If you were an adult when you got into waterfowl, esp showing/breeding, please share your journey!

[addctd2plnts]

Hi Waterfowl Lovers!

I began my addiction into waterfowl this Spring with 10 Peniciled Indian Runners, ordered from Purely Poultry. I have a mildly disabled young adult daughter who also loves them. The hobby and work is good for both of us, since we have 44 acres anyway. I was hoping with 10 ducks, we'd come up with 2 that I could breed for potential showing in the future. Now realize I need some show quality blood or this project will take longer than years I have to live LMBO As I have become more familiar with the overall landscape of waterfowl breeders, I've seen how difficult it is to get many breeds. There seems to be a gap, now that Holderread's has dispersed. I truly wish it had been made into a non-profit with board to continue as it had been. Have been working all September to get waterfowl varieties I'm interested in. Learning the SOP for each breed. We have gone to one show to start familiarizing ourselves with the actual look of winning birds. I'm a very visual learner, so this is important. We're going to Lebanon, IN show on the 15-16th and Sedalia, MO show the next weekend. I hope to go to the Mega Show in Normon, OK in November.

Have been reflecting on how others that show may have gotten started, especially those that took up the hobby as adults. How did you aquire your stock and did you have a mentor to help you start showing? Please share your path!

 

[STACEYH]

I always enjoyed watching chickens. I don't show any. It sounds exciting though.

 

[JKHerdItAll]

My boyfriend and I are in our 30s, and moved to a new state and started with poultry this spring! He grew up on a horse ranch in Texas, and I've always had a zillion exotic house pets where I lived in Illinois, including pedigreed sugar gliders, so we're both experienced with caring for & breeding critters.

I first ordered chicks from Meyer hatchery, but all but two died after being stuck in the mail an extra 2-3 days. We discovered poultry swaps and picked up a new set of chicks from a vendor at one of those.

I've wanted geese for a few years, after playing with my friend's Sebastopol. After a whole bunch of research, I was torn between Romans and Pilgrims - but then I found a lady about an hour away with a 50+ year old flock of Pilgrims! I picked up a couple of her girls, a gander from a micro hatchery I found afterward, and then unfortunately a 3rd girl from a less-than-honest person. She advertised her goslings as some 100% Roman, some 100% Pilgrim, but our girl Pepper is definitely a mix. We love her feisty and confident personality, so we can't cull her, but she's going to be left out of the breeding fun haha. We'll get a friend for her next year so she's not lonely during those months.

We've been planning for next year and are trying to line up a source of show quality Pilgrims and also Welsh Harlequin ducks. Since we both work full time, we're not sure when/if we'll actually show, but we want to start out with the best stock we can, just in case! We also joined the APA, so we can meet show people and hopefully find a mentor.

But like you, we're having a lot of trouble sourcing decent stock! I've found a few people willing to ship WH eggs from show lines, but most of the Pilgrim people have passed away or have moved on to other projects. I did find one APA Master Breeder who sells adults sometimes, so I'm hoping she'll have some available next year I'm considering getting some from Metzer next year - he purchased all of Holderread's remaining Pilgrim breeders a few years ago, so I'm hoping that his Pilgrims might be better show quality than people say some of his other birds are.

 

[addctd2plnts]

My boyfriend and I are in our 30s, and moved to a new state and started with poultry this spring! He grew up on a horse ranch in Texas, and I've always had a zillion exotic house pets where I lived in Illinois, including pedigreed sugar gliders, so we're both experienced with caring for & breeding critters.

I first ordered chicks from Meyer hatchery, but all but two died after being stuck in the mail an extra 2-3 days. We discovered poultry swaps and picked up a new set of chicks from a vendor at one of those.

I've wanted geese for a few years, after playing with my friend's Sebastopol. After a whole bunch of research, I was torn between Romans and Pilgrims - but then I found a lady about an hour away with a 50+ year old flock of Pilgrims! I picked up a couple of her girls, a gander from a micro hatchery I found afterward, and then unfortunately a 3rd girl from a less-than-honest person. She advertised her goslings as some 100% Roman, some 100% Pilgrim, but our girl Pepper is definitely a mix. We love her feisty and confident personality, so we can't cull her, but she's going to be left out of the breeding fun haha. We'll get a friend for her next year so she's not lonely during those months.

We've been planning for next year and are trying to line up a source of show quality Pilgrims and also Welsh Harlequin ducks. Since we both work full time, we're not sure when/if we'll actually show, but we want to start out with the best stock we can, just in case! We also joined the APA, so we can meet show people and hopefully find a mentor.

But like you, we're having a lot of trouble sourcing decent stock! I've found a few people willing to ship WH eggs from show lines, but most of the Pilgrim people have passed away or have moved on to other projects. I did find one APA Master Breeder who sells adults sometimes, so I'm hoping she'll have some available next year I'm considering getting some from Metzer next year - he purchased all of Holderread's remaining Pilgrim breeders a few years ago, so I'm hoping that his Pilgrims might be better show quality than people say some of his other birds are.

Your story is a lot like mine. I've been going through an APA Yearbook and contacting anyone who showed the Pilgrims and Pomeranians. I did get the Australian Spotted, East Indies, Mini Appleyards, and Butterscotch Calls I wanted. I found a super nice East Coast breeder with lines of winning Cayugas and Pekins and got a pair of each. I also found white Indian Runners from some nice show lines. But my original plan for Welsh Harlequins, Pilgrims and Pomeranians, hasn't materialized. I won't give up. If I have to do Sebastopols first, that's ok. At least I have enough show lines now to start breeding some next Spring.

The next biggest problem is to find somebody willing to help mentor me, especially when picking birds to keep vs sell. I saw where Lou Horton wrote about a friend that mentored him for something like the first 7 years and helped him pick his breeding pairs every year. I'd be willing to compensate a person well for the help because the friendship is truly needed. If they want to keep people in the hobby, they need to ask people to mentor a few newbies for a few years IMHO It's much harder to get started if you're not in 4H or young.

Wanted to go to the Normon, OK show and Ohio show but not sure I can get away. May have to wait till our home renovation is done next Spring.