The Perfect Homestead Duck! Ancona - A Rare Heritage Breed!
Everyone Needs Ducks!
So, like many things on our homestead, we strive to get the most out of everything. We upcycle everything! Reduce, reuse, recycle is pretty much a way of life. We take other peoples unwanted items and turn them into shelters and nest boxes. So it only makes sense that when it comes to our animals Dual Purpose is the way to go!
Choosing a dual purpose duck was a no-brainer but finding the right one was more of a challenge. There are so many options out there! We decided it was also important to us to help breeds on The Livestock Conservancy 'Watch' list. Then, one of our followers on Facebook sent a private message to our page, Wholesome Roots - Passionate Plants, about a local farm that had a rare, heritage breed, dual purpose duck called Ancona, and it just felt like the right fit!
After a bit more research we found that Ancona was considered a large sized, heavy egg layer with a friendly personality! Sounded perfect, so I reached out to Worth It Farms and arranged to have Ryan pick up a dozen eggs for us to hatch out. We had good results, with 10 eggs being fertile and developing in the incubator and 9 of those hatched out perfectly!
They grew fast and strong and have been so fun to watch grow up. They are now full size and we have 6 hens and 3 drakes. A pretty good ratio if you ask me! We are happy with their size and personality! We ended up with a nice variety of color too! So, with the fact that they were old enough to sex, we knew it could be any day now that we see our first Ancona egg or it might be that they will wait till spring because of the decreasing daylight. So, imagine my joy and excitement when I go out yesterday morning and find...
How perfect! I love colorful eggs and this blue/green egg made my day! I was hoping some of our new duck hens would carry the colored egg gene that makes this breed even cooler! I am quite happy with our choice to raise Ancona Ducks and I hope to be able to raise even more in the future!
So if you are looking for the perfect dual purpose duck for your homestead, I highly recommend the Ancona!
Thanks!
~Rose
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This is actually my first time seeing a duck egg. I never thought it was going to be similar with chicken eggs. If the eggs happen to mix up with chicken eggs, do you think you will be able to differentiate it?
Generally yes, especially if you know your birds. Also Ive never had ducks lay eggs where the chickens do, they seem very protective of their nest.
A big pile of eggs, an eggdentification challenge? That could get tricky.
Funny, I do KNOW my birds to the point of recognizing who laid what egg, to some extent.
They have a different size usually but also a different texture, the shell is much harder and smoother on a duck egg. We don't keep our ducks and chickens together but sometimes hubby collects them in same basket and I can always tell which are duck.
Good point! The texture tells.
Hello!
Maybe a silly question, you mentioned dual-purpose ducks, I see the egg ;p - whats the other purpose you refer to?
Would it be eating bugs?
Dual purpose in poultry generally means they're good both for eggs and meat. So you can hatch and keep hens for eggs and grow cockerels on for the table.
How could I forget about meat! I love a good christmas duck ;p
That sounds yummy! We have a few extra drakes from this hatch I may have to use for that!
Muscovies are the best duck breed for eating bugs. The ducklings actually hunt flies, mosquitoes, fleas and ticks - one of the primary reasons why I chose the breed, because we live in serious tick country here.
Also, Muscovy ducks are unusual in that they roost like chickens, have claws on their webbed feet, and their meat is said to have a similar taste and texture to fine veal. They are really more closely related to geese than to true Mallard-type ducks.
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Egg! Yay!!
Looks like a beauty of the flock and you couldn't have asked for a better outcome for the female/male mix.
I love how pretty they are!
I was actually goingto get some Anconas this year, but it ended up not working out. How exciting for your farm! I love ducks. They are real cuties!
These are a great breed for the homestead! I hope you can get some soon!
Looks like a really nice duck, and I love these cute babies<3
Duck babies are really the cutest babies of the poultry world!
Duck eggs make the best noodles!!!! I hope you will be hatching more ducklings.
I need to make Pasta!!!! Miss Duck just got some duck eggs to hatch yesterday!
I need to make Pasta!!!! Miss Duck just got some duck eggs to hatch yesterday!
I love ducks, it's the one 'poultry' species I've never kept. This looks to be the perfect breed.
You should definitely consider them! I have really enjoyed our ducks!
I always love everything Duck!
Happy Day!
Melissa
I love my ducks!