Duck Breed Focus - Australian Spotted Duck

[Duck Drover]

Few more pictures just in case the picture wasn't good enough.

They do look like they could be greenhead Spots if Dave is still hatching them. I would just verify with him to be sure. Ducklings can be hard to identify from unknown sources but you have a reputable source so you can know for sure. If you did get the Spots unexpectedly then congratulations!

 

[chwychuro]

You are correct, they do not have the Australian Spotted anymore. They said that the ones I had received were cascades. Thank you for your help

 

[Duck Drover]

So many Mallard derived breeds have the Mallard like down pattern that it is hard to tell the breed from the down alone. Then crossbreeds are a further challenge but buying from a breeder eliminates that guessing game.

I have made sure all our Australian Spotted ducks are from Holderreads and not someone else trying to duplicate the breed because I don't want surprises in our breeding program. My hope is that others will continue to breed true so they will be more common but as soon as more people get pure breed ducks there will be crossbreeds out there due to backyard mixes. Our goal is to preserve the breed, not play with mixing genetics just to see what the offspring will look like. There are successful hybrids but there are also failures and I prefer to stick to recognized breeds with a history of success.

 

[Duck Drover]

So this week I had two friends who were expecting hatches of Australian Spotted ducks end up disappointed over hatching failures. We have set our first hatches in the incubator since I was expecting my surgery to be over with on Tuesday but instead it was further delayed. My daughter has taken the lead in hatching for now and hopefully all goes well with our hatches.

I have someone wanting me to ship eggs across the country and I have not shipped eggs before so this will be a first for me. I know hatching shipped eggs poses assorted issues so we usually just hatch our own eggs instead of selling them. I listed some locally to see how well they hatch for others but I had not expected someone from across the country to reply to my listing.

I am interested in knowing how successful others have been in hatching the Australian Spotted ducklings. I have thought of them as an easy duck to hatch considering we have hatched and raised so many but I had some failures of my own when I tried recommended humidity levels or when we had prolonged hot weather that caused temp spikes in my styrofoam incubators. We built a cabinet incubator but I have not been able to test hatch anything in it yet because I need some thermometers and hygrometers to run a test of the heat and humidity before putting eggs in it.

Has anyone hatched their own ducklings or do people primarily get ducklings or breeding pairs to start a flock? We have offered ducklings and breeding pairs (some people don't want the hassle of ducklings so we raise them) but this is the first year we are offering hatching eggs.

 

[cscarney]

Hi all--

I have Spots from Holderread's (we're several generations out from the original stock). I'd kept back 18 breeders this past year (6 drakes/12 ducks) and had them free ranging this spring. Sadly, a fox found them and I lost all but 9 (2 drakes, 7 ducks). I have eggs in the incubator and the ducks are laying well, so I hope to bring my numbers back up.

I'd like to get more people hooked on this breed--they're great little ducks. I'm in central Ohio, so if you're in driving distance and would like eggs, let me know and we can work something out.

Catherine

 

[Amiga]

Hi all--

I have Spots from Holderread's (we're several generations out from the original stock). I'd kept back 18 breeders this past year (6 drakes/12 ducks) and had them free ranging this spring. Sadly, a fox found them and I lost all but 9 (2 drakes, 7 ducks). I have eggs in the incubator and the ducks are laying well, so I hope to bring my numbers back up.

I'd like to get more people hooked on this breed--they're great little ducks. I'm in central Ohio, so if you're in driving distance and would like eggs, let me know and we can work something out.

Catherine

for your loss
and thanks for letting us know you breed them.

Closest person I know is in Texas.

 

[Duck Drover]

I have been asked to ship eggs all over the country but I have not tried it yet. I am too afraid the post office will handle them in a way that prevents them from hatching and ethically it creates a dilema I don't want to get into. Once I become NPIP it might be something I attempt but I read that shipping eggs without the proper paperwork is not allowed. I am more likely to ship adult pairs before attempting to ship ducklings or eggs.

We just had a family of ducklings venture off the nest today: three silverheads, two blueheads, and two greenheads. I wanted to post a picture but apparently BYC is having technical issues with Chrome they are still working on before I can get pictures to post again. We have at least ten hens on nests so we should have lots hatching soon. I usually incubate but I am waiting until after my surgery to get started this year. There were two eggs left in the nest so they are in the hatcher to see if they are any good. My candler bulb is burned out and have I have not been able to find another one so I may have to do a float test to see if there is any sign of life.

 

[Duck Drover]

My daughter has eggs in the incubator but her first hatch was due yesterday and they are late. She lowered the incubator temperature on a hot day because it was at 102 but all she needed to do was open the lid to let them cool a bit without moving the dial. Once the Little Giant incubators are set up, I leave them alone and they do fine. Now we have to chase the thermometer to get it back where it needs to be and I am afraid the eggs in the hatcher now may not have survived at 98 degrees. Hopefully they just slowed down and we will still have incubator ducklings hatching. They have been in lockdown in the hatcher for three days now with no pips yet. I would like her first hatch to be a success but it may not go well.

 

[Duck Drover]

Our new arrivals!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Our new arrivals!

Aww Congrats!! did mama duck hatch these?