Ancona Ducks

Meet the Ducks

Ancona Ducks

Ancona Ducks are beautiful and prolific egg-layers, laying up to 280 jumbo eggs per year in various colors — white, blue, grey, green, and speckled. We love the fact that we know who is who because they all look different! No need for name bands on these beautiful sweeties!

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Everything Ancona in our Farm Store

These are all the products we carry that are derived from Ancona ducks.

Diversity and Preservation

Current Ancona Genetic Controversy

There is some controversy over the recent application to standardize Ancona Ducks with the APA (American Poultry Association).
The APA requires that all ducks come out the same and that you choose one egg color as the standard. The breeder applying for the standard got the APA to agree on the scattered pattern and also runs an Ancona group on Facebook, where the members push for certain characteristics, including colors, body style, and white eggs. All other features are culled or not included in the breeding program.
We are in love with the diversity of the heterozygous genetics and we subscribe to the Dave Holderread guidelines, meaning that we believe that the ducks should be allowed to maintain their genetic diversity and varied scattered pattern in each bird. Even if the APA allows the scattered pattern, there are other characteristics that we feel are being “bred out” of the breed. One of the things that draws people to our eggs is the variation in color, and we do not want to lose that or any of the other genetics due to large-scale inbreeding.

May 15, 2020

Pollina Line

On May 2020, we drove to the Pollina Project in Leicester, NC and picked up 2 males and 3 females, one day old. The parents were Harry (a tricolor, who we now have) and Ginny as well as Hermione and Ron, but we don’t know which ducklings came from which pair. The ducklings were: Drako, Remus, Minerva, Narcissa, and Delphini. Two of the 3 hens laid blue eggs. Everyone has been coyote dinner except Drako.
We later adopted Harry because he is a tricolor (they get culled in the APA project) and because he may carry a blue egg gene.

May 15, 2020
May 28, 2021

Worth It Line

On May 28, 2021, we drove to Worth It Farms in Chattahoochie Hills, GA and picked up 11 ducklings, a few weeks old. They explained to me that they were once part of the breeding efforts to get APA standardization for Ancona, but they pulled back from the efforts. Their birds came from Dave Holderread’s flock and they no longer sell to the public. The hen was coyote dinner along with a few males, so the remaining males, Remus II (chocolate) and Sirius II (black) were bred to a Welsh hen for meat purposes. The ducklings were crested, so we sold Remus II, Sirius II, and two blue duckling hens expressing the crested gene to Jan Pelfery of Triple J Farms in Cave Spring, GA, who specializes in crested Ancona. We have since found that those hens lay green eggs! We no longer have any ducks from this line, but contact Jan if you want crested Ancona.

May 28, 2021
August 1, 2021

Ancona Acres Line

During the fall of 2021, we acquired 2 drakes and 1 hen from a local farmer who got her ducklings from Ancona Acres. Sadly, one drake and the hen were attacked by weasels and died. Neville, a blue drake remains. Their site states that “crested . . . ducklings do pop up time to time”, so we do not breed Neville.

August 1, 2021
June 1, 2022

Various Lines

During the summer of 2022, we hatched several blue eggs from: Vitoria Farms, Five Pine Farms, The Pollina Project, and “Amanda”. The following ducklings hatched.

Pollina Line
– Phineas Black, black drake

Vitoria Farms Line
– Luna Lovegood, white hen

Amanda
– Fleur Delacour, blue hen
– Lavender Brown, chocolate buff hen
– Helena Ravenclaw, tri-color hen

June 1, 2022
February 1, 2023

Five Pine Farms Line

In Spring of 2023, we got a beautiful chocolate
tri-color drake, named Cormac McLaggen.

February 1, 2023

Further Reading on Ancona Ducks

Please check out these resources on Ancona ducks. We have included resources that adhere to the Dave Holderread guidelines as well.

Dave Holderread has 6 decades of experience with waterfowl and Ancona Ducks. His preservation center no longer sells to the public. Our breeding stock comes from several farmers whose breeding stock came from his line.

Article about the history of Ancona including Dave Holderread’s efforts.

Nantahala Farms no longer sells to the public, but their page is a wealth of info on the color genetics of Ancona Ducks.

Domestic Animal Breeds – Ancona Facts

Here is a quick read of everything you ever wanted to know about Ancona statistics.

This is the group we recommend for all your questions about Ancona Ducks. We do not run this group, but it is the only one that adheres to the diversity in the Dave Holderread guidelines.

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