuous handling for the most part).

I will probably be selling a few surplus this Fall, but in the Aussies it will probably just be drakes- Blue Heads and Green Heads. Everything else, we are keeping for next year. We may also have a few Overbergs (developed from Aussies) and some Silver bantams.

 

[Birdcrazy]

They are beautiful

They're about Call duck size, aren't they?

 

[CityChicker]

They are, in general, much bigger than Calls. They are definite bantam ducks, being about a third the size of most of the large breeds, but they are bigger than Calls. Some of my Aussies are about double the size of my smaller Calls.

 

[ducklover15]

Wow the more I look at Australian Spotted Ducks the more I think I have some! But mine really aren't much bigger than the ducks I know for sure are calls.

Are those greenhead, bluehead or silverhead?

I think I have a greenhead and a bluehead.

Here's who I think is the greenhead in his drake feathers...

And him in eclipse...

And this girl looks exactly like your's!

 

[rflagg2]

I have been told that the female is a blue head not sure exactly about the drake. To test if they are Australian Spotted there is a few things you can do. The "standard" (not a recognized breed) is that they are 30 to 38 oz or around 2 pounds, if their bills are 1 3/4 to 2 inches in length, and that their calls are not as high pitched as a call duck.

 

[CityChicker]

Ducklover- Yours are pet quality Calls or Call mixes. They're not pure Aussie Spots (or maybe not Aussies at all). I went back and looked at the older thread because I remember telling you they look a lot like Australian Spotteds in color, which they do. As I said before though, there are also Spot and Aleutian Calls, which are basically the same color genotype as Australian Spotteds. That is why they look so similar. The body, bill shape, and size is not right for Australian Spotteds. They are just the same color (which is not a bad thing, Spot and Aleutian Calls are harder to come by than Aussie Spots). They certainly could be Australian Spotted mixes as well.

Anyway, in your drake's nuptial plumage he does look a lot like a Snowy. In his down color and juvenile plumage though, it is obvious he is not a Snowy (which is what I think the eggs were sold to you as). In basic terms, there are a couple different genes that lighten plumage- light phase and harlequin phase. Each bird inherits one gene from each parent. A bird that is "Spot" color has inherited one light phase gene from one parent and one harlequin phase gene from the other parent. Your drake is a Green Spot. Your hen is a Blue Spot.

 

[chickenlisa]

here are mine...I've got 1 adult pair and thier 8 babies...

The babies are 3 months old now and I want to sell some of them , if anyone lives near NJ, please PM me?
Lisa