Aztec Ducks!

[HalfWayUpAMountain]

Aztecs are a very rare breed of bantam duck created by Holderread in 1983. Holderread began to develop them when they realized that people wanted a small, pretty duck to keep that was hardy and easy to propagate. Call ducks weren't cutting it for some people, since well-bred Calls have a lot of trouble hatching and can be hard to breed. So Holderread set out to create a very pretty bantam duck that bred easily and was hardy and vigorous. Thus, the Aztec was created.

They were bred to be about halfway between the extremes of the wild mallard and the Call duck. Not so long and racy as a mallard, but not so short and round as a Call. As a result, they were small, hardy birds that weren't difficult to breed. They were good layers, as far as bantam ducks go, producing between 40 and 100 eggs a year. They were good mothers, and readily hatched and raised their own ducklings.

However, Holderread eventually decided they would no longer keep the breed. Since then, they have nearly become extinct. But some were preserved, and have been kept in small flocks, being outcrossed to Calls or mallards to try to introduce new blood.

A small group of just such these birds made their way to me today. I offered help and genetics advice to someone with a small flock of these beautiful little ducks, and they decided to entrust me with a small flock of my own to work with and to help preserve the breed.

Here is most of my little group today, settling into their new digs. Certainly didn't take them long to find the pool!

View attachment 1845376

More pictures to come as they get settled.

Does anyone else keep this breed?

Congratulations! And I think its fabulous that you are helping preserve this beautiful breed

 

[Knighstar679]

So how big will these Aztec ducks get? (# of pounds at max size?)

Will they be loud like call ducks or extra quiet? (People say call ducks get super loud.)

How does their egg production look?

I'm a bit confused.

They sound like you guys are describing a midsize hybrid between a call duck and a mallard? Is that right? Or is it much closer to one group or the other?

I'm curious if they have any advantages like Khakis or Pekings (eggs or meat).

So they have a high pitch quack like a call duck, but they aren’t nearly as chatty as call ducks. They are their own breed but they nearly went extinct over the years.
Their size will be around the size of a Black East Indie or Australian Spotted between the 4 to 5 pound mark.

From my experience though they are currently closer to call duck size. They were bred into themselves for years. So they currently have more call duck traits than they are supposed to. Also the blue pearl color got bred out by the time the gang that got them started to preserve them. So to add in genetics and get back in that lost color mallards are being bred in.

I don’t have any egg layers yet so I can’t answer that. But they are not a meat bird, and not a major egg layer. Their main perk is the beautiful color patterns that are striking in their pattern. They are a nice beautiful fairly calm bird to have.

 

[Knighstar679]

Here is some updated pictures of the 11 Aztec babies. They are right around 6 weeks old this week.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Almost all grown up.

 

[Knighstar679]

Almost all grown up.

Almost. They are still another 6 weeks from adult colors but they look really sharp already.

 

[Miss Lydia]

They are gorgeous!! ❤

 

[Knighstar679]

New ducklings the first two to hatch.

 

[Knighstar679]

We are up to 6 ducklings. They are popping out like popcorn. I will get more pictures once I get more hatched.

 

[Knighstar679]

End count is 10 ducklings, one DIS, two late quitters. All ducklings are porcelain. Only two needed assistance due to malpositioning, no foot in the correct positions.

Hoping for some girls this time.

 

[Pyxis]

So I have good news and bad news. I had a lab test my Aztec kids to find their genders because I was impatient. The bad news is the lab said the lab said they were all males. The good news is that two of these “Males” are full on quacking pretty good. Another 3 are trying to to quack. Including one blue pearl which I am excited about because I had come to the conclusion that I would be doomed have all males from this hatch. So this makes me hopeful and pretty excited to have the chance to have some hens!

Which lab did you use?