Rant/vent about Dutch Indian runner duck market..

[Magnolia Ducks]

My friend @Loopeend! - Don't be so frustrated and don't be jealous and think the situation with animals here in the U.S. of A. is so much better.
When we lived in Houston, one of the neighbors was running what is called a "puppy mill" out of his garage. Dogs in cages, mating and giving birth permanently and being treated like things. Those dogs never saw daylight or got fresh air, except for the few moments when their owner was backing his truck up in the driveway, unloading bags and bags of dog food. The smell during the summertime was unbearable - Houston: Hotter than 40°C and 100% humidity, no AC in the garage. The permanent yipping and yapping of the dogs and doglings did not let us sleep. I finally called the Houston SPCA, animal cruelty is a crime in Texas (!) and they told me as long as the dogs have food and water and are protected against the elements it is not cruel and they can't do a thing…

In the end i got elected into the board of the Home-Owners Association and one of my first actions was to contact the house's owner. Turned out the neighbor had only rented the house, he was evicted, took his puppy-mill equipment to the next rented house and continued…
There is not much we can do about this!
Except as you wrote: Be a good example and make things better! Spread the word and the knowledge to other to turn them into good animal parents. The web-site you are building (https://loopeenden.nl/) is an excellent step into the right direction.
As for the duck breeds here: Most hatcheries sell ducklings that are far away from being show-standard. As @Magnolia Ducks about our »Magpie« ducks. Yes they quack, are black and white with black bills and black and yellow feet - but! Two out of five here are crested. I never wanted crested ducks, i consider a crest a birth defect! My Magpies are 90% black while they should be between 40-60% black. Also they have blue wing-tips. Definitely not a "clean" Magpie duck. Similar with the "Buff Orpingtons" - they have developed lavender wing-tips.
I consider my Fawn and White Runners an exception, bought them as "ducklings" and they turned out to be really beautiful.
Don't get me wrong, i do love all of my ducks!!! - But i am not planning to raise their offspring. I love to have a mixed flock and if an occasional duckling "occurs" that's fine.
Maybe when i am retired and have enough time i focus on one or two breeds, the Dutch Hookbill is on top of my list.

Ok really your buffs have lavender wing tips? Mine dont. Interesting. Can you send pictures? I think my crested is deaf. She has a crest where her ear hole is. I do find the whole crested thing disgusting.

 

[Tannerpauldean]

I am sickened when reading this. As much time and care we give to our animals (I think just about everyone on this site would agree with this), it breaks my heart to think about the animals that get abused/neglected due to ignorance and apathy. All of our adult ducks we have purchased came from various "rescue" situations, usually stemming from animal owners having more animals than their property or setup can contain. A lot of people with 1/4-1/2 acre having 5 goats, 20 chickens, 3 turkeys, 6 ducks, 2 peacocks, 4 rabbits, and 2 pigs (those are actual #'s from one of the places I bought from - she said the ducklings they tried to raise were killed when the turkeys stepped on them due to overcrowding).

The other thing I cannot stand, which is common in this area, is the "micro/mini pig" situation. I see listed on line all the time about mini pigs selling for hundreds of dollars each. The breeder claims they will grow up to be only 40 pounds (sometimes the claim is smaller), and will show you the mother to prove it. What they actually do is starve the mother during adolescence so her growth is stunted, then breed her at only 6 months of age. It takes a potbelly pig at least 2-3 years to become fully-grown. So what they are doing is showing you a starved piglet and claiming it to be fully-grown and healthy. When your pig that you spent hundreds of dollars on grows up to be 100 pounds (most potbellies are 75-90 pounds), the breeder is magically disappeared.

Sorry... now I'm ranting, too. Why can't people just let animals be animals like they are meant to be? Give them sunshine, give them food, give them GRASS for goodness sake.

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[Loopeend]

@Loopeend , the English word you are searching for is quarantine. Ideal is not a duck mill. I have been there and from what I saw everything is very clean and humane. But they do not focus on birds for pets but most of the birds are for farm use. So not carefully bred as you do. In addition to what @WannaBeHillBilly said about the magpies, my Black Swedish has no bib. But all my ducks appear healthy and happy and I did not intend to show. I appreciate people that keep breed standards. I am happy they do and I would love some hookbills. But I am also happy with my "mutt" ducks. They will lay delicious eggs.

I have no problems with non-perfect ducks. Like you said; if your in it for the eggs it does not really matter. But we don't have a community that does small-farms. You are either a big farmer as a living; or living in a small house. The last ones want ducks as pets. And they do not feel fooled by a 'non-pure-Indian runner' because they don't know any better. And they love their ducks anyway.

I just don't like them being sold as 'pure indian runners' etc. Just mislead. I do not like that. Like the situation Tannerpauldean described. You also have teacup-dogs by the way that are so tiny because they intentionally get them out with a c-section so they are too early born and stay small... and those people claim they are just 'tiny dogs' and all is okay. But it is not. It is misleading people for a buck; without keeping the animal in mind.

