Questions about showing ducks

[kisbell17]

Hi I am wanting to get into showing ducks in 4h and possibly other shows. I want to get a blue swedish duck but I have no idea what to look for in a good show duck and if it can even be showed in 4h. Any tips of what to look for and things I need to know and do would be great! My other choices are a khakis campbell duck or a pekin duck because they are super cute. And does anyone know where I can get one from in or around michigan. Any help would be great.

 

[Whittni]

I personally recommend going to the source. This means, searching for either some breeders in your area, a local waterfowl show or a poultry auction. You can always try starting from hatchery ducklings or craigslist as well.

 

[cscarney]

Welcome! Good to see another 4-Her who wants to do ducks!

Blue Swedish were in the APA standard last I looked, so they should be showable in open poultry shows. However, 4-H shows vary from state to state and county to county. Some are heavy on production birds and don't give the "fancies" a lot of attention, and others are heavy on fancy/standard bred birds.

Your best bet to find out about how the 4-H shows work in your county is your local extension educator for 4-H. S/he may also be able to point you to poultry breeders and mentors to get started.

Just an FYI on Blue Swedish: you will be dealing with blue genetics which doesn't breed true (you will get black, blue, and splash offspring from blue to blue matings) and it's can be a tough pattern to breed well because of the defined bib and the contrast (white) color on the first four(?) wing primaries. Not saying you can't breed great Swedes, but it may take some work.

Swedes are more of a dual purpose duck, so they're a little bigger than a Campbell. Campbells are the Leghorns of the duck world and a hen from a good strain will lay hundreds of perfectly tasty eggs in a year. Pekins are meat ducks, sort of like the Cornish cross chickens people raise for broilers. All three breeds are in the APA Standard if I remember right, and you'll find that birds bred to standard look quite a bit different (especially for the Pekins in my experience) than the "production" birds from a hatchery.

Definitely get your birds from a breeder if you can. You'll get healthier birds who are closer to what they should be for the breed. And you'll likely have someone who knows the breed to answer your questions.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Catherine

 

[kisbell17]

Thank you ao much!!! I will definitely keep you up to date.

 

[cscarney]

You're welcome! Good luck with your ducks!