Which Drake?

[Revarded1]

In September, I ordered 10 SA chicks. 4 drakes and 6 hens. Unfortunately 1 hen died in shipping and another hen (looked weaker than the others) didn't make it through the first night).

They're almost 8 weeks old, and I planning to cull the 2 worst drakes at 12 weeks. The final cull will be based on personality when they've reached maturity.

One drake (unnamed) has always been noticeably small. Kevin was the biggest and best colored from 4-6 weeks. He's still the tallest but not the stockiest any more. Fatty caught up in size around week 6 and is now become the broadest Drake. Then there's Snowy. We originally thought he was a giant hen due to his light coloration, but we realized last week that he's a Drake.

How would others make this decision? We're homesteaders so size is important for meat. My kids may want to show a duck at the fair next year so we'd like to keep flaws to a minimum. Should we focus on size for ourselves and add show quality bloodlines in the spring?

Pictures are attached. Kevin, Snowy, and Fatty are labeled by their initials. There is one closeup of Fatty in the splash tub. The other closeups are of Snowy to show how much white he has. You can see how much lighter he is than all the other ducks in the group shot. Kevin didn't want to cooperate for closeups lol.

 

[Isadora]

If it were me, I would focus on the size. As a homesteader myself who raises pekins for meat, that matters a whole lot to me.
Your ducks are beautiful!

 

[Quatie]

You have to pick what matters the most to you. A show quality duck is not necessarily the same duck that you would want for personality or even for homesteading. If you want show quality ducks, you go by how they look and who fits the standards. If you care more about meat, bigger ducks would be better. If you care about personality, then it may not be good for show or for meat. I personally tend to care more about personality and a drake who is less of a jerk to my females. You may find multiple qualities in one. You need to decide what is most important to you to decide.

 

[Duckie doodle]

In September, I ordered 10 SA chicks. 4 drakes and 6 hens. Unfortunately 1 hen died in shipping and another hen (looked weaker than the others) didn't make it through the first night).

They're almost 8 weeks old, and I planning to cull the 2 worst drakes at 12 weeks. The final cull will be based on personality when they've reached maturity.

One drake (unnamed) has always been noticeably small. Kevin was the biggest and best colored from 4-6 weeks. He's still the tallest but not the stockiest any more. Fatty caught up in size around week 6 and is now become the broadest Drake. Then there's Snowy. We originally thought he was a giant hen due to his light coloration, but we realized last week that he's a Drake.

How would others make this decision? We're homesteaders so size is important for meat. My kids may want to show a duck at the fair next year so we'd like to keep flaws to a minimum. Should we focus on size for ourselves and add show quality bloodlines in the spring?

Pictures are attached. Kevin, Snowy, and Fatty are labeled by their initials. There is one closeup of Fatty in the splash tub. The other closeups are of Snowy to show how much white he has. You can see how much lighter he is than all the other ducks in the group shot. Kevin didn't want to cooperate for closeups lol.

I would suggest keeping the larger drakes. If you plan on using them for meet purposes. If you want to show I would also suggest going for the larger. When showing the size and body conformation is worth more points then the color. The color is always a easy fix, but once you have smaller birds that can be very time consuming to fix. Pictured are my silver appleyard.

 

[Revarded1]

I would suggest keeping the larger drakes. If you plan on using them for meet purposes. If you want to show I would also suggest going for the larger. When showing the size and body conformation is worth more points then the color. The color is always a easy fix, but once you have smaller birds that can be very time consuming to fix. Pictured are my silver appleyard.

Thanks so much for weighing in! I was hoping someone with SAs would comment. I have some breeding experience but my first time with birds, so I was thinking that color would most likely be easier to fix than size. Good to get some confirmation on that.