Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Metzer Farms

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Metzer Farms! We hope that 2018 has treated you well and that 2019 will be even better! Here is a short video of most of us here at Metzer Farms wishing you all a happy holiday season!

Christmas Project 2018

Merry Christmas everyone!!

We are in the business of ducks. As with all things, however, it’s good to step back and do something else. That’s how we came up with this little craft project.

The story behind this is quite funny really. We were talking about the yard work needing to be done over the weekend when Ashley mentioned the buckeye trees in her backyard that occasionally beam her guests on the head. Not knowing what a buckeye is, I investigated and found Ohio’s football team, trees, various recipes, and some crafts.

We loved it!

So, a few Friday’s ago while John was out of the office (cats and mice come to mind), we put together a small crafting party and made some buckeye sculptures. Ashley got really creative and used some pomegranates from her yard as well.

The photos of our little sculptures do not show them at their very best as I didn’t take them until...yesterday. By now the nuts had dried and shriveled. Yes, you are supposed to dry them out first so that this doesn’t happen, but we still had a lot of fun!

Do you do little crafts like this? We randomly had a plethora of nuts that needed to be thrown away and it turned into a fun little project. Show us what you make!

Supplies

- glue gun

- buckeye nuts or anything else you can find

- wire

- ribbon

- scissors

- wire cutters

- glue

- construction paper

- imagination

Directions

No real directions. Just do something fun!

Christmas Egg Recipe - Yorkshire Pudding

Happy Holidays everyone! This time of the year is all about the food (and the presents, but a lot has to do with food) and here we have an idea for you to do with your holiday dinner.

Yorkshire pudding and popovers are timeless side dishes. For those not familiar with the dishes, both characteristically use chicken eggs, but Yorkshire is typically cooked in beef drippings in a pan while popovers are cooked in a buttered muffin tin. The true difference between the two is debatable as the batter is the same and you can use the fat drippings in a muffin tin and butter in a pan. Therefore, you can call this recipe whatever you like, but for us we’ll call it Yorkshire pudding.

Why are we even talking about this, you ask? Notice the mention of chicken eggs in the above paragraph? Well, what happens when we use duck eggs instead of chicken eggs? And instead of drippings from a beef roast, what about using duck fat?

We decided to give it a try.

When mixing the batter with the recipe below, I forgot to take into account that duck eggs are typically 33% bigger than chicken eggs. The original recipe called for 4 large eggs, so I used 4 duck eggs. Wanting to be economical, I decided to crack the eggs into my 2-cup measuring cup that already had 1 ½ cups milk in it. The eggs almost made the milk overflow!

Lesson learned.

What this also meant is that there was too much egg in the resulting batter, but the result was rather yummy. Much more eggy than what I know Yorkshire pudding to be, but it still tasted great at breakfast with some jam and hot chocolate.

