Mallards have contributed to the breeding of most of our domestic ducks. They are a hardy, and robust breed, which has a range of bloodlines from nearly wild, to mostly domesticated, and their sizes correspond to the amount of breeding in captivity - generally the more domesticated, the larger they will be.

The males have a characteristic coloring, and the females have lovely patterned feathers. They are popular as show birds, and as pets, and they still have strong utility usefulness.

Until recently, the US Fish and Wildlife agency required licencing to breed Mallards in captivity, but they no longer do so. You are generally required to band their legs, or otherwise mark them so they cannot be confused with wild populations, and you are not allowed to take Mallards from the wild and keep them in captivity.

Mallards are thrifty, energetic foragers, and the lighter bloodlines fly (the heavier ones do not fly much once they have matured). They need room to range, and while they don't tend to complain about being in confinement, they are much healthier when given space to be a duck, and to hunt their own food. Less domesticated bloodlines are the broodiest of domestic ducks.

• Type - dual purpose meat and eggs
• Size - Bantam to Light
• Production Capacity - depends greatly on bloodlines, but can be very productive, and reproduce well
• Special Features - many bloodlines still have more wild traits
• Best for Farms - best for farms where less intensive management is practiced
• Eggs, Milk, Meat Features - fair egg production, classic duck meat qualities
• Other Products - limited market for feathers
• Historic or Contemporary Significance - the underlying genetics for the majority of domestic duckdom, and a very useful bird
• Housing and Space Requirement - can tolerate close confinement in housing, but do best with good forage range
• Regional Adaptations - adaptable to a range of conditions
• Feed Requirement - higher need for forage feeds and natural protein sources (bugs, butchering scraps from other animals, fish, worms, snails, etc)
• Other Considerations - Some states may have laws regarding the keeping of Mallards.

A NOTE ABOUT DUCKS:

Other than the Pekin, most ducks are struggling to maintain sufficient numbers to keep the breed thriving. Ducks have fallen out of favor in recent years due to analysis of feed consumption to meat production statistics.

Ducks require more feed to produce a pound of meat than chickens do, and since farmers have adopted a consumer attitude about animal feed, every pound of feed translates into a dollar cost - something that was not the case when animals foraged more for themselves, and farmers could feed all poultry the same, and the animals themselves would make up the difference by their own efforts.

Many small farmers now fail to realize the strength of the duck in the barnyard. Ducks are hardy, many are very prolific, and they forage like nobody's business when given something to forage ON - they'll eat grass, weeds, bugs, grubs, and some will even go after small snakes and rodents, and they'll forage on anything in the water. 

Ducks are cautious and suspicious of what is not familiar, but if given the opportunity and encouragement to forage (refrain from overfeeding, so they have a reason to forage and try new things), they will be avidly hunting their own food within a few days of being put out on range. A few ducks in your yard or pastures can reduce fly and mosquito populations to an astonishing degree. They are also great to rotate through pastures to remove parasites for cattle and sheep, since those parasites do not harm ducks, and they'll eat them as quickly as they'll eat bugs.

We love ducks, in part for their ability to be trained and the ability to herd them. Ducks cluster together any time there is a disturbance, so they herd easily if you have a couple of people, and herding poles to extend your reach as you guide them. This makes it easy to move them from area to area. They also train easily, by scattering a little scratch feed where you want them to go out in the morning, and herding them back to a bit of feed in the evening in a pen or duck house. Three days of that, and they'll be waiting for you to let them out in the morning, and to let them in at night!

Good home raised duck meat is excellent, and the butchering scraps from them are helpful for feeding dogs, cats, and pigs. They have especially good livers, and duck fat is a useful fat to have on hand.

Most ducks require only a kiddie pool for water, and can make do with a dishpan of water - they require enough to wet their bills. Some prefer to mate on water, so they'll be more productive if they have sufficient water to swim. If provided with a pond that is not infested with snapping turtles or other water predators, ducks can also get a lot of their food from a pond that has been sown with duckweed, and some fish and freshwater shrimp.

Predation is more of an issue with ducks than with some other poultry because they do not defend themselves well against predators, and the ability to fly has been bred out of most. Putting them on pasture with other poultry may be helpful in reducing predation, and if it is a major problem in your area, choose ducks that can still fly, or which have dark broken colors that help to camouflage them.

Duck breeds have some of the same issues with productivity and loss of utility traits, in part because so many breeds have been corrupted by being relegated to show birds. A few of them have been bred to obscene proportions in the quest for trophies from judges who have a distorted sense of what is worthy of praise. Rouens and Aylesbury, specifically, have been bred with disproportionately large keels so that they have trouble breeding naturally, but some older bloodlines still exist, and these breeds are in need of restoration, and other breeds are in need of utility use and breeding in order to keep them from meeting the same fate.

Ducks natively have a diet very high in meat proteins, a thing which most people do not realize. In the wild, they forage on all kinds of small animal life, in addition to greens, grains and seeds, fruits, vegetables, and aquatic plants and animals. Ducks truly ARE omnivores, and if you are having issues with fertility or health, increasing their access to natural forms of animal protein and fat is a primary method of improving both.

When you work WITH the strengths of the duck, instead of trying to turn him into a production line chicken, he produces excellent meat, terrific eggs, and does so with surprisingly little input from you!

Duck eggs are great for baking, and range in size from small chicken egg size, up to extra large and bigger. The egg whites are clearer, and have more, oh, I don't know what it is called, but more elasticity, I guess. So they whip up stiffer, and hold cakes and muffins higher. They boil up a little rubberier than chicken eggs.

Rare duck breeds listed here are generally available from Dave Holderread, a Conservation Breeder who produces good quality stock. It is not cheap, but it is bred to retain utility traits, and to APA standards. He is a consciencious breeder who is trusted throughout the US to produce high quality stock.