Consider keeping one of sixteen breeds of British rare breed ducks

Rare Breeds Survival Trust Chief Executive Christopher Price looks at a selection of the UK's rare native duck breeds.

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Ducks are a fantastic addition to a smallholding, providing richly-flavoured eggs (some native duck breeds will produce 150 eggs a year), delicious meat for the table, and bags of personality. With 16 breeds of duck recognised as native on the RBST Watchlist, there is plenty of scope to choose the breed which best suits your preferences and your holding.

These native duck breeds can play important roles in land management. They can help graze wetland edges, paddocks, or orchards, supporting regenerative approaches. Ducks are very efficient at keeping down slugs and snails, and their gentle foraging behaviour is often less destructive to soil structure compared to heavier livestock.

All 16 of the UK’s native duck breeds are currently rare, categorised in the most urgent Priority section on our Watchlist alongside all native chicken, goose and turkey breeds. This categorisation reflects our grave concerns about the indications of declines in numbers, weakening genetic diversity, the threat of avian influenza, and the impacts on breeding of disease control restrictions and cost increases.