Sliver Appleyard experts?

[EmAbTo48]

But now I can be looking for a better drake

 

[Oregon Blues]

I think they look rather nice. Where the drake could use some improvement is that he lacks the silver glitter down his throat and front. Some of that comes with age, but he is starting out behind. Maybe he will have it in his next set of plumage. It is hard to evaluate in the photos. I think his tail is a little too dark.

The ducks are about the correct shade of darkness. They are not supposed to be the very pale color of Welsh Harlequins. Your ducks appear to lack the faint eye strips. Everything else looks OK to me.

When you breed, aim for a stout duck. Appleyards look very solid. Temperament should be a priority with this breed, for they have a reputation for being calm natured and you want to preserve that trait. Nice temperament is important to breed type.

There is a lot that can not be evaluated with a photo. I can't tell size or weight, or muscle type. I can't see the eye color. You won't see ducks move at the shows, but for my own breeding stock, I spend a lot of time watching them move.

Seriously, if you want to breed quality ducks, invest in the APA SOP. I just opened mine to double check the coloring of your ducks.

Get yourself to few shows and listen carefully and with a humble attitude. You can learn a lot if you show some interest. Poultry fanciers love to teach and you can barely shut them up once they start talking about their birds.

 

[EmAbTo48]

I think they look rather nice. Where the drake could use some improvement is that he lacks the silver glitter down his throat and front. Some of that comes with age, but he is starting out behind. Maybe he will have it in his next set of plumage. It is hard to evaluate in the photos. I think his tail is a little too dark.

The ducks are about the correct shade of darkness. They are not supposed to be the very pale color of Welsh Harlequins. Your ducks appear to lack the faint eye strips. Everything else looks OK to me.

When you breed, aim for a stout duck. Appleyards look very solid. Temperament should be a priority with this breed, for they have a reputation for being calm natured and you want to preserve that trait. Nice temperament is important to breed type.

There is a lot that can not be evaluated with a photo. I can't tell size or weight, or muscle type. I can't see the eye color. You won't see ducks move at the shows, but for my own breeding stock, I spend a lot of time watching them move.

Seriously, if you want to breed quality ducks, invest in the APA SOP. I just opened mine to double check the coloring of your ducks.

Get yourself to few shows and listen carefully and with a humble attitude. You can learn a lot if you show some interest. Poultry fanciers love to teach and you can barely shut them up once they start talking about their birds.

The trio actually came from a local fair around me its not huge by means but its a decent size fair, they were shown their and the lighter hen got Grand Champion while the darker actually got a blue ribbon and the drake got a blue ribbon also. Their were 5 other sets of the Sliver Appleyards there competing. These 3 were for sale so I grabbed them up lol! Sliver Appleyards are not a common duck around here they our hard to find.

I have ordered the book so thats good. I am new to sliver appleyards as we sell show quality pekins. So for me trial and error is all I can work with.