The Great Breed Debate (Help)

[kargo]

Ah, sorry about the cool title and probably lame thread.
Tomorrow, I will be getting 3 ducklings at the CO-OP. They are reserving Pekins, but are getting in 3 other breeds.

The choices are:

Pekin

Blue Swedish (I really think I want one of these.)

Mallard

and

Khaki Campbell.

Tell me which breed is your favorite, why you think I should get it, and whether or not it flies. If you could pst a picture, that would be great.

Ifd you don't have a favorite, you can give me helpful information about 1 or all of them.

 

[adrian]

I think the pekins and blue swedish will be the friendliest, calmest duck breeds. The campbells and mallards will be more flighty. If you want a good egg-laying duck, go with the campbell. In my opinion, blue swedish are prettier than pekins but just as friendly. They're heavy breeds, while the campbell and mallard are light. So it's really dependent upon what you want in a duck.

 

[truecolorsloft]

We love our Pekins(I also have a white German Shepherd, so maybe it's a white thing?), but one rule of thumb to follow is go with what you really want. Think about it, would you really want to maintain a duck pen of ducks you're really not thrilled about? Keeping the ducks you REALLY love will make the less enjoyable things(pen mucking) more enjoyable.

Just my Humble opinion.
Chris

 

[momof247371]

pekins and sweedish have my vote! Beautiful!

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Blue Swedish
Blue Swedish are very good foragers and have a calm disposition.They are easy going and active.
They lay reasonabley well.
They are a beautiful duck

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

I don't have pekins, but I do have a quad of swedish (mine are black, I sold the blues from the order, I liked the black colors better).

Mine were very spaztastic until I cut their number down to four and they got older. Before that (I had an order of 20) they were very spooked at anything I did. Now they just hang out - not "lap" ducks, but not afraid of my every move anymore.

Not really close up pics, but they are here with my calls.

meri

 

[beakkeeper]

Well, I have no ducks of my own, but I like Blue Swedish too. They're so pretty, with the grey-blue and ivory pattern.

You did say you wanted one of them, so go with what your gut instinct is saying.

 

[pattyjean73]

I don't own any ducks (yet, they're coming in time). But... again it depends on your purpose for the birds. Pekin develop quicker so if you want meat I'd go that route. Plus due to their pale skin color they dress better. On the other hand I love the looks of the blue swedish (probably the breed I'll go with). Both of these breeds are known to be pretty docile. So for meat I'd go with Pekin, but for pets and eye appeal I'd go with the swedish. At maturity they are about the same in size. Both are considered heavy ducks. I don't know anything about the others.