Saxony
DuckRare breed
The Saxony was Albert Franz's project in 1930s Chemnitz — a big dual-purpose duck crossed up from Rouen, German Pekin and Blue Pomeranian stock — and it very nearly died with the war, which destroyed almost all the original flock. Franz rebuilt it from the survivors and had it recognised in East Germany in 1957; the first birds did not reach the United States until 1984. The result is one of the handsomest ducks kept: drakes carry a soft oatmeal-and-rust colouring found in no other breed, the product of a diluted mallard pattern. It is a genuine dual-purpose bird — a good layer that still dresses out heavy — with an unusually calm temperament and enough foraging drive to earn most of its own feed.
Weight
How to spot it
- Bill
- Yellow to orange in the duck; pale yellow-green in the drake
- Carriage
- About 20° above horizontal on a long, broad, heavy frame
- Plumage
- Drake has a blue-grey head, white neck ring, rust-red breast and oatmeal body; the duck is buff-oatmeal with white eye stripes
- Legs & feet
- Orange
- Look for
- A large duck in washed-out pastel mallard colours — like a Rouen seen through fog
Ancestry
How this breed was developed. Historical records, not crosses to make today.
Rouen, German Pekin and Blue Pomeranian stock, in 1930s Chemnitz.
Varieties
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