 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2016) |
 A white-headed black magpie drake | |
| Conservation status | GEH (2023): Cat. IV: Watch [1] |
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| Other names | Barbary |
| Use | Meat, Cross-breeding |
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| EE | Yes [2] |
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The Muscovy or Barbary is the domesticated form of the wild Muscovy duck, Cairina moschata. There are a number of local or regional breeds, and drakes of these are commonly cross-bred with domestic ducks to produce the hybrids called mulards.
The Muscovy had been domesticated by various indigenous peoples of the Americas well before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. [3] : 463
Domestic Muscovy drakes weigh some 4.5–6.3 kg. The duck is much smaller, typically about half the size of the drake, with a weight of 2.3–3.2 kg. [3] : 466
Recognised colour varieties include five solid colours – black, blue, chocolate, lavender and white [3] : 465 – and eight 'magpie' colours, in which the whole back from the tail to the shoulders and the underside from below the tail to the breast is coloured black, blue, chocolate or lavender, the remainder being white. In the standard magpie colourings the crown of the head is also coloured; in the white-headed magpie colours the head is white. [3] : 466
The Muscovy is commonly reared for meat. [4] : 78
In commercial production, it is often crossed with a mallard-derived domestic duck such as the Rouen or Pekin to produce the hybrid known as a mulard. [4] : 97 These hatch in about four weeks and grow rapidly like a mallard-type duck, but to about the size and weight of the Muscovy. [4] : 97 The inverse cross – domestic drake with Muscovy duck – is also possible, but infrequent. [4] : 97 [5] The mulard is reared both for its meat and for its liver, much of it as foie gras. [5] The mulard is considered kosher in Jewish dietary law. [5]
The Muscovy duck is a duck native to the Americas, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. Feral Muscovy ducks are found in New Zealand, Australia, and in Central and Eastern Europe. Small wild and feral breeding populations have also established themselves in the United States, particularly in Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, the Big Island of Hawaii, as well as in many other parts of North America, including southern Canada.
The Orpington is a British breed of chicken. It was bred in the late nineteenth century by William Cook of Orpington, at that time in Kent in south-east England. It was intended to be a dual-purpose breed, to be reared both for eggs and for meat, but soon became exclusively a show bird.
In cooking and gastronomy, duck or duckling is the meat of several species of bird in the family Anatidae, found in both fresh and salt water. Duck is eaten in many cuisines around the world. It is a high-fat, high-protein meat rich in iron. Duckling nominally comes from a juvenile animal, but may be simply a menu name.
Domestic ducks are ducks that have been domesticated and raised for meat and eggs. A few are kept for show, or for their ornamental value. Most varieties of domesticated ducks, apart from the Muscovy duck and hybrids, are descended from the mallard, which was domesticated in China around 2000 BC.
The Pekin or White Pekin is an American breed of domestic duck, raised primarily for meat. It derives from birds brought to the United States from China in the nineteenth century, and is now bred in many parts of the world. It is often known as the American Pekin to distinguish it from the German Pekin, a distinct and separate breed which derives from the same Chinese stock but has different breeding. Many of these ducks were reared on Long Island, New York, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from which the breed derived its name Long Island Duck.
Indian Runners are a breed of Anas platyrhynchos domesticus, the domestic duck. They stand erect like penguins and, rather than waddling, they run. The females can lay as many as 300 to 350 eggs a year. They were bred on the Indonesian islands of Lombok, Java and Bali. These ducks do not fly and only rarely form nests and incubate their own eggs. They run or walk, often dropping their eggs wherever they happen to be. The breed arrived in the Western world in the 19th century; they have since been bred to have a wide variety of colours.
The Cayuga is an American breed of domestic duck. It was introduced to the Finger Lakes region of New York State in about 1840, and is named for the Cayuga people of that area. Until the last years of the nineteenth century it was the principal duck reared for meat in the United States. In the twenty-first century it is kept mainly for ornament. The plumage is black with iridescent beetle-green lights.