If you make these with your duck eggs or even some duck fat, let us know! We would love to know how they come out.

~~~

Yorkshire Pudding with Duck Eggs

Ingredients

• 3-4 duck eggs (in case you want a more eggy texture, use 4)
• 1 ½ cups milk (I used 2%, but use whatever you are comfortable with)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cups flour
• ½ cup duck fat, butter, or veggie oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Mix the eggs, milk, flour, and salt well. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Divide the fat, butter, or oil evenly in the wells of a 12-cup muffin tin. Place inside the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until it just starts to smoke.
   1. If using a pan, use the whole ½ cup in the pan.
3. Quickly pour the batter into the wells ¾ of the way up and bake for 20 minutes. Do not open the oven door as it can cause the batter to deflate. (Do turn on the oven light if you have one. Watching these guys fluff up is fun!)
4. Once golden brown, serve immediately. (I made these the night before work and brought some to share with the office. They are not as good the next day, but still tasty.)

Rouen Ducks

The Rouen has gone by a few contested names. Initially it was named after “Rhone”, an area in France known for its food and wine (though what part of France is not known for its local cuisine!) during the early 1800’s. “Roan” was its name for a while as it referenced the mixing of colored and gray plumage. It’s believed that the name “Rouen” was finally selected by the people of Normandy for the city of Rouen.

The Rouen breed was the national standard for a meat bird until the Pekin was introduced in 1873. The Rouen was then added to the American Poultry Association Standard of Perfection in 1874.

Rouen ducks come in two varieties: the regular utility duck, which we have, and the large Standard duck, which we do not.

The Standard Rouen is much larger than our Rouens at about 9-10 pounds. They are the only Rouen of the two types that are successfully shown at fairs and competitions. Their bodies are much larger in length and depth to the point they almost drag on the ground. As their keel drags on the ground, they are more difficult to keep clean and they do much less foraging than a utility Rouen.

Our utility Rouens are bought for many purposes. Averaging at 5-7 pounds, they are known to have excellent meat. They are great egg layers at about 140-180 eggs per year. Their fertility is about 89% and they make excellent broody mothers. For those interested, about 35% of females lay bluish eggs.

And if none of that interests you, many people buy them as they make great pets. While their personalities are quite calm, the reason most buy them as pets is due to their vibrant coloring. While the female has a mottled pattern of various browns for her plumage and a dusty orange bill, the male is the showstopper with his gray body, white collar, green head, and yellow bill. Finally, both males and females possess a vibrant blue stripe on their wings.

Do keep in mind that the coloring of the male is dependent on age. The Rouen male will look exactly like the female for roughly the first 12 weeks of life. At week 12, their gray bodies, white collars, chestnut chest, and green heads will slowly start to come in over the course of about 3 weeks.

It is due to their coloring that many can easily mistake Rouens for Mallards. Truly, the only differences between a Mallard and a Rouen are that Rouens are bigger and flightless. For those wanting the aesthetic of a Mallard, but don’t want them to fly or need to trim their wings, a Rouen is the best answer.

One thing the Rouen has over the Mallard, however, is that they are not restricted within the United States. Florida has banned the importation of Mallards as they do not want them breeding with their native black duck. This means that any Floridians looking for a substitute for the Mallard should be quite happy with a Rouen.

Rouen ducklings!

Breed	Temperament	Weight	Egg Production	Mothering	Bluish Eggs	Egg Size
Rouen	Calm	5 - 7.25 pounds	140-180/year	Good	35%	80-95 grams
Fertility	APA Class	Foraging Ability	Conservation Status	Our Show Quality	Flying Ability	Origin
87%	Heavy	Good	Plenty	Not for Exhibition	Maybe	France

Duckling to Duck in 60 Seconds!

Ever wonder how fast your duckling grows? Ask us and we’ll say that at about 8 weeks they are 90% grown.

But that doesn’t really give people new to the duck world any idea.

A customer of ours made a really great video showcasing his Fawn and White Runner and Pekin ducklings and just how much and fast a duckling can grow. Take a look!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting Your Ducks and Geese Ready for Winter

As the wind cools and the pumpkins start to smile, you know that winter is coming. Time to prep for the cold weather months.

Fortunately, getting your waterfowl ready for winter is much easier than prepping chickens. Unlike chickens, waterfowl are winter hardy. This does not mean that they don't need some additional help though.

Insulation

The requirement for insulation depends on your location. Most waterfowl coops do not need insulation unless your winter nights frequently get down to 15 degrees Farenheit or less. Otherwise your birds just need a shed that has plenty of bedding and protection from winds. Heating is only required to keep temperatures above 0 degrees.

While it is easy to go overboard and make the coop air-tight, you want to make sure that there is adequate ventilation. Moisture from body heat and runoff from the snow is far more dangerous to your birds than the cold weather as it can invite mildew and bacteria. If you can smell ammonia in your pen, it does not have adequate ventilation.

Visit our Ammonia page for more information.

Bedding

For really cold areas, an extra layer or two of bedding in the coop will help to keep your birds toasty at night. Duck farmers in Poland, for instance, rely on a deep layer of bedding as it adds heat as it slowly composts. Remember to add more bedding as it becomes dirty.

