Welsh Harlequin

[GrannyCarol]

My girls changed colors a little with their molts all their lives. Sometimes they'd have a bit more brown on the head or the chest, sometimes less. As they got older, I'd say they tended to have a bit more markings and less white. They were always pretty birds.

 

[ribs]

I'm going to resurrect this thread a bit with another question about Metzer vs Holderread! Gravedigging on my first post, whoo boy!

I want to get a small backyard flock of WH when we move into the new house in March, and I was pretty set on ordering from Metzer until I started reading that Holderread's was better for ~pretty~ birds. I like pretty birds Are Holderread's regular-price ducklings still going to be snazzier/showier than the Metzer lines, or is that only true of the "Top Quality Show" birds they sell? If they'll be similar, I'll just go Metzer for the convenience of online ordering!

 

[m.kitchengirl]

Quote: It seems to me that YES, Holderead's ducks - no matter the quality rating - are better than Metzer's. Holderead is very concerned with genetics and keeps very concise records. I am not knocking Metzer, but the larger venues have less control. Holderead's is still a Mom & Pop type operation. Especially since he has reduced his breeders over the last few years. One has to assume the quality of the animals he is still working with has only improved.

 

[Goose and Fig]

I love my Metzer's birds. No complaints- just lots of compliments from everybody that sees them.

 

[ribs]

Thank you! Both are very obviously wonderful sources. We'll just be keeping them as pets and for eggs, but I am vain and I would love them to be as pretty as possible, hehe. I will probably go with Holderread for these!

 

[GrannyCarol]

Holderreads Waterfowl has a good price on excellent birds. I've never had WH from Metzger's, but can vouch for the ones from Holderreads. Just lovely and great personalities. If I didn't have to buy a bunch of them, I'd just get more there next spring. However, I don't want to have to butcher a lot of them and I only want 2 - 3, only have room for that many of them. Maybe I can find someone on Craigslist that would split an order... otherwise it's hatching eggs and I have pretty bad luck with shipped duck eggs. Oh decisions! It'll all be good.

 

[lakota_elder]

That's what I said too a couple of years ago when I first got my Welsh Harlequins... I bought 4 of them and enjoyed them thoroughly. Then I went to my first poulty show and met some really nice people.... and no Welsh were at the show... I asked the duck people and no one knew of anyone who was raising Welsh... So the next show I brought 2 of my hens... they didn't even really qualify because at 10 months of age they still had not colored out the way they were suppose to and both still had orange feet like the drake... I wasn't upset caused I loved watching them and that and the eggs were why I bought them. Then I took a contract job and was gone for several months and had to sell them (supposedly with chicks back when I came back but the buyers are long gone)... I decided that since I was going to buy again I may as well introduce the breed into the show ring and purchased the top quality from Holdereads..(?spelling)... I am estatic as they are now 7 mos old and gorgeous. Conformationaly correct and gorgeous color including the feet. Plus I can now sell future babies at a better price and help introduce them to the general public in my area...
Their temperment is great and they will follow you anywhere. I let the Holdereads know what I was planning on doing and I feel as though they cherry picked the babies to send to me..!!!! PS the photo is when they were only a couple months old,,

 

[OldGuy43]

Mia culpa, Mia culpa. I admit I haven't yet read the entire thread, but what I have read so far convinces me that OldGal and I have made the right choice. We're planning on adding 2 WH's (for a start) to our flock of hens. Eggs only, so no drakes. If I'd known about this earlier I probably would have started with ducks instead of chickens, but as it is we'll be keeping our 12 Red Sex-Links and keeping them all in the same pen.

Around here duck eggs are as rare as hens teeth and selling for $1/ea. I'm told.

Any comments on this plan will be welcome and appreciated.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I've only ever bought the top show quality from Holdrerread, so I don't have any personal experience with their less expensive ducks. However, I've heard it said by a serious exhibitor that Holderread's lower priced birds are often better than the "show" quality birds from other breeders.

It's not all that much more money to buy the top exhibition quality if looks really are important to you. You'll forget about those few extra dollars very quickly and you will enjoy looking at your beautiful ducks for years.

 

[kswaterfowl]

We have had EXCELLENT luck with their average priced birds. I have actually hatched nicer birds from the average birds than the Top Show Quality. Remember that two TSQ birds do not always produce TSQ offspring. The top show quality birds are bred from specific parents to produce a higher percentage of top show quality ducklings, where as the average ones are still bred from very nice birds, they have a larger gene pool typically and you can get birds that you can breed from for longer. The hen that won Reserve of Breed at the Crossroads National out of 30 plus Welsh Harlequins was a bird out of the average ducklings from Holderreads. The Best of Breed one was also out of Holderread-lines a long time ago. You just have to think out breedings carefully and pay attention to which traits the birds compliment each other in and breed them accordingly. If you want nice birds order from Holderreads.