Uses: Exhibition, Utility: meat.
Eggs: 80 to 150 White Eggs.
Origin: Pomerania (now Germany / Poland).
Weight: Drake: 3.6 Kg, Duck: 3.2 Kg.
Classification: Heavy.
Colours: Blue (Standardised), Black also exists.
Useful to Know: Blue is not a true colour, it is a dilution of black. Blue to blue mating will produce 50% Blue, 25% Black and 25% Splash offspring.
Photo: A Blue Swedish Duck.
The Blue Swedish duck is called ‘Svensk Blå Anka’ in Swedish. It originates from the Baltic shores of Pomerania, Sweden (now part of modern Germany and Poland) where it was bred as a slow maturing, heavy meat breed. There were a number of blue ducks emerging from the North of Europe in the 19th Century, but two were more popular than the others, the Blue Swedish and the Pomeranian. To confuse matters, both have white bibs but the Blue Swedish has some white primary feathers.
The Blue Swedish entered the British Standards in 1982, classified as a heavy breed, but was admitted to the American Standard of perfection much earlier in 1904 as a medium-class duck. According to both American and British Standards, Blue Swedish should always have a white bib, and colours other than blue in the feathers should be avoided. Blue in the bill is preferred to green in the drake and slate blue in the duck. Yellow bills should be avoided and the American Standard of Perfection states that a yellow bill is a disqualification.
Breeding hints
Blue isn't a true colour but a dilution of black (heterozygosity in a colour gene). A blue duck to blue drake mating will produce 50% blue, 25% black and 25% splash offspring on average.
There aren’t many breeders of Blue Swedish ducks in the U.K. They need more people taking up the breed.
Photos
Books
The following books are available. Links take you to the Amazon or other sellers’ pages for the books.
- British Waterfowl Standards 2008 – P.48 – 49
- British Poultry Standards 2008 – P.391 – 393
- American Standard of Perfection 2010 – P.334