Black East Indians:
The Black East Indians were one of the 1st breeds to inhabit North Hill Cottage. The orginal breeding pair were bred by the late Jane Mcquaker. That was some 6 years ago, they are still both with me although the female has traded her mate in for a younger model.
The birds should be as green as possible with black beak and legs. The best specimens are green under the wings. Size wise they lie between Calls and Miniature Appleyards weighing in at 1 1/2 - 2lbs. They lay numerous eggs of a good size. With the first eggs in the season being near black but gradually fade to a lighter colour towards the end. I would expect a female of my line to lay atleast 5 eggs a week from late February to late June.
I keep the birds in flocks but they do extremely well in pairs and trios. They make great mothers to their young and they happily incubate and rear their own young if left to it. I had one duck hatch and rear 12 ducklings from the 14 eggs she was sat on. I had another determind female lay as well as rear her young. For these reasons I also keep a pen of 10 spare Black East Indian ducks as broodies for the other ducks I keep.
They are active birds and enjoy foraging as a past time.
In 2007 I introduced a new strain into my birds. This was to increase vigour and supply unrelated pairings to potential breeders. The strain was bought in from a local breeder and I have so far been very impressed with the results. With youngsters from the pairing winning 1st,2nd,3rd at Haverfordwest Agricultural Show in both the Drake and Duck class.
