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Light Ducks: Abacot Ranger (Streicher), Hook Bill, Khaki Campbell, Welsh Harlequin, Buff Orpington etc. |
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Most
breeds of light ducks were created partly from the Indian Runner
early in the twentieth century. Mrs Campbell of Uley produced the Campbell
duck around the same time as Cook of Orpington was working on the Buff
Orpington. White Campbells and Dark Campbells followed, as did Abacot
Rangers and Welsh Harlequins - all depending on a Runner
ancestor. Light
ducks are active ducks; they partly take their temperament and type from
the Indian Runner. They are foragers and egg layers, the Khaki Campbell
being the best egg layer of all time. Magpies and Orpingtons are at the
heavier end of the scale at up to 7-7½ lbs and can be regarded as 'dual
purpose' birds.
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| The Abacot Ranger was originally produced in the UK, was even described in Feathered World's 'Ducks' (1926) - and then disappeared from the UK record. Fortunately for this attractive breed, the Germans developed the 'silver wild-colour' to perfection and maintained the Abacot Ranger or Streicher as a popular breed on the continent until its re-discovery as a distinctive breed in the UK in the 1980s.The ducks are particularly attractive. They have a 'hood' of fawn-buff feathers (hence the name 'hooded ranger') and a creamy white body beautifully streaked and marked with colour. Like their relatives - the Campbells and Harlequins - they are very good layers. |  |
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Buff Orpingtons are an attractive, warm shade of buff.
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Khaki Campbell Ducks on a pool. These are the world's best layers, capable ( in commercial strains) of producing over 300 eggs per year. The breed was produced by Mrs Campbell of Uley, Glos. | |||
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Dark Campbells (right) and White Campbells were produced later. Dark Campbells are a dark 'dusky' - a basic recessive colour in ducks. Unlike the khaki, they do not have a brown gene. The are simply dusky and dark phase (in the terms of duck colour genetics) . Matings between Dark and Khaki Campbells make sex identification by colour at hatching possible.
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The Hook
Bill [Hookbill] is the oldest
recorded breed in Europe. It too comes in the dusky mallard colour, but
also in bibbed dusky. The earliest Hook Bills, according to
illustrations of them from the 1600s, were not dusky. They had
mallard gene eye-stripes. These birds are very good layers and have a lovely, calm temperament. |
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| The Magpie Duck has a touch of Indian Runner in the breed too. |  |
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The Welsh Harlequin was produced as a 'sport' from Campbells by Captain Bonnet in 1949. The breed (which is really a colour) almost disappeared, but was revived by Eddie Grayson in the 1980s. | |||
A
lot of information about the light ducks and their colours is in our
book |
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