Water and Feed

All animals need a source of drinking water. If you have extremely cold weather, you need to provide drinking water every day or keep your waterer from freezing.

Make sure you protect their feed from rain and snow. Otherwise the moisture may spoil the feed and cause illness in your birds.

For some fun with their food, try hanging a head of cabbage or ball of alfalfa with wire. Do not use sting or twine as they will attempt to eat it. They'll have fun pecking at the vegetables or hay

while having a nice treat.

Snow

As mentioned above, waterfowl are very winter hardy. Their down, the same stuff used in our pillows and comforters, keep them warm. If their feet become too cold, they'll sit and bring their legs up close to their body to keep warm. Normally ducks would rather spend their day out in the snow than inside. You will be amazed at the amount of time they will spend out in the snow.

Fun!

Ducks and geese can get bored – especially if they are kept inside during extremely cold weather. With snow covering their usual play area and most of the foliage dead, there isn't much for them to do. Solve this by placing a pile of hay in their coop or any play toys like a hanging ball that they can investigate. The hay will give them an extra layer of insulation while giving them something to play with and eat. Get creative!

Predators

The winter months are a prime time for predators to try for your birds as there are fewer wild animals for them to hunt. Check the fencing of your run and repair as needed. If you do not have a top on your run to protect from air attacks, try to provide cover. Bushes and even picnic tables work great. Keep access to the coop available at all times during the winter.

The best thing to do during the winter months is to keep an eye on your birds and adapt as you go along. If you find it is too cold in the coop, take measures to warm it up. If the feed is spoiling, find a way to keep it dry. Don’t worry! Winter does not last forever and taking measures to protect your birds will make the time both pleasant and quicker.

Happy Halloween 2018!!!

Next week is Halloween! That means lots of trick-or-treating, dressing up, and having fun. Not a lot of room for anything duck related, right?

Wrong!

Aside from dressing up as a duck, you can have a lot of fun making treats anyone can quack for!

Here is what you need:

¼ cup butter or margarine

1 bag small marshmallows

5 cups rice cereal – or any kind of cereal you like.

Colored frosting

Small candies

In a large sauce pan, melt the butter on a medium flame.

Add the marshmallows to the melted butter. Stir constantly until the marshmallows are melted.

Remove from heat.

Stir cereal into marshmallow mix until everything is coated. Transfer to a metal or glass container and chill in the refrigerator over night.

After cooling, let sit at room temperature for an hour.

Using the cereal mixture, make whatever design you want! We decided to make ducks and eggs, but you can make anything you can think of. Pumpkins, ghosts, dinosaurs or whatever you would like! Then decorate your creation using frosting and candies to bring them to life!

Here is what we came up with. Not the best artwork (the duck covered in red was supposed to be a Mallard), but it was fun!

If you make a duck too, we would love to see it or anything else you make! Post a photo of your crispy duck treat on our Facebook or on Instagram using hashtag #metzerfarmshalloween18.

How much space should I have for my ducks?

Bigger is always better when it comes to duck enclosures. This holds true at all stages of a duck’s life from hatching to the end of its days. The following suggestions are for enclosed areas with a roof. If you plan on keeping your adult ducks in an open pen with no shelter, you need much more space than a covered pen or building.

Ducklings up to 3 weeks old need 1 square foot per duckling and a minimum of 5 square feet for small groups. This means if you have 4 ducklings, you need at least 5 square feet. If you have 10 ducklings, you need at least 10 square feed of space or more. If you have 100 ducklings, you need at least 100 square feet of space or more.

From age 4-8 weeks, the young ducks need about 3 square feet per bird and a minimum of 16 square feet of space. If you have 5 ducks, that means they need a minimum of 16 square feet. If you have 10 ducks, they need 30 square feet. With 100 ducks, they need 300 square feet.

From age 9-17 weeks, the ducks are now fully grown and will require a minimum of 3.5 square feet per bird and 20 square feet minimum. If you have 5 birds, you need a minimum of 20 square feet. For 10 birds, 35 square feet. With 100 ducks, 350 square feet of space.

Lastly, from age 18 weeks and up is when the ducks become sexually mature and start wanting to mate and lay eggs. This requires at least 4 square feet per duck and a minimum of 24 square feet. If you have 5 birds, they need a minimum of 24 square feet. For 10 birds, 40 square feet. For 100, then 400 square feet.

Keep in mind these are the numbers we highly suggest for enclosed areas with a roof. They can have outside areas during the day, but this is the amount of sheltered space they need, whether they spend their entire day in it or just their nights. Cramped areas can lead to not just health issues including leg and weight problems, but also a higher likelihood of fighting, wetter pens, more smell, dirtier birds, and pens requiring more bedding. We have found that by doubling the square footage per bird, your bedding needs will probably drop by 50%.

Please use the table below as a guide to determine how much space you need and how many ducks you can keep.

As geese are twice the size of ducks, at least double these recommended actions for geese. In other words, 2 week old goslings need at least 2 sq ft each. Guineas and chickens require 75% of the space for a duck.

