Newbie Showing Ducks Questions

[Oregon Swedes]

Hi guys,

I hope there is somebody out there. This forum doesn't seem to get a lot of usage, but it seems to be the only place where serious poultry fanciers meet, so I hope I can get some help here.

I backed into the idea of showing ducks. I decided I wanted Blue Swedish ducks. But then I saw some Blue Swedish that came from a reputable hatchery. Yikes, not what I want at all. I want the ones like I see in the photos on the internet.

And, what the heck, if I am going to buy exhibition ducks, I might as well show them. Right?

Walking through the county fair and looking at the birds is my only poultry show experience, so I have lots and lots of questions about exhibiting ducks. I sure hope someone here will give me some encouragement and be patient about answering a bunch of beginner questions.

(I've had barnyard fowl for decades, so at least know how to keep them healthy, just to give y'all a point of reference. I'm not a 4H teenager.)

[Evy]

Check out the IWBA. http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Waterfowl-Breeders-Association/266077391567 Membership there will give you a reputable breeders directory rather than depending on hatchery stock. Swedes aren't a breed you see too often.
There's usually someone around her to answer general questions. Welcome & good luck.

[Patrick]

There are several here who would be happy to help, but what are your questions? Like any subject, there's way too much to explain, when you say something as broad as, "Tell me about exhibiting ducks."

The Swedish are nice, and there are not too many people who breed and exhibit them consistently. To start, they are a challenging breed due to the marking requirements in the standard, and due to the intricasies of working with the blue color complex, but it is not out of the question for a serious novice to be successful with them, IMO. You should be prepared to breed large numbers from which to select your show birds and breeders, and have a way of disposing of your culls that you are comfortable with. I assume that you have an APA Standard, and Dave Holderread's book. If not, get them, and Chris Ashton's "Domestic Ducks".

[Oregon Swedes]

Thanks Patrick and Evy. I'll start with the questions now that I've introduced myself.

Books are ordered. I'm waiting for the new Standard of Perfection to be out and then I'll order that. I found the British standard on line; at least it is a start.

I love roast duck and have a good stack of oriental recipes that use duck. That should help take care of some of the culls. It's not legal for me to sell dressed birds, so extras can go out as pets, if nothing else. Or make some very expensive dog food for my spoiled dogs.

No kidding , Evy, about not many raising Blue Swedish. Finding a source has been a problem. In fact, I have Silver Appleyards on order from Holderread because the Blues are so hard to find and I figure it will at least give me something to start learning with.

Blue color sure looks to me like it behaves exactly like dilution factor in horses, so it should not be hard to manage. At least the bib and flight feathers are small areas, and not complicated colors like some breeds where it seems that every inch of the duck is supposed to be a different color. I guess I'll find out, though.

Thanks

[dhw]

http://www.iwba.org/duckstandards.htm

Here are the american standards. The IWBA is a must join club for the big waterfowl... Awesome group of people and something that will be around.

In the midwest there are some decent breeders with swedes. Pretty much any large waterfowl you will have the best luck finding in the upper midwest. There are some excellent breeders in other areas as well but the concentration of excellent stock in MN, WI, IL, IA, OH, IN, and NE is bar none the best in the world(in my humble opinion). When you buy show stock don't count on getting ducklings though. Most breeders will want to sell adults.

[Patrick]

The standards are copyrighted by the APA. I'm curious if permission was obtained to publish them online, because I didn't see it mentioned anywhere.

[Patrick]

I love roast duck and have a good stack of oriental recipes that use duck. That should help take care of some of the culls. It's not legal for me to sell dressed birds, so extras can go out as pets, if nothing else. Or make some very expensive dog food for my spoiled dogs.

Good, just keep in mind that those birds require feed and care and pen space to grow, resources that are being taken away from your show and breeder birds. While a dozen or two might not be the end of the world, I've found that after a while, when I'd raise my culls to process, that it was just more work and feed than I had or wanted to put into them, especially when going for large numbers to hatch when first starting out. Remember, depending on your choice of breeders, in Swedish up to half of the birds that you hatch could automatically be culls right from the start.

[Oregon Swedes]

I am taking in all advice and following all leads provided and I genuinely appreciate all the help.

Culling by color in Swedish Blues isn't all that easy. Yes, 50% aren't blue when you breed blue to blue, but 100% of the ducklings should be blue when you breed black to splash.

That means I will be keeping my very best blacks and splash ducks, which means I have to grow them all out at least to the point where I can see what I've got.

Color isn't every thing. Besides color and body type, temperament, health, egg laying (for Swedes which are supposed to be an egg laying breed), feed conversion, mothering, foraging, all have to be considered and all have to be bred for in order to breed the very best ducks.

I have no interest in growing up to be a hatchery, so I will try to keep the numbers down. And I refuse to grind up baby ducks. I can find someone to take them if I don't want to raise them. I only want one breed of duck, so keeping the numbers under control will be easier for me than for the exhibitors that keep 10-12 different breeds and several different types of fowl. (OK, true confession, it looks like I already have 2 breeds of duck. Are they like potato chips?)

I can't legally sell dressed ducks (too bad, there are expensive restaurants around here that specialize in locally grown food), but I can certainly barter them with other local homesteaders. It's not like you have to hold a gun to someone's head to get them to eat roast duck.

[Patrick]

but 100% of the ducklings should be blue when you breed black to splash

That's one way to do it. You'll still be able to choose your breeders for pattern and type, but you won't have any idea what the parents will throw for lacing. You might know what they carry, how their parents were laced, but carrying it and passing it on are often two different things. Even beautifully laced birds, themselves might not always pass it on. That's the catch 22 when breeding blue ducks or chickens. In my experience the bibbed pattern is very frustrating to work with, especially trying to eliminate white patches under the bill. But, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. BTW, I've never seen Blue Swedish promoted as a laying breed. Like the rest of the Medium Class, they're usually considered so-called dual purpose. They'll lay perfectly well for the average family flock, but no where near a Runner or Campbell. You'd go broke if you were keeping them for layers on a commercial scale.

[Oregon Swedes]

That's the fun of it Patrick. There's no challenge if all you have to do is buy a pair of cute ducks and get perfect offspring every time.

I'm not even sure what lacing is. Isn't that a colored edge to the feather? I'll just keep track of it and try to figure it out. If no one is sure how it works genetically, maybe it is an incomplete dominant. Or it could be the expression of multiple genes.

Yes, dual purpose, but dual purpose ducks are supposed to lay eggs. Traits that don't show up visibly are still important and a Blue Swede that only laid 20 eggs a year wouldn't be much of a duck and would be a huge disappointment to someone who bought it thinking they were getting a dual purpose duck.

Bibs are going to be a challenge. Lots of them are mottled and not clear. Lots of them don''t have a clean edge. But again, if it is too easy, where's the fun?

Still, I'd like to start with nice ducks and not try to breed up from hatchery ducks (that look like mongrels to me)