Welsh Harlequin

[Muse7]

That my dear is most definitely a hen, not a drake. Look forward to enjoying her eggs.
I am of course talking about the second set of pics, not the first. The first is most definitely a
drake. Quite a beautiful boy and a lovely girl. I have a hen that has orange feet, a mottled yellow and
black bill, her chest with this year's molt is getting a lovely chestnut deep blush, and yet, she is the first
to lay again after molting season and layed an egg almost every day, as soon as she was 22 weeks.
Oh, and she has blue eyes.

She won't win any contests, but I think she is a beauty and she is an excellent layer and always one of
the first to spot a trolling hawk. WHo could ask for more in a homestead bird.

Best,

Liz

 

[carousel86]

It really depends on why you are purchasing for.  If you really are primarily interested in showing, then you should probably start with show quality stock.  If you
are interested in them for a well rounded farm bird; eggs, pest control, and meat, then you may want to look at stock that is better for that.

I personally went middle of the road.  I got my first Welshies from second generation Holderread stock birds.  My original hen is pretty, but a bit small for show, however, she is an excellent layer.
My Drake probably could have showed till his second molt, but now is just good with the ladies.

My second WH  purchase I got from Metzer and although the two girls that made it through their first year are excellent layers, one has orange feet and a mottled orange and black bill.  The other is a beautiful silver and lays well, but is probably to big to show.  The third I lost, failure to thrive into her first spring.  

I am adding to my flock again next spring from Moose Manner Farm, so I would expect the quality of hens will be of a similar nature to my first girl.  But, I really have no nagging interest in showing.  If One of my girls ends up being a good body type, I might show, but if not, they are great at bug control and laying, and will provide good stock for sale to other farms and small homesteads.  

So, as I say, it really is about what you personally want to do with your girls. I will say that my hen and drake from Moose Manor are more calm than the two I got from Metzer.  Those two are sweet, but a bit more high strung.  I can handle all of my birds and check them pretty much daily, but Mimsey and Brave (My Metzer girls) are much less anxious to be handled.  That being said, I got a Chocolate runner and a Cayuga hen from Metzer this year, and both of them are very easy to handle.  I will keep my fingers crossed that their genetic make up is good and that they make it through their first year without issue.

Hope this was at least a little helpful.

Liz

I just want beautiful ducks and would like to hatch some eggs and sell some duckling! Thank you for your help.

 

[Zombified]

That my dear is most definitely a hen, not a drake. Look forward to enjoying her eggs.
I am of course talking about the second set of pics, not the first. The first is most definitely a
drake. Quite a beautiful boy and a lovely girl. I have a hen that has orange feet, a mottled yellow and
black bill, her chest with this year's molt is getting a lovely chestnut deep blush, and yet, she is the first
to lay again after molting season and layed an egg almost every day, as soon as she was 22 weeks.
Oh, and she has blue eyes.

She won't win any contests, but I think she is a beauty and she is an excellent layer and always one of
the first to spot a trolling hawk. WHo could ask for more in a homestead bird.

Best,

Liz

She sounds beautiful! I love all of my ducks for their own unique personalities, so really, show isn't so important to me. Now, when I have a bigger area to keep more ducks, I would like to show, but until then, I'm happy with having regular ol' ducks.

My Mallard is the most curious one of the bunch. My other two WH hens, Nyx and Eris, are the most observant, but Thoth is the first one to run and hide. Erebus is actually last in the pecking order(it happened when he was injured and had to be kept inside for a while), and so is last to do anything. I think my Mallard is the flock leader, but only because the others tend to follow her and no one messes with her, despite her being the smallest. But she's very, very gentle.

We all thought for sure Thoth was going to be a drake. Here's a picture of her about a month ago:

 

[hokankai]

She sounds beautiful! I love all of my ducks for their own unique personalities, so really, show isn't so important to me. Now, when I have a bigger area to keep more ducks, I would like to show, but until then, I'm happy with having regular ol' ducks.

My Mallard is the most curious one of the bunch. My other two WH hens, Nyx and Eris, are the most observant, but Thoth is the first one to run and hide. Erebus is actually last in the pecking order(it happened when he was injured and had to be kept inside for a while), and so is last to do anything. I think my Mallard is the flock leader, but only because the others tend to follow her and no one messes with her, despite her being the smallest. But she's very, very gentle.

We all thought for sure Thoth was going to be a drake. Here's a picture of her about a month ago:

 

[Zombified]

See, but I even asked on here and on another backyard birds group about Thoth, and everyone seemed very confident that Thoth was a drake. Oh well, lol. I'm happy that Thoth is a hen.

 

[Muse7]

They are all so tricky with thier first feathering, The WH you can see in my post pick is my drake Jack during his first feathering.
Lovely light colored head. If I hadn't seen his bill and head at 3 days old, he might have fooled me, but I knew with about 95% accuracy that
he was indeed a drake. The one I had trouble with was my 1/2 WH and 1/2 Cayuga. He would not give me any kind of proper quack or rasp until he was about
4 months old. Kept on peeping like a little bitty duckling. But as it turns out he is now the head drake.

You may find that as your boy comes into his first full year his order in the flock will change. My Jack is not as big as some of the WH hens, but when the boys are in the
same pen as the girls during the Spring, there is no question that the Drakes are in charge of what happens. Crackers, my Blue Runner, is the Alpha female and mated to Ebby our 1/2 WH/ 1/2 Cayuga drake, but during the Spring and early summer, she is out weighed by Jack and Ebby.

Liz

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Can someone post pics of their Welsh Harlequins? I really want to see some more pictures.
Thanks,

 

[Zombified]

Thoth had a very dark head as a duckling and even had a dark bill. The two ladies both had pink bills, haha. He fooled us all!

LOOK! EREBUS AND NYX ALMOST MATED! I'm not sure what happened, but I think one of the surrounding ducks pecked at her or something and she spooked. After that, Thoth chased Erebus off and no further head-bobbing or other attempts were made. Nyx actually voluntarily lied down, so I assume she's ready for some little babies. They're... Either nineteen or twenty weeks and a day. I can't remember exactly.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Thoth had a very dark head as a duckling and even had a dark bill. The two ladies both had pink bills, haha. He fooled us all!

LOOK! EREBUS AND NYX ALMOST MATED! I'm not sure what happened, but I think one of the surrounding ducks pecked at her or something and she spooked. After that, Thoth chased Erebus off and no further head-bobbing or other attempts were made. Nyx actually voluntarily lied down, so I assume she's ready for some little babies. They're... Either nineteen or twenty weeks and a day. I can't remember exactly.

Exciting!!! Thanks for the vid.

 

[hokankai]

Yeah jasper had me fooled until she quacked at just 3 weeks old! Voice sexing is much more accurate than feather sexing for the younger birds