Welsh Harlequin Ducklings for sale hatching February to November.
Welsh Harlequin Ducks are a light-weight duck breed known for its vivid plumage and egg laying ability Welsh Harlequin Ducks produce a lean carcass, and are good foragers. Welsh Harlequin Ducks are calmer birds than the Campbells.
Classification: Light Duck Class by the American Poultry Association
Welsh Harlequin Ducks are considered to be critically endangered in North America by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, with only a 188 breeding Welsh Harlequin Ducks found in a 2000 duck census.
Economic Qualities: Welsh Harlequin Ducks lay 160-190 duck eggs per year. Welsh Harlequin eggs are white or greenish eggs averaging 32 ounces per dozen. Welsh Harlequin Ducks make a nice three to five pound roaster, not at much meat as a Pekin, but nowhere near as much fat either. Welsh Harlequin ducks can also make an outstanding dressed duck as their underfeathers are almost exclusively white making their carcass as pretty as a pure white Pekin. Harlequin females will incubate their own eggs and they make excellent mothers.
Physical Description Welsh Harlequin drakes weigh around 5-5 1/2 pounds and ducks 4 1/2-5 lbs. Welsh Harlequin females have a greenish black beak, and their plumage is a creamy white color with brown stippling, with brown wings edged with white. Welsh Harlequin Drakes are similar to a faded Mallard with a yellow beak. Welsh Harlequin ducklings are yellow or buff colored with a slight trace of darker shading at tail tip and behind the eyes. The body Welsh Harlequin is that of the Khaki Campbell; however, the Welsh Harlequin has a somewhat courser outline.
History: In Wales in 1949 Leslie Bonnet discovered two mutant light colored ducklings hatched from pure Khaki Campbells, and began breeding selectively for the Welsh Harlequin Duck breed. John Fugate of Tennesse imported Welsh Harlequin hatching eggs from the Bonnet flock around 1968 but by 1980, descendants of the original imports were confined to two small flocks. To broaden the gene pool, Welsh Harlequin breeders imported additional Welsh Harlequins in 1982 from Europe and in 1984 they began to offer birds for sale in the United States. The vast majority of Welsh Harlequin duck stock in the United States at this time descended from the 1982 importation. Welsh Harlequin ducks therefore are a "new" and relatively unknown duck breed. The Welsh Harlequin duck breed was admitted to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 2001.
Genetics: We sell Silver Welsh Harlequins only. The coloring of the female Welsh Harlequin can and very often does vary. The variation in coloring occurs not only from flock to flock but also from duck to duck. Part of the reason for this is that Gold Welsh Harlequing ducklings and Silver Welsh Harlequin ducklings are often found in the same hatch. The adult female Welsh Harlequin has a base color of off-white or cream that is stippled with brown, grey, rust, light orange, dark orange and buff. They display the tortoise shell pattern of the male on the back, but lack the male's burgundy color on the breast, which is a cream color, as is the underside. The wing speculum is green or greenish bronze. The feet are orange in a young female, but becomes dark brown in older females. Silver factored ducks differ from the gold in that the silver ducks have more grey tones and their wing speculum is blue. When choosing a Welsh Harlequins breeder, select "robust, strong-legged birds that are free of physical deformities, heavy layers, and of correct body type and color. To help perpetuate the authentic Harlequin, avoid the following characteristics: more than a half pound above or below typical weights; short, blocky bodies; large coarse heads; distinct Mallard-like facial stripes; light colored bills in ducks; and poor producers." (Holderread 2001, 43)
