Ancona ducks

You might be wondering exactly what is an Ancona duck and what makes it so special anyway?

The five original members of our flock are in the foreground. I took this photo on the day we began introducing four new females to the established group. The newer ducks were from a different source to insure greater genetic variety. 

The Ancona duck has been classified as a critically endangered breed by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC). It initially caught our fancy because of the sheer variety of colors and patterns. The most common coloration is white and black, but white and chocolate brown, blue, lilac, lavender, tricolor, and silver can all occur. The crazier and more mixed up the markings on the duck, the better! The fun patterning even extends to their bills and feet.

Not only are Anconas gorgeous animals, but they are also extremely practical. They are a medium-sized duck and make good table birds and excellent egg layers. They are adept at foraging for their food which is great if you want to reduce feed costs and enjoy the benefits of pastured poultry.

Our Anconas

We hatched our first Anconas from eggs we had shipped in from the east coast. We have since added to our flock and have a total of 3 male and 6 female ducks. Our males are chocolate and blue. We have one chocolate, one blue, and four black female ducks. If you buy hatching eggs from our birds, you will have a good chance at getting a variety of colors.

One of our original chocolate drakes, Morning Glory, in the midst of hatching. His chocolate markings were present from the beginning. 

Our drake Freckles at one day old. He looks black here but as he matured he became a rich chocolate

Our blue duck, Peek-a-boo, had a typically Ancona broken pattern even at 1 day old. 

It didn't take long for that fuzzy duckling to grow into an excellent representative of the breed. Peek-a-boo is seven weeks of age in this photo. The best Anconas have markings under their eyes and on their chest and she has both!

Duckie huddle! 

Our ducks have never been fed hormones or antibiotics, but are given quality feed plus greens grown in our organic vegetable garden and sprouted grains. They have lots of room to run and two pools to play in. They are happy, healthy little ducks and charm everyone who meets them.

Our breeding hens for 2014

2014 drakes

We anticipate that we will have fertile hatching eggs from our Anconas available again in February 2014. We are NPIP certified (#48-372) and will ship hatching eggs anywhere in the continental US via USPS priority or express mail. We will also be hatching and selling a limited number of ducklings locally. We are not set up to ship ducklings at this time.