Welsh Harlequin Duck

The Welsh Harlequin are a fairly new breed, developed by Leslie Bonnett in Wales from two lighter colored Khaki Campbells ducklings in 1949. They came to the United States in 1968 and were accepted into the American Poultry Association in 2001 in the Light Duck class. They are becoming a very popular breed due to their multipurpose characteristics. They have excellent egg production abilities due to their Khaki Campbell background yet retain the instinct to sit and hatch a nest full of ducklings. They are calm, inquisitive, and excellent foragers. They can also make an outstanding dressed bird as their underfeathers are almost exclusively white making their carcass as pretty as a pure white bird. Interestingly, they can be sexed after hatching with a 90% accuracy by their bill color. Darker bills normally indicate a male and light bills ending in a dark spot a female. Within several days this distinction disappears.  They are also a beautiful bird, especially the feather patterns and colors on the females.