Cheer me up, what are the GOOD things about pekins, mallards, buffs?

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Here lies Kale. She adored that pekin duck.

no finer tribute could be on any stone. I say, put it in your will.

 

[KaleIAm]

no finer tribute could be on any stone. I say, put it in your will.

My partner says he's going to engrave: "Here lies Kale.
She was enslaved by ducks."

But, in case he goes first, yes it must go in my will. That will be remedied.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

My partner says he's going to engrave: "Here lies Kale.
She was enslaved by ducks."

that works too... and someday people who never knew you will wonder what that could possibly mean.... but I prefer yours. My heart beats that same tune.

 

[VonSFarms]

Personally I don't order any breeds without doing my DD beforehand so I know what I'm getting into. That being said I did get into ducks a year ago and figured out they weren't for me bc I would have preferred having a large water source like a pond to make the cleaning a non issue and giving them space to play and swim. We found a fabulous couple who has an 8 acre pond and the means to give them what we couldn't so they adopted our birds. However 6 months ago we ended up taking in a friends Pekin duck who is disabled and was getting picked on by her flock mates. We honestly at this point couldn't imagine not having her bc she is THE sweetest most loving duck. She preens the chickens, they sleep together and they are her family and are totally inseparable. Make sure the animals you have are what you need or want for your set up bc given the chance all breeds can be pretty amazing

 

[fatty and friends]

was this class picture day everyone got dressed up to be in the year book ?

I love the little jackets, I could just see myself going out to put little coats on them every morning (like everyone doesn't ALREADY think I am nuts!)

Wish I had seen those coats in the fall, not the spring, but now I have all summer to figure out how to make a coat for a Muscovy.

i got them from target if you wanna get some for your girls

 

[nao57]

I've been trying out different duck breeds for awhile. And I believe I can help you see some advantages to them! Plus, most of the responses I saw were more emotional than technical.

Here are some really great points about those kinds of ducks;

Pekings have really awesome eggs. I did the math on them and actually pekings are a great egg layer. People will quote khakis (and welsh) as being the best egg producers for ducks. But I noticed the peking eggs I was getting were HUGE. No joke they were producing them almost twice the size of the other duck breeds. If I'd over feed them I'd get these type of eggs, and sometimes double yolked eggs. Although the pekings weren't producing as much in eggs per day, the overall size of the eggs being bigger meant that overall food volume was still very competitive! Plus, right now the so called premium breeds of ducks are costing more, but the cheaper more bland forgotten breeds prices haven't really gone up (which includes pekins).

Also when it came time to butcher them, it was quite obvious that the pekings are giving me way more meat than any of the other duck breeds.

I have had a few buffs, also. They are also a very nice breed. My buff hen is the smartest duck I have possibly. She has really good instincts and has better 'flight jumps' than my other ducks, when she wants to fly. They have really good forage skills, at least mine do. So I do like the buff ducks a lot, but in the beginning I had thought they weren't so special. It turned out their forage ability is very good for insect/vermin cleaning of the yard. I did turn some of my buffs into freezer steaks, and don't regret it. They are a nice duck. The meat was good but it wasn't as much meat as the peking gives obviously, but still happy. The buff I have now, seem to also be pretty alert, more than the other ducks, in spotting if I'm entering the yard or others (sense of alertness, predator nearness).

I haven't had normal mallards yet. But they do seem interesting. (I'm curious if others have to work harder to keep them out of neighbors yards, since supposedly the traditional mallard breed has more flight ability than the other domestic breeds? Can someone answer this? Also, if all of the flock were mallards would that mean there would be more increased chance of them roving to neighbor properties, if they don't have to 'leave someone behind'?)


...


I'm hoping to learn this year more about egg production in welsh ducks and runners to compare with above. But I will still really like the peking and buff egg production.

So far, I believe that each duck breed probably has some advantage over the others.

I suspect but don't know for sure, but traditional mallards may have an advantage with egg hatching(?)

I'm also hearing good things about swedish ducks being possibly more friendly to people. But I haven't tested this yet, myself.

 

[Ratchnick]

I've been trying out different duck breeds for awhile. And I believe I can help you see some advantages to them! Plus, most of the responses I saw were more emotional than technical.

Here are some really great points about those kinds of ducks;

Pekings have really awesome eggs. I did the math on them and actually pekings are a great egg layer. People will quote khakis (and welsh) as being the best egg producers for ducks. But I noticed the peking eggs I was getting were HUGE. No joke they were producing them almost twice the size of the other duck breeds. If I'd over feed them I'd get these type of eggs, and sometimes double yolked eggs. Although the pekings weren't producing as much in eggs per day, the overall size of the eggs being bigger meant that overall food volume was still very competitive! Plus, right now the so called premium breeds of ducks are costing more, but the cheaper more bland forgotten breeds prices haven't really gone up (which includes pekins).

Also when it came time to butcher them, it was quite obvious that the pekings are giving me way more meat than any of the other duck breeds.

I have had a few buffs, also. They are also a very nice breed. My buff hen is the smartest duck I have possibly. She has really good instincts and has better 'flight jumps' than my other ducks, when she wants to fly. They have really good forage skills, at least mine do. So I do like the buff ducks a lot, but in the beginning I had thought they weren't so special. It turned out their forage ability is very good for insect/vermin cleaning of the yard. I did turn some of my buffs into freezer steaks, and don't regret it. They are a nice duck. The meat was good but it wasn't as much meat as the peking gives obviously, but still happy. The buff I have now, seem to also be pretty alert, more than the other ducks, in spotting if I'm entering the yard or others (sense of alertness, predator nearness).

I haven't had normal mallards yet. But they do seem interesting. (I'm curious if others have to work harder to keep them out of neighbors yards, since supposedly the traditional mallard breed has more flight ability than the other domestic breeds? Can someone answer this? Also, if all of the flock were mallards would that mean there would be more increased chance of them roving to neighbor properties, if they don't have to 'leave someone behind'?)


...


I'm hoping to learn this year more about egg production in welsh ducks and runners to compare with above. But I will still really like the peking and buff egg production.

So far, I believe that each duck breed probably has some advantage over the others.

I suspect but don't know for sure, but traditional mallards may have an advantage with egg hatching(?)

I'm also hearing good things about swedish ducks being possibly more friendly to people. But I haven't tested this yet, myself.

Good point about pekins laying larger eggs. I love huge eggs. Even If the pekin lays the same number of eggs in a year if you run the numbers as you say i think you will find that the smaller birds are more feed efficient. Most backyard owners don't care about that and will love the novelty of huge eggs. Yes mallards are adept flyers, and also seem to go broody quite a bit.

 

[cmobley]

Good thing I found out about mallards is I can drop them off at my farm pond 2 hours away and they can survive. Bad thing about the buffs is they didn't.

 

[nao57]

Good thing I found out about mallards is I can drop them off at my farm pond 2 hours away and they can survive. Bad thing about the buffs is they didn't.

Wow very cool. I'm curious how long of time periods did you test the survival trait for?

I think the survival trait does have a big advantage.

 

[nao57]

Good point about pekins laying larger eggs. I love huge eggs. Even If the pekin lays the same number of eggs in a year if you run the numbers as you say i think you will find that the smaller birds are more feed efficient. Most backyard owners don't care about that and will love the novelty of huge eggs. Yes mallards are adept flyers, and also seem to go broody quite a bit.

Thanks! Good to know.