Books about domestic waterfowl - keeping ducks and geese

Books about Domestic Waterfowl
- Keeping Ducks and Geese -

Over the 1990s, several articles on the breeds of ducks and geese were published in the magazines Country Smallholding and Fancy Fowl. The research on the information for these led to the publication of Domestic Geese by Chris Ashton in 1999, and The Domestic Duck by Chris and Mike Ashton in 2001. Both books are published by The Crowood Press.

These books are available from Amazon, or from the ourselves, Tel 01938 554011.

Wales is another country - and this series (The Insiders Guide to Wales) celebrates everything that makes it so. With a foreword by Dai Jones, who meets many and remarkable farming families in his work for TV, Steve Dubé pays tribute to a number of Welsh breeders in Welsh Farming Life ISBN 978 84323 972 7
There are sections on sheep, cattle, pigs, cattle and ponies and of course, ducks and geese. The Welsh Harlequin, Magpie and Brecon Buff are covered in this beautifully produced book from Gomer Press, 2009. Full colour throughout, 40 pages.

Click Best Price on the Amazon connection for details (actual cover is the image left).

Keeping Ducks and Geese (published by David and Charles 2009) 128pages, full colour, final cover as illustrated left. Cover price £14. 99.
Keeping ducks and geese can be a fascinating hobby. From producing eggs for food and painting, quills for writing, birds for exhibition or even eating, ducks and geese can add a new dimension to the garden or smallholding. They make wonderful pets: geese act as watchdogs and ducks are a gardener’s best friend. With information on 40 of the most popular duck and goose breeds, Keeping Ducks and Geese shows you how to select the right breed, what you need get started and how to care for your birds to get the best out of them from the very start.

Click Best Price on the Amazon connection for details.

Also available in German March 2010

Colour Breeding in Domestic Ducks, £10.00 plus p&p
Colour Breeding in Domestic Ducks is a simple, illustrated guide for waterfowl enthusiasts, helping them to understand the wealth of colour forms and markings that determine many of the breeds derived from the common mallard. Only a small number of genes affect the inheritance of duck plumage colour. By understanding the alternative genes and their interaction, we are able to manage the colour forms, correct breed faults and introduce new genes into what may be dangerously inbred flocks.
In colour throughout, 48pp plus covers, A4. Very well illustrated with the main duck colours which span the breeds.

Click Best Price on the Amazon connection for details

£16.00 plus p&p
More details at The Indian Runner: A Historical Guide
Available through:
Amazon UK - search for Indian Runner Duck - from seller ashton455 - £16.00 plus p&p
Also through bookseller Veronica Mayhew veronica.mayhew@virgin.net
Click Best Price on the Amazon connection for details

Ducks
An inexpensive booklet printed on heavy weight, glossy paper. 28 pages, half of them in colour, about the colours of ducks, including Calls and Indian Runners. Genetics of the restricted/mallard/dusky genes, and dark phase/light phase genes explained in pictures. Also, the influence of homozygous and heterozygous blue genes in the expression of colour.
Available through bookseller Veronica Mayhew veronica.mayhew@virgin.net

Domestic Geese Crowood Press 1999
Geese have an unjust reputation for ruling the farmyard and being noisy and aggressive. Well reared, they are useful, amenable and easy to keep. There is a comprehensive summary of the breeds in the UK in Domestic Geese. The study of management includes transport, housing, feeding, grazing and fencing. Goose behaviour and the approach to the breeding season is examined in detail, plus breeding, incubation and rearing of goslings. 192 pages, stitched, hardback, illustrated throughout with over 100 photographs and diagrams, and an eight page colour section.
Or buy online at http://www.crowoodpress.co.uk/
Farming and Land Use section. Carriage is free on orders over £30.00

Now in paperback

ISBN: 978 1 84797 050 3
192 pages
Paperback
246x189 mm
170 black & white photographs, 35 colour

The Domestic Duck - Crowood Press 2001, 2008
In 1865 there were only four officially recognized breeds of duck, each with its own distinct geographical origin. Yet by 1900 the commercialisation of the duck, as an egg layer and table bird, was to change radically the methods of production as well as the ducks themselves. The Khaki Campbell, amongst other 'designer' breeds, was part of a revolution from which the commercial duck seemed poised to oust the hen.
Despite such predictions, the duck was not developed for mass production to quite the same degree. Many of the breeds virtually disappeared during the Second World War, but were conserved to make a comeback in the 1950s and an even bigger impact in the 1980s. The function of ducks has also changed: as well as being a food source, they now provide pets and an interesting hobby for many enthusiasts.
This book traces the origins of the twenty three breeds of duck standardized in the Great Britain and examines their breed characteristics for both exhibition and utility purposes. It examines evidence of the origins of the breeds, and gives advice on acquiring, keeping and breeding ducks and selecting birds for utility purposes or exhibition. The Domestic Duck is a comprehensive and up-to-date guide for the serious breeder and hobbyist alike.
Click Best Price on the Amazon connection for details
Or buy online at http://www.crowoodpress.co.uk/
Farming and Land Use section
Carriage is free on orders over £30.00

