Yes, thanks for asking! I just posted on my Duck and Goose group about these.
I ordered in 15 of the GC from Sand Hill. They sent 17 but 4 died in the first few days so that left 13. They are now about 2 months old and I am still hoping they improve.
I ordered in Saxony and they arrived the week before from Holderreads. Huge difference in temperament. And I ordered 10, they sent 11 and I still have all of them! No deaths in that group.
They have been raised in brooders side by side, fed the same, handled the same and now they are all out in grow up pens that are 15x60 ft with a coop. The coop is one small shed but split in half. They can hear each other when inside but aren't big enough to see over the partition yet. They only have wire to divide them when outside.
The Saxony are very nice. They come around me when I go in the pen, they come up and eat and play in the pool and if they are on the far end of the pen they will come if I call them. I am loving this breed so far. They are so easy going that I placed a Cayuga, a Pekin, a Cayuga/Runner mix and 2 Muscovy babies in with them approx. the same age and they all buddied up just great.
However, the GC are a bunch of ditzy crazed ducklings! They freak out when I get near the pen. They run away screaming and run their heads through the fence trying to escape when I am even about 25 ft away! They stampede over each other and are total nuts. I have tried feeding treats and spending more time with them but to no avail, they are not calm.
I tried to add some Runner ducklings to their group and they attacked them. Definitely not the norm at my place for young ducklings.
I worry that being so skittish they will not be such great layers but that has to be seen yet.
I know my Runners are not the calmest of breeds but I expect it from them. And they are not crazed like the GC. Again, though, some of my stock came from Holderreads and I breed from that.
I am not sure what the GC were like when the Holderreads were breeding them but maybe this is why they got away from the breed. If they are really bad when grown I may try the Golden 300's instead or just stick with Runners for laying. However, I have several Runners right now that are broody so that does not help me with egg production. They are not the Runners from Holderreads but rather from Metzers and Strombergs.
It is interesting to see how they all are in temperament. I may do a bit of breeding from them to see if I can improve anything but am not sure yet. I am not big on breeding ducks except to keep some for myself. For some reason most people want chickens and do not realize how great ducks are.
