IF I were to consider getting a drake, what might I look for?

[Amiga]

It's been almost eleven months. I love my flock of ten runner girls. They appear to like me, too.

From time to time someone asks about hatching eggs or ducklings. My primary aim right now is to just keep working out the logistics for the flock I have.

But, some time in the next year or two, I may want to introduce a drake, so that we can have replacement ducks, a few a year. Perhaps I could sell hatching eggs. On the other hand, maybe I just want to leave the breeding to someone else. But these girls came from across the continent, and I wish there were a local breeder (have not found one yet).

Would I want a runner drake, or would a runner/call drake be a possible good idea?

Would I care about his color? I have black and brown (chocolate) ducks. Personally, I would not care about his color, not for my flock, anyway.

I do not want to show, do not want to refine any bloodlines, but I do like the way these girls lay so many eggs, and are so healthy.

I think if I want to sell hatching eggs, the drake would need to be a runner, not a runner cross. Or do I need to rethink that? I think a runner/call might be cute, and a good size. But it might be much louder (should we hatch out girls) than the runners, which aren't obnoxious. I don't think I would want a mix, after all.

 

[FenDruadin]

If you want to sell eggs or ducklings, you'll have much better luck and fetch better prices with a Runner drake. Black, blue, or chocolate would work fine with your flock, producing all pure-color offspring (because those three colors are all variations on the same genetics).

If you're looking for a good quality drake, which is always nice because it improves the quality of your entire flock, you might want to see if someone in your area wants to place an order with Holderread, and then sell you an extra drake (or just find someone in your area with Holderread stock).

If not, then you're looking for tall, upright stance first and foremost. Good laying lines are important too, if you want to improve productivity in your flock. A nicely curved head is good, too, to enhance that upright wine-bottle look.

Good luck. The drake can be so important to a flock's overall quality, so it's a fun but also challenging decision!