We advertise on www.callducks.net and www.runnerduck.net

Articles in magazines include the following:
Country Smallholding:
Geese at the European Waterfowl Show : Spring 2003 edition
Poultry Houses of the past Sept 2002
Mrs Campbell's Ducks June 2002
Toulouse I, II and III: Jan, Feb, March 2002
Indian Runner Ducks I & II Aug & Sept 2001
The Rouen Clair May 2001
The Steinbacher Goose Oct 2000
Commercial Duck Production May 2000
The Muscovy April 2000
Designing a Duck Jan 2000
The Hook Bill Oct 1999
Blue Ducks July 1999
The Miniature Appleyard & Silver Bantam March 1999
Silver Appleyards Jan 1999
The Welsh Harlequin Oct 1998
Abacot Ranger July 1998
Orpingtons April 1998
The Campbells Jan 1998
The Magpie Duck Oct 1997
Saxony Ducks July 1997
Pekin Ducks April1997
Black Ducks Jan 1997
Indian Runner Oct 1996
Call Ducks Part 1 and II , May & June 1996
African geese April 1996
Rouen March 1996
Chinese Geese Feb 1996
The Aylesbury Duck Jan 1996
Buff Backs and American Buffs, Dec 1995
Domestic Ducks Nov 1995
Pomeranian Geese Oct 1995
Embden August 1995
Sebastopols June 1995
Roman Geese April 1995
Pilgrim Geese Feb 1995
Brecon Buff Geese Dec 1994

Avicultura International 1995 English Breeds of Geese

Smallholder Magazine

Down is a luxury product December 2009
Steinbacher Geese November 2009
Breeding Geese October 2009
Toulouse geese August &September 2009
Brecon Buff July 2009
Guard those goslings June 2009
Sebastopol Geese May 2009
Romans and Czech April 2009
Embden geese March 2009
Commercial Geese Feb 2009
Auto-sexing Geese Jan 2009
The Useful Goose 2008 Christmas edition
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008 Waterfowl Down Under ( Australia)
September 2008
August 2008
Duck management - Indian Runners July 2008
Will the real Indian Runner stand up? June 2008
Indian Runner or Penguin ducks? May 2008
How ducks will reward you July 2007
Want to keep Call ducks? Smallholder Show edition
Call Duck Colour Explosion - June 2007
How different are Call Ducks? - May 2007
Call Ducks -the little bird with the big voice April 2007
Hatching Waterfowl Eggs: FAQs March
Beautiful Bantams Feb 2007 Read the article
Preparing for spring Dec 2006
Worms in waterfowl and poultry Nov 2006
Appleyard Table Ducks Oct 2006
Producing table ducks Sept 2006
Rearing the Christmas goose August 2006
Sunlight, air and exercise July 2006
Get them outdoors: why waterfowl do best on grass June 2006
May 2006
How to rear ducks and goslings April 2006
Incubating waterfowl eggs March 2006
Feb 2006
The Mystery Hook Bill Duck Jan 2006
Avian Influenza: Experience from Holland Dec 2005
Looking after laying ducks Dec 2005
Light ducks - Colour and utility combined Nov 2005
The Light Brigade - Ducks for egg production Oct 2005
The Heavy Mob - Colourful Crosses August 2005
The Heavy Mob - Types of table ducks July 2005
Why keep ducks? May 2005
Dabbling with ducks April 2005
What's hatching at the Museum? June 2002

Fancy Fowl
A series of articles about the breeds and colours of ducks and geese was published in fancy Fowl 2003 onwards
The European Waterfowl Show Dec 2002
Types of Domestic Duck - Fancy Fowl Nov 2002
Notes on Bill Colour June 2002
Wet Feather in Ducks Sept 2001
Bali and Indian Runner Ducks Sept 2001
Colour or Shape in Runner and Calls May 2001
Have Runners lost their bottle? May & Ashton
Dusky Ducks - Stanway, Ashton & Ashton 1998
1995 - Vernon Jackson at home
Christopher Marler at home