I have nothing against non-pure ducks. I am against misleading people.
And during that misleading; destroying the breed. A true 100% runner is allmost a mystical unicorn creature over here; due to these people that only breed whom-ever to whomever so they can sell a lot.
Luckely ducks are sturdy creatures. They don't get sick often. Otherwise it would end like dogs (at least over here) where you often buy a dog from these puppy-farm/mill breeders and end up with a BIG vet-bill because the owner did not care to breed terrible disease in it. And offcourse that person is gone when you try to talk to them that the puppy 'that absolutely was 100 procent healthy!' never was...
And the vet-signed vaccines and check-up was also fake...

I do not like where this is going. I have 4 pekin-Indian runner mixes for sale now. I clearly state; These are not pure breed! Exclemation mark!!! They probably will sell faster (I want to give them away for free by the way because no 5 dollars can remotely cover the costs of ducks anyway haha) if I would lie that they were 'Indian runners'. But lieing is bad, I learned in kindergarten. I don't understand why they do this. People will buy their ducks anyway because the target audience just want ducks because they look cute and they will lovingly take care of them; so why lie that they are 100% pure?
More concerning for the loving buyers, that will buy any duck that looks cute, which is not a problem at all; that they can fly away. Halflings can be able to fly; people buy them because they don't fly away and don't know how/don't want to wing-clip them; and then their loving ducks fly away one day =/ The ducks they were told to them that couldn't fly..JAY. I just can't wrap my head around why you can't just be fair.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Ok really your buffs have lavender wing tips? Mine dont. Interesting. Can you send pictures? I think my crested is deaf. She has a crest where her ear hole is. I do find the whole crested thing disgusting.

I just took a closer look, today is a sunless dreary day here and now those feathers look more like a graphite dusting. Of course forgot the phone inside - i'm not well today, just did the basic duck-duties.
And yes, i think that crested thing is as pervert as a breeding naked or tail-less cats.

 

[Loopeend]

And yes, i think that crested thing is as pervert as a breeding naked or tail-less cats.

I think the same. I'm a bit half-angry about people who breed with them. Allthough they might know that crested+crested is awfull; they sell them to people that don't know. Leading to missery.

I'm also against naked or tailless cats/rats, or munchkin cats, no-ear cats, flat-faced cats and dogs that have problems with breathing, or dogs that only can reproduce with IVF and c-sections, etc.
Can't we just not do that. It's no safe in the wrong hands; and there are a lot of wrong hands.

What colour they are will not hurt them. In rats you have 'dumbo's'; they have bigger ears then normal. It does not affect their hearing. The only thing it affects that they attract more mates because rats flirt with their ears Basic stuff like being able to communicate, eat, breeth, hear, see, move, must be above looks.

Oh no... please don't let them discover naked ducks :') The curly-gene is already discovere in chickens... it is only a matter of time.. (curly+curly=naked). Naked ducks is nightmare material!

 

[Loopeend]

They would look a bit like this btw, naked ducks. Like these featherless swans drawn by C.M. Kosemen. The horror :O

 

[Tannerpauldean]

They would look a bit like this btw, naked ducks. Like these featherless swans drawn by C.M. Kosemen. The horror :O
View attachment 1730294

Nightmares for weeks now. Thanks...

 

[333113]

I think the same. I'm a bit half-angry about people who breed with them. Allthough they might know that crested+crested is awfull; they sell them to people that don't know. Leading to missery.

I'm also against naked or tailless cats/rats, or munchkin cats, no-ear cats, flat-faced cats and dogs that have problems with breathing, or dogs that only can reproduce with IVF and c-sections, etc.
Can't we just not do that. It's no safe in the wrong hands; and there are a lot of wrong hands.

What colour they are will not hurt them. In rats you have 'dumbo's'; they have bigger ears then normal. It does not affect their hearing. The only thing it affects that they attract more mates because rats flirt with their ears Basic stuff like being able to communicate, eat, breeth, hear, see, move, must be above looks.

Oh no... please don't let them discover naked ducks :') The curly-gene is already discovere in chickens... it is only a matter of time.. (curly+curly=naked). Naked ducks is nightmare material!

Wait...naked ducks? They have reverted to their dinosaur roots???!

 

[333113]

I have to agree that there really aren't many breeders who care about the breed. I have Grays and Fawn&Whites. I have noticed that shows in the Midwest, Missouri and Oklahoma, are really sparse on ducks, and the judges are mostly woefully ignorant and, worse, reluctant to open up their Standards book at a show. When I go to shows east of us, Ohio and New York, there is a lot of friendly competition and knowledgeable judges. I know my F&Ws are not spectacular but they are good, and very solid producers (220-plus a year) of eggs. My Grays are outstanding, even though they are not big enough to compete with a White for Best of Breed.
As a serious breeder, I don't breed any bird before the age of two. By that age, most genetic problems are evident, if they don't actually kill the bird. Besides their health, I can also see their full adult size, their personalities (which I know is not important to some breeders), their adult coloring and their conformation.
I don't think that most hatcheries, let alone individual breeders, give much thought to any of these traits. They are trying to get the most eggs and new ducks out of of their flock, and both the breed and the buyers suffer. For some breeders who show and are looking to maximize their win points, their birds might look nice, but you will never be able to buy anything but their culls.