The Swedish Blue or Blue Swedish is a Swedish breed of domestic duck. It originated in the former dominion of Swedish Pomerania – now in north-west Poland and north-east Germany – and is documented there from 1835. It is closely similar to the Pomeranian Duck from the same general area, differing mainly in its white primary feathers.
The Rouen is a heavyweight breed of domesticated duck. Rouens are raised primarily for meat, exhibition, or as general purpose ducks. Since they are not prolific egg layers, Rouen ducks are most commonly bred for their meat. The breed originated in France sometime before the 19th century.
The Call is a historic breed of small domestic duck. It is believed to have originated in the Netherlands, where the earliest descriptions and depictions of it date from the seventeenth century. It is similar in appearance to some other breeds of duck, but is much smaller, with a round head and very short bill. Ducks, but not drakes, are very loquacious and noisy, with a piercing high-pitched call which can be heard from far away.
Gamebird hybrids are the result of crossing species of game birds, including ducks, with each other and with domestic poultry. These hybrid species may sometimes occur naturally in the wild or more commonly through the deliberate or inadvertent intervention of humans.
The Orpington or Buff Orpington Duck is a breed of domestic duck. It is a dual-purpose breed used for meat and egg production. It is capable of laying up to 220 eggs a year. Originally created by William Cook of Orpington, Kent, England, from the selection of mis-marked Blue Orpington Ducks; Cook was also the developer of the Orpington chicken. The breeds used in the development of the breed included Cayuga, Indian Runner, commercial Aylesbury and Rouen. It is proposed that Cook's intentions for the breed were to capitalize on the growing demand for the buff colour pattern. The Buff Orpington Duck was introduced to the public at the Dairy Show, the Agricultural Hall (q.v.), Islington, London in October 1897. It is considered a threatened breed by the ALBC. This breed was admitted to the British Poultry Standard in 1910 and the American Poultry Associations Standard of Perfection as the 'Buff Duck' in the Medium class in 1914. The Orpington duck is available in three colour varieties: Buff, Blond and Brown. The Buff Orpington is an unstable colour due to a blue dilution gene which means that from the offspring, all three colour variations will appear.
The Magpie is a British breed of domestic duck. It has distinctive black and white markings reminiscent of the European magpie, and is a good layer of large eggs.
The Ancona is a breed of domestic duck, characterised by an unusual and variable broken-colored plumage pattern. It is not clear whether it originated in the United Kingdom or in the United States. It is not recognised or listed by the American Poultry Association, by the Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture, or by the Poultry Club of Great Britain.
The Silver Appleyard is a British breed of domestic duck. It was bred in the first half of the twentieth century by Reginald Appleyard, with the aim of creating a dual-purpose breed that would provide both a good quantity of meat and plenty of eggs.
The Hook Bill or Dutch Hookbill is a breed of domestic duck characterised by an unusual down-curved beak. It is an ancient breed, and has been documented since the seventeenth century. Speculation that it originated in Asia, or is related to the Indian Runner, is apparently unsubstantiated.
The Saxony duck is a German breed of domestic duck. It was bred in Saxony in the 1930s, but because of the Second World War was recognised only in 1957.
The mulard is a hybrid between two different genera of domestic duck: the domestic Muscovy duck and the domestic duck, derived from the wild mallard. American Pekins and other domestic ducks are most commonly used to breed mulards due to the breed's high meat production. Like many interspecific F1 hybrids, mulards are sterile, giving them the nickname mule ducks. While it is possible to produce mulards naturally, artificial insemination is used more often with greater success.
The German Pekin, German: Deutsche Pekingente, is a European breed of domestic duck. It is commonly called simply Pekin or White Pekin. It is a different breed from the American Pekin, which is also commonly known by the same names. It was bred in Europe from birds originating in China and Japan and is distributed in many European countries.
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