Ancona Ducks

I purchased my 1st Ancona Ducks from a hatchery in 2013. I was interested in them for their dual purpose size, laying ability and that they all look different from each other - pinto ducks! I love their chatty nature and the jokes they tell around the water trough. They are pretty much homebodies, as long as nothing frightens them they will stay in their yard. If given the opportunity, they will happily forage around the yard as long as it is a yard they have already been in.

In 2020 I added to my flock with ducks from Sandhill Preservation Center and really started working on breeding to the proposed APA standard.  I've succeeded in increasing the size of my birds and the overall look according to the standard but still have work ahead of me.  I currently have a mix of black and white, chocolate and white, and blue and white ducks. Going forward I'm keeping the project small and will be focusing on just the blue and black varieties. Ideally chocolate should not be mixed into a black flock as the chocolate gene can muddy feather color in black birds.  

Ancona Ducks are a medium size, dual purpose duck, mature hens should weigh 6 lbs, mature drakes should weigh 6.5 labs. The most notable characteristic is it's broken/splashy pattern, no two are exactly alike! Bills should be orange spotted with green when young and as they age turn dark green/black. Feet and legs should be orange broken by black. Ancona Ducks are excellent layers, laying roughly 300 eggs +/- per year. They lay a large egg with a white shell. The shell can have an overlay of color that rubs/washes off of the white shell.  A few of my ducks lay eggs with a black overlay!  I have read all over the internet that Ancona's are not that broody. Every year I have ducks go broody. They often try to sit two to a nest and I have to remove one before the eggs hatch.  I have found with two hens on the same nest I end up losing ducklings due to trampling. The hens are very protective of their brood and will not hesitate to spring from the nest to bite.  The largest clutch I've hatched under a duck was 17 eggs. The smaller duck with the blue mark on its chest in the picture above had 17 ducklings under her and did an excellent job of caring for them as they matured.  

As I have worked to increase the size of my birds I've seen more solid colors in my flock. Since I am seeing that increase in size I will be selecting for type, including color characteristics, as I go forward. 

Contact us for duckling or hatching egg availability or to put your name on the list.  I will be keeping my hatches small at this time so if you are interested send an email to get on our list. 

I'm not set up for shipping in or out of Nevada so local pick up or buyer arrange transport at own expense.

Straight Run Ducklings $15 each

Hatching eggs $60/dozen