~~~

Square Footage for Duck Pen
	Age
	up to 3 weeks	4-8 weeks	9-17 weeks	18+ weeks
Enclosure with a roof*	1 sq ft per bird (min 5 sq ft)	3 sq ft per bird (min 16 sq ft)	3.5 sq ft per bird (min 20 sq ft)	4 sq ft per bird (min 24 sq ft)
Pasture with no shelter	Should still be in brooder	Should still be in brooder**	40 sq ft per bird	50 sq ft per bird
* Do not consider outside run when calculating enclosure size.
** Ducklings can go outside around 6-8 weeks depending on the weather and how well they are feathering.

Male to Female Ratio: How many males and females should you have for ducks?

Every now and again we receive orders for one male and one female of just about everything. Then 5-6 months later they are calling us saying they are having issues with their males ganging up on one specific female. We tell them right away that they have too many males and that their male to female ratio is completely off.

Here on the farm we have a 1:5 ratio of male to female since one male can easily ‘service’ 5 females. Problems typically occur when you have two or more males and an equal number of females or less.

For a backyard setup, look at our table for the maximum number of males to use. Of course, you do not need to have any males for them to lay eggs. You only need males for fertile eggs.

Males can become rather violent when it comes to mating, and if a female has multiple males trying to mate with her, she will be in danger of injury or even death.

As an example, we had one gentleman call us from New York and he had 3 male and 1 female duck. All 3 of the males were trying to mate with the female and she was not in good shape. She was suffering from losing an eye, bald spots, missing feathers, and trouble walking.

If you have too many males, there are a couple of things that can be done.

1. Reduce the number of males. This means rehousing the male(s). Your local feed store might be able to suggest some farms in your area you can contact or see if they would allow you to post a note on their bulletin board. You can place them up for adoption or sale on Craigslist. There is also the option of processing them for meat if that is something that interests you.
2. Get more females. To add females, check with your local feed store or Craisglist. You can also check with the person in charge of poultry at your local county fair and they can often recommend a farm. Hatcheries do not typically ship adult birds. If you get more female ducklings, remember they need to be 8-10 weeks of age before introducing them to the rest of the flock.
3. Increase the pen size and add things in which the females can hide – bushes, stacked branches, bales of hay, etc. This will allow more room for the females to escape the males.
4. Separate them.

