Holderread Rare Duckling Assortment

[bellah1]

Can't really tell from the pic but looks like some kind of trout runner, like apricot trout or one of the lighter trouts. It will be a gorgeous duck when it feathers out though! There's a few sites that have pics of the babies and adults if you want to compare. Cute babies congrats!

 

[kiwijean83]

My goodness, if it turns out to be a she and an Apricot, I will be so happy! What a beautiful color! If it is a runner, it is a lousy runner, but I am not showing them so it does not matter. I knew Holderreads bred many colors of runners beyond those listed on their site, so that would be cool.

Thanks for the help Bella1!

 

[bellah1]

You know what else it kind of looks like is a khaki cambell (mix) but would they send you a cross breed? Could you inquire and she what possible breed he could be from that weeks hatches? But please post updated pictures as he grows cause now I'm really curious!

 

[mominoz]

No, they don't do crossbreds unless they are developing a new color or breed. Saxony (maybe), they have eyestripes if female, but think mine were more yellow, if it had a mohawk as a baby, it would be a Silver Appleyard, not a Runner., heads wrong and stance and size. It's a medium or large duck. Or Kahaki Cambell.

 

[Senna95]

I'd say maybe a blue-fawn or a blue-trout runner. Too dark to be saxony or apricot.

Check out this page: http://www.ashtonwaterfowl.net/indian_pics.htm

 

[kiwijean83]

Thanks for all the feed back guys, I really appreciate it. A little frustrated with the webbed ones at the moment. I have both chicks and ducklings, and the ducklings are just plain scared of everything, especially me. This is despite a lot of handling, treats and socialization. They seem to just like to be around their little duckling buddies and scream bloody murder, running away as fast as they can when I go into their house. My chicks, in contrast, are super friendly and come over to say hi when I go into the coop, like attention.

Wish I knew how to make the ducklings more friendly and confident. Is this just a duckling thing? I have seen posts of people who have super friendly ducklings, kind of bummed about mine.

 

[animaladdictions]

Were they day olds when you got them or older? Ducklings need to imprint on people after hatch and then lots of holding and sweet talking usually keeps them pretty tame. If you don't have a lot of time to hold each one (at least a few times a day) however, they mostly just bond with each other and will treat you like some sort of strange monster that just wants to eat them! I have a pair of buff calls that I bought as adults that were very skiddish of me at first but now they eat out of my hand...the trick you ask???? WORMS! LOL My little ducks absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE worms! They got over their fear pretty quick when they thought it meant I'd dig up another worm or two for them!

 

[Duck Drover]

I have fallen in love with the Australian Spotted ducks. My ducks are out of Holderreads several generations ago and at some point I will probably get some additional colors from Holderreads since I just have greenheads now. I hatched a silver colored duckling that I am keeping to see what color it is when it feathers out. One of my younger hens has whiter colored feathers while my older hens are darker in color so I am wondering if I have some recessive genes showing up due to the linebreeding before I got them. I know Noelle has a drake related to three of my hens (as son and brother) so it can be a challenge to find ducks that are a bit removed genetically in order to keep diversity in the gene pool. I plan to keep only hen ducklings from my hens so I will be able to aquire drakes from Holderreads without ordering them directly. If I use a different drake every year I should be able to avoid inbreeding and even linebreeding.

So far I have been selling straight runs but if I let the hens raise their ducklings they will be sexed before I sell them and it could become a challenge to sell too many drakes. I want to do what I can to promote an endangered breed so my hope is that it will be possible to find homes for pairs of drakes as slug and bug eaters for garden patrol. Because the drakes are quiet and they don't get broody, they make the best foragers and they are also great lawn ornaments because they are more colorful than the hens.

 

[kiwijean83]

OK, well they still don't like to be touched, but they now will follow me to the pond, and come in from the pond as long as I have treats. They run over the fence of their new pen and quack at me when I come out and talk to them, just not a big fan of attention (which is okay with me, as long as they are happy). We are down to 9 ducks, lost 3 to a dog attack when they refused to come ing off the pond overnight (bummer because it was my blue bibbed runner, one of my dutch hookbills and a brown runner), but the remaining are doing great and are HUGE! I can't believe how fast they grown compared to my chicks.
I have a pair of Welsh Harlequins (I was secretly hoping one would be a drake since I will keep one male) and I think a couple of the runners are ducks (some loud quacking going on) but not quite sure, time will tell.

Does anyone know of a breeder of Ancona's or Saxony's around Skagit or Snohomish county in Washington? I would not mind adding a juvenile female of each to our little flock.

 

[anatidae]

I have ordered all my ducklings from Ideal. They have been really good to work with and will let you order small numbers. Their prices are reasonable too. I would love to order some silkies but I only want a few. I thought about ordering adults but they are expensive. Some of the breeds that they say are "rare" really aren't all that "rare". I would also love to get a couple of dutch hookbills, but again don't want to order the minimum. Does anyone sell hookbills other than Holderreads?