Dutch Hookbill

[leighton3]

Anyone have any info on these ducks? What kind of personality they have, good foragers, etc?

 

[Sweetfolly]

I just got your PM, but I will answer it here.

I've had Dutch Hookbills for about 4 years now. They are very friendly, great personalities. Mine free range, and are great foragers. We live alongside a busy county road with no fence, and they never stray outside our yard while foraging. They supposedly can fly, but I've never seen mine get more than 3 feet off the ground. Mine are very broody and have been sneaking into our woodpile to sit on nests all spring.

But if you can keep them from hiding their eggs from you and sitting on them, they are great layers of big eggs with pale blue-green shells. I absolutely love them. I lost most of my adult flock to an owl about a month ago, but I already had a dozen ducklings in the brooder and one hen survived on her nest of 15 eggs, so I'll be raising a bunch of them this summer to rebuild the flock!

 

[leighton3]

Thank you so so much! There is one I'm looking at getting, but wanted some info on them. I just got my first ever ducklings and chicks a couple of weeks ago so I'm new to all of this. I have 1, Welsh Harlequin, 1 Blue Swedish, 1 Ancona, and will be getting 1 Cayuga and hopefully this Dutch Hookbill this weekend! They sound awesome, I haven't found anything negative about them.