crossing ducks

[njduck]

this is something I have never tried or ever thought about. however with a new market for duck products I have to change my way of doing business. I have raised muscovys and have never crossed them, don't want mules. i have selected the better qualities and breed for larger meat purposes. I am now looking at a large egg market which muscovys can only handle during the summer. So I am going with runner ducks, since I got 8 - 2week old ducklings for $2. however they are slender and not great for meat producton. I also have 5 pekins, (kidswanted AFLAC ducks) 1 drake and 4 hens cost $10. If I crossed the pekin drake with the runner hens - would I get a larger duck that still lays well?

 

[mandelyn]

I would look into one of the breeds you can do both with... that way the extra boys go for meat and the girls you retain will lay eggs, while you can also sell extras easily since they're purebred instead of crossed. Or cross them and see what happens. I went with Saxony as a dual purpose duck, but there are other types too.

I have 2 hens that are crosses, a Pekin mother and a Mallard dad. They're every bit as large as a Pekin, colored like a Mallard. I don't know how they'll lay, I would imagine with some improvement over a seasonal mallard. I was going to let them breed with the Saxony boys and see what happens there. If anything, they'll dress out nicely.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

I'm not a duck expert, but if you have a good market for duck eggs you should check out the khaki Campbells. We had a small flock that out-laid all our chickens. Real egg machines.

We had several crosses including some runner/pekins, and they were all over the place. Some laid a good bit, others seldom laid an egg.

 

[Kerath]

We have a wonderful Buff hen who laid just about every day. We crossed her with our runner boys and ended up with daughters that produce eggs almost every day of the year and drakes with much heavier bodies than their runner fathers. Here's a pic of some of the offspring.