Thoughts on Gold Star Hybrid?

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

I was gearing up to order some KC's and some runners for spring, but I see these Gold Star say they have a calmer personality than a KC and somewhat better egg laying ability. does anyone have them? McMurray is right up there cost wise with Metzer, presumably because of the current AI situation, it seems like a lot, but it means I get to order sexed ducks with no driving around all over and guessing etc etc.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I was gearing up to order some KC's and some runners for spring, but I see these Gold Star say they have a calmer personality than a KC and somewhat better egg laying ability. does anyone have them? McMurray is right up there cost wise with Metzer, presumably because of the current AI situation, it seems like a lot, but it means I get to order sexed ducks with no driving around all over and guessing etc etc.

I had 3. I sold the two hens, but still have the male. The hens were as nervous as my other ducks, but they were pretty and I think they were good layers. The drake is the same as other drakes in terms of attitude, but definitely isn't the top dog in the pecking order

 

[Canadian Wind]

I was gearing up to order some KC's and some runners for spring, but I see these Gold Star say they have a calmer personality than a KC and somewhat better egg laying ability. does anyone have them? McMurray is right up there cost wise with Metzer, presumably because of the current AI situation, it seems like a lot, but it means I get to order sexed ducks with no driving around all over and guessing etc etc.

Go with what works for you. Since these are mixed breeds (not hybrids as this means different species) they will not breed true.

Also, and this is only my opinion, but massive amounts of laying is very detrimental for a bird's health and they usually don't live as long.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I had 3. I sold the two hens, but still have the male. The hens were as nervous as my other ducks, but they were pretty and I think they were good layers. The drake is the same as other drakes in terms of attitude, but definitely isn't the top dog in the pecking order

They're larger than the KCs, if that matters at all. Not as big as my Rouen hen, but not smll like my KC

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Also, and this is only my opinion, but massive amounts of laying is very detrimental for a bird's health and they usually don't live as long.

I did wonder about that, I don't use light to stimulate them, usually my birds lay from april/may - November and take the winter off, I did recently discover a clutch of eggs, but after the hawk attack, there have been none. I also wondered if these are laying large eggs if getting bound was more common, if so I would probably prefer to avoid that.

They're larger than the KCs, if that matters at all. Not as big as my Rouen hen, but not smll like my KC

I want to stay smaller than a Pekin, just because of leg/foot issues I have had in the past, the smaller birds just seem to do much better in terms of injury.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I did wonder about that, I don't use light to stimulate them, usually my birds lay from april/may - November and take the winter off, I did recently discover a clutch of eggs, but after the hawk attack, there have been none. I also wondered if these are laying large eggs if getting bound was more common, if so I would probably prefer to avoid that.

I want to stay smaller than a Pekin, just because of leg/foot issues I have had in the past, the smaller birds just seem to do much better in terms of injury.

They were smaller than my Pekin, probably about ⅔ if I were to guess.

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

I have always been of the impression that KC’s were pretty mellow, maybe that’s just in comparison to runners? These Gold Star sound exactly like a Golden 300, I am really not hung up on them, I was just watching the counter at work today so was browsing the hatcheries websites for availability and pricing.