Types of Ducks to Raise in the Philippines

 

Duck farming has been carried out in the Philippines for generations. Even before the advent of the Spanish in the mid 16^th century, duck farming was already a thriving agricultural industry in the Philippine islands.

Duck farming is regarded as a small subsector in the larger Philippine poultry industry even though ducks are the second most prolific layers after chickens. Thanks to the popularity of the balut, duck farming remains an important agricultural sector in the country, a major employer and a leading provider of important proteins in the Filipino diet.

Even though the industry is growing rapidly, consumption of duck meat and eggs is declining among the Filipino wealthy and middle class. The industry will still remain a money maker for the next few decades, though thanks to the fast growing population and incomes. It remains an important source of proteins and food security in the rural and marginal regions of the Philippines.

Duck farming also contributes, marginally, in offsetting the effects of the climate change through the production of methane gas. Ducks help in containing the release of methane gas into the atmosphere.

The Duck Breeds in the Philippines

When it comes to duck raising in the Philippines, there are various breeds that you can try out. These include the following:-

The Native or Pateros Duck

The native duck or Pateros duck has been around in the Philippines for hundreds of years. It is often called the itik and is the most popular duck strain grown in the country. They are prolific layers and typically produce very large eggs. The native ducks are also non-sitters which allows them to lay a lot of eggs during their laying period.

They are mostly black or grey although some of them are bared. There are itik strains that have brown or white feathers that is mixed with either green or black. The male Pateros have coarser heads and their bodies are heavier than those of their female counterparts. The male ducks have curly feathers and typically produce shrill and high-pitched sounds while the female ducks produces a quaking low pitched sound. The tail feathers of the female Pateros ducks lie flat or very close to the bodies.

The Khaki Campbell Ducks

These ducks have a brown color and are very active. They like swimming and generally do very well in a range environment. They are also excellent layers and lay a large number of big thick-shelled eggs. Please check our previous article for a more detailed comparison of the three main strains of the itik ducks.

Tsaiya Ducks

This is a duck breed that is not native to the Philippines having been developed in Taiwan. They can be pure white in color or they may have a black neck. However, the brown variety of the Tsaiya is more popular as they are more preferred by farmers. The Tsaiya ducks have a smaller body and are also excellent layers. Adult males will weigh 1.4kg while the adult females will weigh 1.3kg.

The commercial hybrid ducks

This duck type was developed in England at the Chery Valley Farms. It is the first egg-type duck that is a hybrid. The commercial hybrid duck is known as CV2000, has white plumage and will begin laying eggs as early as at 10 weeks. It can produce up to 285 eggs per year until it hits the age of 72 weeks. The most distinguishing feature of the CV2000 commercial hybrid duck is its crisp white feathers.  The eggs that they produced can either be greenish or white.

Pekin Ducks

Unlike the above ducks that are egg-type ducks, the Pekin ducks are meat-type ducks. The Pekin ducks are very docile ducks and are particularly well adapted to the local Philippine climate. In spite of being meat-type ducks, the Pekin ducks are also excellent layers so you can keep them if you are looking for a good all-purpose duck breed that you can keep for both meats and eggs. If kept for meat, the pekin ducks will be ready for the market within 2 to 2 months.

Muscovy Ducks

Muscovy ducks are a heavy breed of meat-type ducks that are also grown in the Philippines. They have yellow skin and a plump body. You can choose from three main varieties of the Muscovy ducks namely: white, blue and coloured. It lays few eggs but it is quite self-sustaining.