should I get saxonies?

[sawmane1]

For the last few months my sister and I have been planing on getting ducks. I built a cool duck pen the could suit up to 4 ducks. I was originally going to get welsh harlequin ducks but then my 4-H leader told me that some one was willing to donate saxony ducks to 4-H members.
I have two questions/requests;
1)If any one has pictures it would be nice to know what the common saxony looks like.

2)Do saxonies have any special ish-yews(sp?) ?

Thanks a head of time
,sawmane1

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

I have a Saxony hen, and I love her. She's has a pretty laid back personality and is no more difficult to raise than any other domestic duck breed.

Here she is, these are the best shots I have of her now:

Izzy

I hope Katharina posts here, she has some beautiful Saxony ducks.

 

[GrannyCarol]

I have Saxonys, I love them. They are large, mellow and pretty. I find mine lay well most of the year and, as they mature at 2- 3 years of age, brood reliably. This is primarily a meat breed, the pretty dilute color leaves a clean carcass. Mine have been vigorous and fertile too.

I've had Welsh Harlequins too. I enjoyed them a lot, plan to have more. They are smaller than the Saxony and lay better, but kinda small for the table. The Saxonys are pretty much as bold and mellow as the Welsh Harlequins and I'd jump at the chance to work with donated Saxonys!

A drake:

A duck:

Peaches and a hatchling:

Hopefully that will help give you an idea of how they look!

 

[Oregon Blues]

The last time I spoke to Granny Carol (post right above mine) she had some really lovely Saxony ducklings for sale. I know her birds are nice and well raised.

They are a good choice in ducks, nice calm natured and very beautiful to look at.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I love my Saxony. They are only 4 months old right now.
They aren't as pretty as Izzy yet but I have high hopes they eventually will be!

Mine are friendly and talkative and I have really enjoyed raising them.

 

[sawmane1]

thanks every one for your replies, they are all pretty birds!

 

[Welsh H. lover a(TM)?]

If your still wanting welsh harlequins i have two (female and male) three week old ones that are for sale

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
Where are you located?

I am looking for female peking ducks and someone responded to my ad on cl, saying they had saxonys. They even sent me pics like I asked for.

Is that you? I think it may be because it says Carol on my email too.

I am sorry if it is, I wanted to research the breed and have not had time to get back to you.

They sure are pretty. I really like the coloring.

They said that saxonys were meat birds too.

I heard pekings were too. They will live a long time though won't they?

When someone says meat bird in a duck that does not mean they only live a short time like the cornishx right?

I did pick up one female peking tonight.

 

[mandelyn]

The cornish cross meat chickens are the result of selected breeding to create offspring for the sole purpose of eating, they get too large to live long or reproduce themselves. Not an issue with ducks unless someone has a cross that produces the same result.

I LOVE my pile of baby Saxony ducks! I have an older female who's about 4 months now, looking a little ragged as she changes feathers, and she's a little stand offish, but very calm and super quiet. For some reason she doesn't trust me like the rest of them do. But the babies, they already left the "don't touch me stage" and I can sit with them and touch them again. My other ducks were in that stage forever it felt like!

I would jump on donated birds, I couldn't find any in my area and had to order them. I checked online adds daily, put out wanted adds, and even checked over the swaps and markets for months... saw one pair once, but the male was looking off and I didn't touch him or buy him, not if he was sick, not worth it. That swap was 2 hours away, never saw any closer. Finally got my babies from Holderread, and they're awesome. They're 3 weeks old now.

They're just so calm and quiet! My Mallard/Pekin cross girls are loud, sassy, and can be just awful. As soon as they hear the back door slam, I get that QUACK! sound. Then they start running their mouths, I get the loud QUACKQUACKQUACK when I round the corner of the garage. The Saxony girl doesn't participate in all that. She'll chat with them, but she never gets loud about it. The 2 cross girls will shoot up into the air and fly into their pool, shoot around under water, jump out, run circles... completely flipping out over fresh water changes. The Saxony, she might do one lap around, and may go diving twice. She's too heavy to do much else and doesn't have their excitement level. That Mallard blood made them crazy! The Pekin blood made them giant. They're mutants. Loud, obnoxious, mutants. Compared to them, the Saxony is a completely different sort of duck, in a good way.

 

[sawmane1]

Welsh H. lover ♥ :

If your still wanting welsh harlequins i have two (female and male) three week old ones that are for sale

how much are they? my sister is getting ducks and she still wants welsh harliquin. do you think 3 week old ducks could really bond with her (she is doing 4-H with them and need this bonding)​