Females can be put in danger if there are too many males trying to breed with them. The best thing is to not get too many males in the first place, but if you do have too many males, there are solutions to your problem.

~~~

Maximum Males We Recommend
Females You Have	Males in a Small Pen	Males in a Large Pen*
1	1	1
2	2	2
3	2	2
4	2	2
5	2	3
6	3	4
7	3	4
8	3	5
For larger numbers, divide the number of females by 4 or 5. The result is the maximum number of males the flock can have.
*Typical backyard size of 6000 sq ft

Hatching Process and When to Help

Hatching your own eggs is a wonderful experience. Caring for the eggs, making sure the temperature is just right, ensuring there is enough humidity, and then going through the nerve wracking experience of watching the chicks’ struggle to escape the shell can be very rewarding. After all of your hard work, of course you will be nervous the little ones hatch successfully. Then you see one that seems to be in trouble. Your first instinct may be to help it, and that is fine, but you should know a few things first.

As it incubates, the embryo is encased by a membrane consisting of blood vessels. These vessels provide oxygen that enters the egg through the shell to the embryo. Several days before hatching, this network of vessels begins to break down and the embryo lacks sufficient oxygen. The egg will have slowly dried out during incubation, forming an air sack. This sack is pierced by the chick in order to get oxygen. Since there is not a lot of air in the sack, the chick will continue to peck until it ‘pips’ a tiny protrusion on the shell which allows for a greater flow of oxygen. After pipping, the chick will rest for 12 to 24 hours.

Once the chick has rested, it starts to make its way out of the egg. It starts at the pip before turning slightly and pecking again. The chick will continue this pattern around the egg until it forms a ‘lid’ which it can push open and wiggle out the rest of the way. During this process, the chick will take several breaks until it is finished about 1 to 3 hours later.

These rest periods are where most nervous soon-to-be bird parents think they are needed the most. After seeing and hearing movement only to have them go quiet and still can be stressful. Knowing when and when not to help a chick hatch is important.

When you help could mean life or death for the chick. If you help before the network of blood veins has completely broken down, you can cause the chick to bleed to death. Following are three scenarios and our recommendations for each.

• The chick forms a hole where it pipped and does not start rotating within the shell. In this situation you must be careful as not everything went as it should. You can try to help, but stop and try several hours later if you see blood forming where you have broken the shell.
  
  In the following video, we did not see blood until the 'lid' had been taken off. Make sure to stop and try again several hours later whenever you see blood.
  
  

  
  
• If the duckling has started turning and breaking the shell, then runs into a problem and stops turning, you can normally help them without a problem. The key is they have started turning in the shell which means the blood vessels under the shell have shut down and you can help them without fear of excessive bleeding. Gently pull the head out from under the wing and allow the chick to escape the rest of the egg on its own.
  
  The following video shows a variety of eggs where the 'lid' has not been developed and the chick has not turned, but we were able to help them because there was no blood.
  
  

  
  
• If the chick has gone completely around and formed a ‘lid’ only to get stuck, you can definitely help them out by removing the cap.
  
  

Many believe that helping during hatch will make the chick weak. This is not necessarily true. You could have a perfectly healthy and fit chick, but due to less than ideal incubation conditions, it may not be able to hatch on its own. On the flip side, it is possible to get a weaker chick when helping a less than healthy chick to hatch. As author and waterfowl expert Holderread says, hatching is like a “fitness test” for the chicks.

Flight Training for Ducks and Geese

One of the most common question we get from customers is if their ducks are going to fly off when they are older. No, they will not. Except for the Mallard, none of our ducks inherently know how to fly. They especially will not fly off if they associate you and the area as a place of safety and food.

However, your ducks can be taught to fly.

Meet brothers Joel and Jacob. Back in 2016 they taught their 8-week-old goslings and a handful of ducklings how to fly with amazing success. Here is their fascinating story.

“At first, when they were ducklings, we didn't ever expect anyone but the mallards to fly. The mallards kind of taught themselves, when we would go on a walk, they would stop until the rest of the ducks were some distance away and then fly to them. Now they circle the yard for long periods!

The domestic ducks: 3 Khaki Campbells, 3 Fawn and White Runners, and 3 Buff Orpingtons needed a little more help to fly, but not much. We started by walking one or two ducks a distance from the flock, always going so that they could fly into a headwind. At first when they started flying, they couldn't take off by themselves, so we would toss them into the wind. This should ONLY be done if you have a very strong wind (20 mph or more). That way flight is much easier and the landing is soft even for a heavy weak-winged duck. When we tossed them, at first they would simply land, but they eventually learned to fly to the flock. Over time, they needed less and less wind, until they could do it without any headwind at all. Then one day instead of tossing them into the wind, we simply walked some distance from the flock, then turned around and ran back to the flock. The duck(s) hesitated, and some didn't get it a first, but most would start running and fly back!

Now when we take them on walks, sometimes they get excited and will fly to the destination, or after they have eaten all they want, they fly back to the barn for a drink! They definitely love to fly, and get very excited both before and after they fly. All of the ducks but two (the two Buff Orpington hens) have flown. Right now only the drakes are flying, except for a Khaki Campbell hen who loves flying even though she lays. The most impressive flight ever by one of the ducks was when on a kind of windy day, the Khaki Campbell hen Mildred took off on the opposite side our property from the barn, flew really high above our trees, and because of the wind she wasn't able to land, so she circled 2 times 50 feet in the air, then glided down like a mallard! I had never dreamed a domestic duck could fly like that, but she can! 

