Khacki Campbell x Pekin --- for meat?

[ericatdallas]

So here's what I'm thinking... Getting a bunch of Khacki Campbells for laying eggs. Get a male Pekin to give me meat ducks. That way I get the laying quantity from the Campbells.

...but how do the crosses compare to Pekin as far as meat quality and feed conversion.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to have thought of this... I did a forum search and didn't find the specific question I was asking.

Or what other breeds would be a good combination.

My other thought was just getting all pekins but I kind of like variety as well.

I'm also interested in Aylesbury if anyone has any good leads to find some.

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

I've heard pekins lay pretty well also, so you may just see how good they are as a dual purpose bird. Plus then you can hatch your own replacement hens. I got welsh harlequin ducks for egg laying...so far they are machines! But this is their first year, so we shall see. They are a bit heavier than khaki's so they might help with your meat traits if you used them in your cross.

Check out this little chart for egg laying and weights of a bunch of breeds... http://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparison.cfm?CustID=7719236

 

[ericatdallas]

That crossed my mind was to use all Pekins but then I saw that Campbells have better "mothering" ability to raise ducklings. Although I suppose I can rear them separately myself.

I'll probably just do Pekins and make it easier.