Breed notes

Farm breeds, as the old books describe them

One page per breed. Each line we write is followed by the sentence it comes from, copied from a public-domain book, so you can see exactly what was said and when.

• Muscovy DuckDuck. Origin, crest and red face, the Colored and White varieties, habits, and the old standard weights as two early-1900s duck books record them.
• Pekin DuckDuck. Where the Pekin came from, its upright canoe shape, the yellow bill and the black-in-the-bean fault, and the old standard weights from two early duck books.
• Toulouse GooseGoose. The French name, the low massive body and dewlap, gray plumage and the white-flight fault, broodiness, and two weight standards from two old goose books.
• Rouen DuckDuck. The Normandy story, the Mallard look, the white neck ring of the drake, the summer change in plumage, and the old standard weights from two early duck books.
• Aylesbury DuckDuck. The English town it is named for, the pink bill that turns yellow in the sun, the deep keel, how it differs from the Pekin, and two old weight standards.
• Cayuga DuckDuck. The American duck with a lost origin, black plumage that fades with age, the white breast of ducklings, and the old standard weights from two early books.
• Call DuckDuck. The small Gray and White Call ducks: the bantam size, the button head, the Gray as a Bantam Rouen and the White as a Bantam Pekin, and why no standard weight.
• Black East Indian DuckDuck. The bantam Black East Indian duck: dark plumage, shy habits, a short head, and two old accounts of its size and color.

The books

• Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management, George E. Howard (1897; USDA Farmers' Bulletin No. 64). Full text and catalogue entry.
• Ducks and Geese, Harry M. Lamon and Rob R. Slocum (1922; Orange Judd Publishing Company, New York). Full text and catalogue entry.