Narrowed it down to 5....

[porkchop48]

Ok I have been reading and reading and reading some more.

I have narrowed down my duck choices.

We are looking for a good dual purpose duck who is also a non flyer.

So which would be best -

Pekin
Orpington
Kahki Campbell
Cayuga
Ancona

I only want to have one kind of duck. I have read conflicting things about which fly and which don't, so any pros and cons of any of them in asspeciated.

 

[Eroc1_1]

I would probably say the Ancona or Cayuga. The issue with the Cayuga will probably be dark pin feathers.

 

[jbourget]

go with buff orpingtons. they are so nice i ordered 10 more because i bought a buff hen that i liked so much. ive got like 80 ducklings this year every breed.

 

[Eroc1_1]

Quote:
That is ALOT of ducklings!

 

[fishnet1971]

I am biased... i have three Pekin Ducklings, about 4 weeks old now, and they are adorable, sweet, loving, did I say adorable yet???????

 

[julie75]

Well I have the Ancona's, BO and Pekins and I love them all the same. I don't plan on eating them (nothing against it but I'm just too attached to them) but with doing research on the breeds, I have read that Pekin or BO ducks are better for eating because of their down feathers being a light color instead of dark(why that makes a difference, I don't know) I have also read that Pekins can be real fatty and oily. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Oregon Blues]

You missed the Silver Appleyard.

In my opinion, the very best dual purpose duck. They are large, so are good meat birds and they lay many more eggs than any of the heavy weights and lay more than most of the middle weight breeds.

The egg laying breeds who can outlay them are small birds with a small carcass.

 

[toadbriar]

I love the Anconas because you can play with colors when you breed, and you can tell them apart. They're pretty quiet and laid-back, and forage well. Mine lay very well! They're big enough to eat, and the breast is mostly white usually, so black pin feathers aren't much of a problem.

 

[shelleyd2008]

None of those fly. If you want a duck that is relatively large AND lays a good amount of eggs, I'd go with the Pekin or the Khaki Campbell.

 

[Rosecomb-Ryan]

My Khaki Campbell I got from the feed store flew.... He was paired with a Mallard hen and they went all over the property...

Ryan