Training the geese was a bit different. For the geese we also took them a little ways from the flock and ran into the wind, but we never tossed them up. We simply started running, and when we run, they get extremely excited, honk, and then run after us, quickly overtaking us to fly to the flock. We started training them at 10 weeks, and they are now 8 months old [at time of writing]. It took about 4 weeks of daily training until they could both fly, and like the ducks at first they needed a strong headwind, and by strong I mean about 35mph. I think they could have flown quicker than that, but they had gotten used to simply running along the ground, instead of flying.

Many times they would go 6 inches into the air, then get scared and come to a halt. But then first the female goose, Elizabeth suddenly rose up one day, flew about 200 feet, and landed perfectly! After that she took off every time, she had conquered her fear. James the gander started flying about 2 weeks after Elizabeth, and he was very very proud when he finally did. Now they are so much stronger and don't need any wind at all to get lift, James has flown a little over a fourth of a mile, and Elizabeth has flown at least a half mile. James is not quite as daring as she is, he hasn't ever gone any higher than 20 feet or so from the ground, but she likes to go as high as she can in a flight. Elizabeth can take off with a single leap and flap, and rise to 60 feet in the air, then float down gracefully to the ground. The geese definitely LOVE flying, if we don't take them out for a flight every day, they follow us and honk until we do! We don't give them any reward after flying, just a lot of praise. They also praise themselves quite a bit when they land, they stick their wings out, honk joyfully, flap, and then preen. 

It's hard to know what ducks and geese other than the breeds we own could fly. I don't think a Pekin could fly, but you never know. I didn't believe our Buff Orpington drake would ever fly, he just seemed too heavy, but after months of training my brother taught him how, and now he flies everyday and loves it. Runners definitely can, and quite easily once they realize they can't fly in a vertical position, but have to flatten out. I think that most Rouens, Welsh Harlequins, Swedish, Cayugas and Anconas could. I'm referring to the normal farm birds, not show quality. For geese it's harder to know, but I am quite sure by talking with others that production Toulouse, Romans, Pilgrims, Buff, and Embdens can fly if they are not too overweight. Super Africans, Dewlap Toulouse, and Sebastapols really would shock me, I don't see any way they would. If a Sebastapol had normal wing feathers, it could a little bit.

Training ducks and geese to fly is definitely rewarding for both the trainer and the waterfowl. It's amazing to watch them fly, and it keeps them healthy, safer from predators, and they love it! 

 

-Joel and Jacob”

Cayuga Ducks

There is no definitive origin of the Cayuga, but traditionally it is believed that a miller in Duchess County, New York caught a pair of wild black ducks and decided to raise them for eggs and meat for both his table and the marketplace in 1809. It is then said that John Clark obtained some of these black ducks in Orange County, New York and introduced them to Cayuga County, New York in 1840 where the Cayuga got its name. Should the traditional origin be true, this would make the Cayuga the first duck originating from the United States.

The Cayuga was added to the American Standard of Perfection in 1874. A very hardy duck with great utility, they were very popular for meat purposes until the Pekin was introduced to the market in the 1890’s. Today they are considered a threatened species by the Livestock Conservancy.

Adult Cayuga Male

Cayuga are a medium weight duck, about 4¾ to 6 pounds, and have meat that is considered quite flavorful. Due to the dark pin feathers and the dark coloring they leave in the skin, however, the carcass is not as clean appearing as a Pekin. They can lay about 150 eggs a year with egg color ranging from black to light gray. Cayuga are quite docile and easily tamed making them excellent pets. While their plumage can be considered a greenish black, they shine iridescent green in the sun and start to turn gray or white as they age. Sometimes this change starts in one year and sometimes it takes several years for the white feathers to begin appearing. Interestingly, some flocks originating from the same parents will molt to white feathers sooner than others. We breed our Cayuga exclusively on our farm and sometimes at the end of some years we have a lot of whitish birds, and other years there are none. Therefore, change must be induced by something in their environment. What that something is we have not been able to determine.

Freshly laid Cayuga eggs

Breed	Temperament	Weight	Egg Production	Mothering	Bluish Eggs	Egg Size
Cayuga	Calm	4.75 - 6 pounds	130-180/year	Fair	<2%	75-90 grams
Fertility	APA Class	Foraging Ability	Conservation Status	Our Show Quality	Flying Ability	Origin
83%	Medium	Good	Watch	Excellent Color, Good Type	None	USA

Duclair Ducks

A very good multipurpose duck would have to be the Duclair. It was first developed in France and was named after the city Duclair in Normandy. It became a part of the American standard in 1923. In 2012, Metzer Farms in conjunction with Stone Church Farm in New York developed a strain of Duclair which Metzer Farms has continued to breed.

What a usual Duclair looks like.

A search for Duclair ducks will usually produce a duck that looks like a cross between a Rouen and a Black Swedish duck. The strain that Metzer Farms and Stone Church Farm developed, however, is completely white. It is a great egg layer at 130 – 200 eggs a year. At full growth it averages at 4.5 – 6 pounds. It has a calm personality making it a great starter duck for kids.

Today, the Duclair is prized for its meat and can be found in many high-end restaurants. We ship Duclair on a weekly basis for raising and processing to New York and several other growers across the states.

What our Duclair look like.

Whether you are looking for a pet, an egg layer, or a meat bird, the Duclair is an excellent choice all around and would make for a beautiful addition to any flock.

Breed	Temperament	Weight	Egg Production	Foraging Ability	Conservation Status
Duclair	Calm	4.5 - 6 pounds	130-200/year	Good	No Rank