Reginald Appleyard set out in 1930s Suffolk to build 'a duck of exceptional beauty, size, lay and flesh' — and the Silver Appleyard is about as close as anyone has come to all four at once. It is a heavy bird that still lays well over a hundred eggs a year, dresses out with a high proportion of breast meat, and carries a silver-and-chestnut plumage that judges consistently rank among the most striking of any breed. Unlike most heavy ducks it has kept its broodiness, so a Silver Appleyard hen will often hatch and raise her own clutch without help. The breed nearly vanished after Appleyard's death in 1964 and was rebuilt from remnant flocks; it remains listed as Threatened.
Beginner friendly
Good with kids
Cold hardy
Broody
Egg colorWhite
Egg production120–175 / year
TemperamentDocile
BroodinessFrequent
ClimateCold hardy
PurposeMeat, Eggs, Show
FlightFlightless
Weight
Duck7–8 lb
Drake8–9 lb
How to spot it
Bill
Yellow-green in the drake, yellow with dark shading in the duck
Carriage
About 20° above horizontal on a broad, deep, blocky frame
Plumage
Drake with a silver-frosted greenish head, chestnut breast and creamy-white flanks; duck creamy white heavily flecked with fawn
Legs & feet
Orange
Look for
A large duck whose head and neck look dusted with silver over darker feather
