Winter hardy laying ducks

[tkathleen]

Hi all. We are getting ready to get ducklings this week and got the brooder set up. We need some laying females to go with our 2 pet backyard ducks (Pekin and Crested White). We are wanting good year-round layers, bonus points for not being super loud and they have to winter well, as we don't have electricity out to our coop. My Pekin and Crested do very well in their cozy, straw-filled coop at night and only go in after dark, no matter the weather.

We are going to be getting our ducklings at a local farm supply store, which gets theirs from Privett Hatchery. They say they will have a grab-bag of types and won't know what breed til they arrive Thursday. What breeds do you all recommend? I might look out for at least 1 Pekin, since we have one already, but the others are up for grabs. I am curious if Indian Runners, Khaki Campbells or Cayugas winter well and are good all-around ducks?

 

[Amiga]

From anything I hear, those breeds are hardy. I am most familiar with runners, and I can say they have a very good reputation for laying. I hear the Khaki Campbells are very good, too, and I am not sure where the Cayugas fall in there (but they are beautiful

)

 

[daraae921]

Our Khaki Campbell laid 347 eggs in 360 days. She was incredible. I don't really recommend a female Khaki Campbell with a male Pekin, though. There's a big size difference there.

 

[tkathleen]

Hmmmm...I hadn't thought about the size differential. Is that usually bad? I think Cayugas are the only one I listed of a similar size, arent't they? Are Anaconas good layers? And do any of you have them where it's very cold? Thanks a bunch!

 

[Amiga]

Drakes can be pretty hard on the females, and when you have a much larger drake, the females can be hurt or worse, from what I have been told. More than one female per drake is often recommended. Runner females are only about three and a half pounds, so they would not do so well with larger drakes, I don't think. (There is always the occasional exception but I would not count on it.)

 

[BeccaOH]

I wintered over KC, WH, runners, and Cayugas with very limited shelter and they all did just fine. The Cayugas didn't lay during January and February, but the others laid some.

 

[daraae921]

We eventually had to separate ours. The pekin was just too big and our little Khaki Campbell was getting hurt. Cayugas and Anconas are a bit bigger than Khaki Campbells, too and Anconas are fantastic layers.
Ducks are more sensitive to heat than they are to cold. They're pretty hardy little birds. I wouldn't worry too much about that.

 

[tkathleen]

Thanks all.
I can see that I have a difficult number of males to begin with, wanting a flock no bigger than 6 at the end. We originally got our Pekin as a pet for my son and then we got him a friend. In both cases, they were grown males needing new homes. And they get along famously. But I can hardly imagine getting enough females to keep them both busy. I'm worried if I end up with another male by mistake, we'll have a REAL problem!Any advice on how to make this easier without sacrificing the idea of getting some layers?

 

[yotetrapper]

I have cayugas but I can't speak to their laying over winter, as they just started laying this spring. But, most of my chickens dont lay over winter either, even with a light. The cayugas are very winter hardy. Although they all had access to they're choice of three coops all winter, the only time I ever saw them in one was a stretch of below zero weather. It could be 5, and they would be sleeping outside in the snow, lol.

 

[yotetrapper]

I had a mixed drake, an appleyard drake, and a cayuga drake over-wintering with 6 cayuga hens and 1 appleyard hen. I didnt have any problems with it. I have much more problems with too many roosters, than too many drakes.