POULTRY LORE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 938, 21 February 1890, Page 18

POULTRY LORE.

DUCLAIR DUCKSThe variety of duck which bears the name of Duclair is well known in Franca as one of the best for table purposes, and i 3 in great demand at the Paris and other markets. The name ia derived from the town of Dizclair, which is between Rouen and Havre, on the northern bank of -the River Seine, around which these ducks are very largely bred, pretty much in the same manner as is to be seen at Aylesbury. The breed is not bred to any high standard of purity in the district, but its general characteristics are kept. Every year or two a pen may be seen at the great Paris Show, but there has been no attempt to win for them a wide popularity. A few years ago there were several breeding lots of them imported into England, but they have taken no position,

Though they have distinct characteristics from the Rouen, it is most probable that they are from the same stock, and they are only noted for their table qualities. The ducks of this Duclair breed are usually black, with a white neck and breast, and one snowy feather at the end of each wing, though in some cases the wings are tipped with violet. The black, it may be noted, is of that purple shade known as metallic black. The drake is of a beautiful grey colour, with emerald green head and neck and wing 3 of bluish green. At one period of the year the drake assumes the black of the duck. These birds are good layers, are large and lengthy in form, broad and heavy behind, and grow very rapidly. The eggs of this variety sell for high prices during the breeding season in the Duclair district, and it is no uncommon thing for them to realise a franc a piece. The breeding of these ducks is a profitable business, and the eggs are valuable. Nor is the breeding confined to the spring of the year, for hatching very largely takas place in the autumn for the supply of the Christmas MardiGras demand. A fat duck at Duclair will at any time realise twelve francs, and there are seasons of the year when this price will s' oe considerably exceeded.