Best Duck?

[MysticalMom]

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Yeah the SA's are big clumsy birds. Funny to watch and the girls are LOUD quackers! Oh and the muscovy...I'd say Geronimo weighs about 10 or 11 lbs easy. He's a big boy and the favorite duck on the farm.

 

[lakota_elder]

Silver Appleyards + Campbells = Look alike Harlequins.... wonder if that's how that cross got started and not a mutation in the genes...... Someone's neighbor slipped in a appleyard drake while the guy was on vacation...!!!!

 

[CityChicker]

LOL, the story about how the Welsh Harlequins started is dubious at best. They probably did not start as Appleyard mixes, but I would not be surprised at all if they started as Runner mixes. The story about them being "sports" from Khaki Campbell stock is.... well... nevermind. LOL. Leslie Bonnet was a businessman and a "duck trader". There are plenty of reasons why he would have said they were sports. Having seen some of the original photos, as I have said before- they looked a heck of a lot like Runner mixes. The color wasn't even clearly described by Bonnet. If you go back and read some of his writing, he mentioned at least three radically different color forms (and no, I'm not talking about "Gold" verses "Silver", that is an American invention/distinction). Even the name he gave the breed was a shrewd business decision done solely to convince a lady that collected all things "Welsh" to buy his ducks. LOL, my hat is off to him. Look at the legacy he created!

 

[Ahab]

How are Appleyards as foragers versus, say, Welsh Harlequins or Cayugas (which I've not seen mentioned here under the Best <backyard/all-purpose> Duck heading)? I'm on the ideal-duck search, too, and on paper Muscovies would seem to be it, but I'm put off Muscovies by small worries about their ability to ignore a Maine winter. Or, for that matter, a Maine summer.

 

[goosedragon]

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Hm, I never thought of Pekins as good egg layers.

I should get some Pekins, though I do have 2 white crested ducks that are basically crested pekins.

I used to have pekins as a kid 2 females and a male plus a breeding pair of mallards. I remember collecting 2-3 eggs everyday and the pekin eggs were obviously bigger than the mallards, and most days there were 2 pekin eggs. I don't know if the quality/place you get them from have anything to do with it or not - which it probably does....Just like with magpies that used to be one of the best layers a long time ago, now have been bred to the point where they produce nearly 1/2 the egg quantity they used to 100+ years ago if I'm remembering my breed history correctly.

You must be using an inbred line that was bred for its pattern rather than eggs. They are rated at 220-290 eggs/year, twice that rate is impossible and "The Magpie Duck is believed to have originated in the early 1900s, having been developed by Oliver Drake and M.C. Gower-Williams in Wales."-wikipedia.

 

[Wifezilla]

My Welsh Harlequins are good foragers. Two of my little flock I would term exceptional. There isn't a green or kitchen scrap they wont eat. The others are a bit spoiled and have their favorite veggies, but are really good at finding slugs and other bugs hiding in the straw and under the shrubs. I have also noticed they are all excellent fly catchers

 

[Ahab]

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From your blog, they appear to be pretty good mothers, too. Maybe an ideal backyard duck? We've kept Campbells in the past, but they were hopelessly unmotherly--though dedicated slug-patrollers.

 

[Wifezilla]

My best mother, surprisingly, was my runner! LOL

Lexi, my Holderread's WH did OK on her first clutch. I have read they get really good at the mom thing when they are 2 or older. If you want a duck that will go broody, is a good forager, lays tons of eggs, doesn't fly, is generally friendly, looks really pretty, and you can eat if you need to, go with Welsh Harlequins.

 

[MysticalMom]

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Here is a pic of Apple. My Appleyard/Khaki Campbell cross. ( hatched from a BYCers eggs) He's a beauty, but he's a menace.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Wow he is gorgeous!!! Can everyone post pics of their Appleyards?

Thanks!