Hatching Ducks, what's the best breed?

[WRVgirl]

I'm on the verge of buying and hatching a couple of duck eggs....

Not sure if I'm going Muscovy or Pekin yet though.

I don't know a whole lot about them, other than the vague hazy stuff I can recall from being 6 years old when my parents bought me 3 ducks for my birthday! lol

We're going to get a little kiddie pool for them, and our shed/coop is so big we're looking to section off part of it for our ducks.

What's your favorite chicken? We're looking for friendly, low maintenance, and deliciousness.

 

[learycow]

If you want a breed that's easy to hatch, then go with the pekin eggs. Muscovies are much harder to hatch and they take 35 days vs 28.

As far as chickens go, I LOVE white leghorns. They don't get very big, therefore they don't eat as much as some breed, (and yes, they are boring to look at) but mine started laying at 4 1/2 months old, lay everyday even in the cold, and they lay jumbo sized eggs (and they've only been laying for just under 4 months!). Mine were handled a lot as chicks so they are pretty friendly. But I think that goes for most breeds as long as they are used to being handled.
I have read that jersey giants are great for eggs and meat as they are a much larger bird. But that's not a breed I have ever had before.

Good luck in your search!

 

[Rocky Hill]

the "French Muscovy" is harder to hatch but they lay an egg a day & the drakes will reach 12lbs. in twelve weeks.

 

[r4eboxer]

If you are looking for eggs and meat you need to look at dual purpose. I'm not sure if you want dual purpose ducks or chickens, Silver Appleyards are good meat ducks though I've never had them but am on the waiting list at Holderreads for them. Runner ducks are good egg layers but I don't know how easy it is to hatch them. A Pekin is a good dual purpose breed in ducks.

Chickens, turkens are a good dual purpose breed, Rhode island red, Plymouth Rocks are all friendly. Don't expect the same amount of meat you get from a supermarket bird. All the above breeds are much skinnier than the Cornish X that you get from Wal-Mart. I have an egg laying flock of RIR, PR, Buff Orphingtons, Jersey Giants and a meat flock which consists of a white turken roo and 3 white turken hens. They don't have as many feathers so easier to pluck, are all white which means pin feathers do not show up as much on the carcass and are fairly large for a heritage breed of meat chicken. This will be my first year incubating eggs from the meat birds.

 

[WRVgirl]

Gah. I'm an idiot! I meant favorite DUCK, not chicken! LMAO,

I guess I've got chickens on the brain! ha ha ha

 

[hernyandpals]

I agree, pekins are really easy to take care of.. tho they tend to be loud ( especially mine! ) but i also have an ancona drake who is nice and quite and is soooo friendly. i have heard their eggs are really good and my ancona follows me around like a lost puppy dog!