Waterfowl Heritage Thread

[Robert Blosl]

This is not a Heritage Waterfowl Color but the breed is this is one of the best typed calls I have seen in a long time. I hope to have my gray calls like this one day.



About three months ago we started the Official Large Fowl Site and it has had a long and educational Run. Many of you have been to it so I have been asked to start a Official Heritage Waterfowl Site.

This site should be much easier to agree on what is old in waterfowl and what is not but you wish it was on the list. There will be no list there will be no Official Organization like the American Poultry Association ect to blame because your favorite breed is not on some list. List don’t mean a thing to me. I know what is old as if it was around when I was a junior in 4H in the 1960s then it is a old and rare breed and it’s a Heritage breed of Waterfowl. We dont care what the defenetion is for Heritage. Heritage is just old and it was on the farms in the 1920 and 1960s when people rasied them for their personal use or showed them.


My first love was Freemont John Conrad’s Rouen’s from Wisconsin. He use to advertise in magazines and show his ducks in the USA and Canada. Those arched backs and the color was something to behold. I today have miniature gray calls they are much better today than when I was a little boy. I once had some great Colored Muscovy’s that I got from Jack Walker at the Oregon State Fair in 1962 and they beed like rabbits and would roost on top of my chicken house at night.

The next breed that I loved and almost got a pair was Maxine Mc Keebees Mamouth Delap Toulouse Geese who was from Minnesota. Maxine was going to ship me a a pair of breeders from Minnesota to Centralia Washington by Train for $40. it just did not happen and I sure wished I had a chance to get some. Today it cost about $40 just for one egg from good breeders of this breed. One time Roland Henry sent me about two dozen eggs. Mixed in breeds but I got some fantastic Alyesburys and I loved them. He would help juniors with cheep prices just to get us started.

So many other breeds of Waterfowl are old and so many people want to get some for their hobby farm or back yard. If noise is a problem Muscovy’s would be perfect they hiss your neighbors would never hear them. If space is a problem you can raise calls above the ground in wire pens like I do and many of the big breeders in New York State.

So here we go. Let’s try to make this a learning thread and help each other out to find the breeds that you would like to have. This will not be pushing the common hatchery waterfowl or ducks or geese you buy in the feed store. We are trying to find just one of you out of a hundred who want to join the rare group of us who are preservationist. We are trying to save rare strains of poultry and then when we locate these strains we start a new trend in Poultry keeping called NETWORKING. We share eggs, chicks and adult birds with each other and then we share these birds again with others. Much like rare seeds that grew in gardens in the USA they are shared with people in Oregon and Washington then they are raised in Indiana or North Carolina . Once these seeds are shared with different climates and soils much like poultry there is a vigor that is started and can be infused to strengthen the variety or in our case the breed we are raising. We must save the genetic makeup of these rare breeds of waterfowl. We do not want to cross a breed onto a breed to make up a old rare Heritage breed that was lost to carelessness. I will post old pictures of waterfowl that I have in my computer to spark the interest.

Let’s try to be nice to each other and most of all let’s try to help the new person who has been raising so waterfowl and wants to take on a breed to help preserve it. If you are worried about help on how to breed these breeds don’t worry. We will find you someone to help you.
Bob Blosl Heritage Waterfowl Breeder

 

[fowlman01]

Here is some pics.

East Indie

A Halbach Farms Toulouse

Runner ducks being judged in a ring.

More runner ducks

Egyptian geese with goslings

I will take some pics of the Emdens and China's.

Walt

 

[Robert Blosl]

Pomeranian Geese
http://doubleapeafowl.com/gpage4.html

These geese have the correct color on their bills.

Pomeranian geese are a Heritage Goose. My grandfather had a flock of these and would sell about a hundred of these for Thanks Giving and Christmas time when I was just a little boy. I remember the color of the bill a light pink color. When I was interested about six years ago getting some of these geese with a friend down the road. All I could find is Pomeranian with bills and feet the color of the white Emden. Then I found out that was the color for the geese that got into the APA standard. Then I said who in the hell was the nut job that allowed this color of this old goose line to have this color when the ones my grandfather had from Europe in Washington state had pink bills and pink feet.

Then I found out when the Pomeranian was excepted into the APA standard there was no show where at least 8 breeders and 75 birds where show so a judge could approve this breed into the standard as all other breeds had to do in years gone by. I found out they where railroaded in by a certain breeder in the North East and who raised White Emden’s . No wonder the Pomeranian Geese where allowed to have orange feet and bills. What was popular back then was his which were not even pure Pomeranian where his birds with orange bills and orange feet. They were crossed up with Emden’s got give them size and the color of the Emden stayed with his birds and the original pink color of the Pomeranian was lost.
I had a friend who had one of the best males I ever saw with type and perfect color. We tried to get the color changed to pink in the bills and the feet. The answer was no. He got rid of the geese and the breed has never been the same since.
A great dual purpose goose for the homesteader and a true Heritage goose that is breed in Europe. My grandfather and his father raised these geese in the Bavarian area of Germany. Today I see flocks of these geese on the internet with the correct bill and feet color in Europe. Not in the USA.

Just a story to add to this new thread. Bob

Thanks Walt I know you are a big supporter of the old waterfowl. That Tolouse from the Halbacks looks like the female that was Champion Goose of the show at the 2002 Ohio National that I attended. She was about three or four years old when she was shown and won big. bob

 

[Chickielady]

Hey a new thread !
I just had a black runner duckling hatch out 5 days early...the rest of his brothers and sisters are still in shell.
They are not supposed to pip until the 28th as the were set New Yaers Eve !
So I will take a few photos in a bit and post.
Cutest little duck !
I am looking for Welsh Harlequin Ducks...

 

[fowlman01]

Quote:
I think that is the same goose. Vi Halbach (RIP) sent this to me about that time. It was raised by Pat Halbach.

Walt

 

[StevenW.]

http://holderreadfarm.com/photogallery/pomeranian_page/pomeranian_page.htm
I was looking around on Holderreads Website when you mentioned the pomeranian geese and it looks like they have pink bills...
I have a American Buff Gander.

 

[TK Poultry]

So can we post pictures of our Waterfowl? I use to breed and raise Swedish ducks. I had one of the few sources of Blue Swedish that didn't come from a hatchery. I considered them a rare heritage breed but I couldn't find anyone else trying to save them so I ended up dispersing the flock. I now just have a pair of Butterscotch Calls and I'm getting self and bibbed Chocolate Calls

 

[fowlman01]

Quote:
There are a few black runners in this group of young birds and one young female China.

Walt

 

[OSUman]

Quote:
There are a few black runners in this group of young birds and one young female China.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/66947_dsc01736.jpg

Walt

are those yours?

 

[call ducks]

nice to see this thread, really excited to see this thread. This is my second year raising soul for our poll year's Silver Appleyards. I only hatched one purebred Appleyard off this year before my female died but likely that was a few she's a bit darker than I want but it's a starting point and it's better than nothing. To be honest it's the best one I've seen in our province not quite sure but I think i am the only one with pure bred silver appleyards in NS. I got a bunch of silver Appleyard ducklings this spring and they all turned out be culls in my breeding program I think they were crossed Rouen's with earlier on the line. as they grew up ducklings that I bought look a lot like Rouen's.

here is a picture of my one female Silver appleyard that I have left.

she is a bit better but she has great white lines on her head.

I also have a pair of blue and black runner duck that i am going to be breeding this Spring not quite sure their heritage or not.