Silver appleyards

[Mini]

I really want some silver appleyards to add to my flock, but I can't find any close enough. I'd prefer adults. Does anyone have Apple yards for sale with in an hr from indianpolis, indiana or terre haure indiana? & can anyone tell me more about them from experience?

 

[Mini]

Or any bantam black east Indies males? I have 3 girls, but can't seem to find and boys.

 

[EggsnQuackers]

I can't help with finding birds for sale but I can give you some information on them from experience.
We've had Silver Appleyards for 3 years now. I love them. I ordered mine from Holderread Waterfowl Farm. They get quite large my drake has to be around 13-15 pounds now but I haven't weighed him in a while. I've got a female (his daughter) who is nearly as large. The other two females that I have are smaller... about 8-10lbs.
The females are excellent egg layers. They laid more consistantly than my chickens in their first year. They seem to have tapered off now this year but they're still better than the chickens. I can count on at least one egg every day sometimes 2, occasionally 3. Last winter I was getting 2 eggs daily.
They do a good job foraging for themselves. They are free ranged during the day and they cover most of our 5 acres.
Our winters are pretty harsh and they do pretty well. They're outside more often than the chickens when the temperature drops and the snow flies.
They're pretty friendly. We don't have them as pets so I don't try and cuddle them or anything but they'll follow me around the yard and they'll eat from my hand if I have something particularly good. Our cayugas are much more suspicious than the Appleyards. I did take my drake to a children's birthday party last summer...he did pretty well. Didn't get too stressed out over the whole ordeal.

If you plan on breeding them keep in mind you won't get 100% silvers. You can get some white birds too. We ended up with a few last spring. Still very nice birds.

 

[Mini]

Thanks a lot. That was really helpful. What do the white ones look like?

 

[ducksinarow]

Ideal hatchery has East Indie ducks. You have to order $25 worth of something. They run $4.50-$5.55 a duckling. You can buy sexed ducklings there. I don't know many hatcheries that have them.

 

[Mini]

The problem is I'd rather have adults, thanks tho

 

[brahamacocks14]

They are lovely, friendly birds and they can lay up to 250 eggs

 

[taunikelley]

~~Holderread Waterfowl Farm & Preservation Center in Corvallis, Oregon breeds Silver Appleyards. I don't believe that they have any adults currently available unless your interested in a Silver Mini Appleyard. But, you could call and ask if they may have some spring or fall 2014. Shipping seems very reasonable and I don't believe there is a minimum on adults. I heard about this breeder on an old post from 2010.

http://www.holderreadfarm.com/index.htm

 

[EggsnQuackers]

Thanks a lot. That was really helpful. What do the white ones look like?

The white ones are pure white with yellow feet and bills. Same size and build as the silvers just pure white feathers. We had one that had a single grey feather on his back..

 

[RachaelS]

Do they eat more than other heavy ducks?