The Best Of Native Waterfowl

We visit a poultry and waterfowl collection in Wales that started with a few turkeys as a hobby and has since developed into a small, sustainable business.

It is believed that wild geese were one of the earliest animals to have been domesticated, remains having been found showing that the Egyptians kept them. In eastern Asia, the domestic goose is derived from the swan goose, while in Europe, Africa and western Asia, this was from the greylag. It's easy to distinguish if a goose is descended from one or the other – those from a swan goose line will have a knob at the base of their bill – though hybrids may or may not display this trait. Our domestic breeds stand more upright than wild breeds, thanks to an increased amount of weight towards their rear ends.

Duck were likely first domesticated in South-East Asia around 4,000 years ago, and are almost all descended from the humble mallard, with exception of the confusingly named Muscovy duck. (A sidebar: Muscovy could imply they came from Moscow –they are also called Barbary duck, which implies North Africa, and Cape duck in Europe, and over its history has been named for Cairo, Libya and Guinea. In fact, they are native to Central America.)

The characteristics of domesticated duck have changed from their wild cousins – they are mostly polygamous, less territorial and physically have a huge variance. Many breeds can still mate with a wild duck and produce fertile offspring. Like geese, duck were bred for meat, eggs and down. In terms of native breeds, we have relatively few "true" domestic breeds that were developed here, but Cath and John Ruff have several. What started as a hobby, just over 10 years ago, has developed into a small business. "I had always liked poultry and got 25 day-old bronze turkeys," says Cath. "It just grew from there. John had always liked waterfowl, so we got into those, too." Today, at Camddwr Poultry, near Aberystwyth, in Ceredigion, you'll find chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl and, of course, waterfowl. The Ruffs keep around eight breeding animals of each sort. "We keep the quality high, rather than going for numbers," Cath explains.

John says that keeping waterfowl isn't complicated. "They don't need a pond, necessarily, though they do love it and it helps them to keep their feathers nice and clean. They must have enough water to put their heads right in so that their eyes don't dry up, and, just like with any animals, there needs to be plenty of fresh water every day. Both geese and duck are pretty good at supplementing the food we give them with grazing, insects and so on if they are truly free range, which ours are."

Brecon Buff Geese

The UK has relatively few native domestic goose breeds, and the Brecon Buff was the first to be standardised. Noticing buff-coloured geese on the farms of the Brecon Beacons, Rhys Llewelyn, of Swansea, used them to breed with an Embden gander in the late 1920s, and the Brecon Buff was recognised in 1934. They are a hardy goose,

achieving around 12 to 16 pounds, laying between 10 and 25 eggs a year, and were bred to be able to look after themselves on a farm and grow well on free-range grazing. The breed became rare in the 1980s; though there were still plenty of buff-coloured geese, they didn't have the distinguishing pink bill and feet that denotes a true Brecon Buff.

Like all geese, they make good guards, but are also easy to tame if hand-reared. "We find they aren't quite as nippy as other geese, and are more docile," says John. "I've got one gander, Bruce, who is really tame and feeds from my hand, and even lets me stroke him. However, once laying/breeding season starts, they become much more protective. They'll certainly see strangers off, and Bruce will even see me off. What's quite surprising is that Bruce is very protective of the goslings, too. The moment they've grown up, though, Bruce is back to being my pet."

Khaki Campbell duck

Descended from the Indian runner, Khaki Campbells are famous for their amazing egg-laying. The Campbell breed was developed by Adele Campbell in the late 19th century, using a Rouen drake and a fawn-and-white runner – but there is also some mallard blood in there. The khaki colour of the breed appeared a few years after Mrs Campbell's original ducks, when she tried to produce a buff version of the breed. Khaki in colour, the drake should have a green-bronze head, while the duck a darker shade of khaki to the body, though there are dark and white forms of the breed as well. They reach around three to five pounds in weight, and are, like almost all duck, good tempered and make good pets if hand-raised. They are most famous for their egg-laying capabilities, but like many duck breeds, not great at hatching their own. "They really match some of the chicken breeds for laying," John says. "We can get up to 300 eggs a year from one, and they are beautiful white-cream eggs, sometimes with a hint of green. They are a bit shier than the Welsh Harlequin duck, but we spend a lot of time interacting with them, and getting them used to us." Cath adds that: "If you can handle your poultry and waterfowl regularly, and pick them up, you'll know if they are in good health and up to weight. It certainly means we can keep tabs on them."

Welsh Harlequin duck

The Welsh Harlequin is a descendent of the Khaki Campbell, stemming from a colour mutation in Group Captain Leslie Bonnet's flock. It's worth noting that Group Captain Leslie Bonnet moved to Criccieth, North Wales, in 1949 with his family and 1,500 ducks – and it was that same year that the mutation in his

Khaki Campbells occurred, creating the only Welsh breed of duck. He also created the Whalesbury duck – a cross between an Aylesbury and a Welsh Harlequin, which hasn't survived as a breed, and wrote what is still considered the "bible" of duck-keeping, Practical Duck Keeping in 1960. The Welsh Harlequin isn't as good an egg producer as the Campbells. John says, "They aren't bad, though – approximately 250 eggs a year is pretty normal for ours. They are very keen on being free-range and really do wander over a large distance, doing their rounds every day of the ponds and ditches. They are incredibly inquisitive and friendly – more so than the Campbells – and will come into the house if we leave the door open." Cath adds: "When we put all the birds away for the night, it's always the Harlequins that keep us waiting. You can bet they'll be too busy playing on one of the ponds to realise it's bed time."

For more information on Camddwr Poultry, visit camddwrpoultry.co.uk.