Abacot Ranger Duck – One Of The Most Underrated Duck Breeds

The Abacot Ranger duck is a breed of duck that has gone through many, many name changes over the years. You may find that some people refer to it as the Hooded Ranger. To this day, even a century after it was first bred, the Abacot Ranger duck remains a firm favorite of duck breeders around the world.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Abacot Ranger duck
Abacot Ranger Duck

The Origins of the Abacot Ranger Duck

This duck was initially bred in the United Kingdom in the early 1900s. This duck breed was bred from combining Indian Runners and Khaki Campbells.

The first time that the Abacot Ranger duck was introduced to the public, it was incredibly successful. In fact, it managed to beat all over ducks in competition when it came to egg-laying.

For some reason, and we can’t determine why, this breed of duck ended up going extinct in the United Kingdom. However, in the years prior to this, the duck has been taken over to Germany where breeders were working on it.

These ducks ended up heading back into the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

Nowadays, a reasonable argument can be made for the fact that the breed of duck that we have now is a German breed. This is because we do not know that much about the original British variant.

Of course, the German variant based itself on the original Abacot Duck, but who knows just how similar the two of them are. It is fair to say that the duck that we know and love today is mostly German, though.

The Look of the Abacot Ranger Duck

This is a bird that grows to about 6.6 lb. (3kg) in weight, which isn’t too bad. It is worth noting that the British variant of this breed will grow a little bit larger than the ones that are developed in Germany. So, you may want to do your breed research to find out what sort of bird you are going to be ending up with here!

The coloring isn’t that different from most other ducks, neither is their shape. The main thing that you will want to be on the lookout for with this duck is the hood.

If you have a female version of the duck, then they will have a buff hood. This means that it is going to be a lighter brown.

Male ducks are a bit different, though. Their hood will actually change color as the year goes on. When the duck is ready to breed, their hood will be a green color. However, outside of breeding season, it will resort to a black color.

Abacot Ranger Duck is not recognized by the American Poultry Association as a domestic duck breed in US.

The Use as a Show Bird

These ducks do make good show birds. Now, duck shows are not really about the looks of the bird. This is because there isn’t much that is happening in the world of duck breeding.

The overall look of these breeds doesn’t change all that much outside of feather coloring. Their body shape will almost certainly remain the same. Instead, these shows will focus on the viability of the breed as a utility bird, and it is fair to say that the Abacot Ranger duck is an incredibly useful breed.

As always, because this is a show bird, it doesn’t actually mean that you will need to be taking this duck to a show. The coloring of this duck does make it a good ornamental breed for a garden.

Abacot Ranger Duck Eggs

If you want an egg-laying duck, then this fantastic breed is one of the best that you can possibly get. The Abacot Ranger duck is able to lay between 180 and 200 eggs per year.

This means that it is one of the most prolific of duck breeds! This is why the Abacot Duck was able to win all of those awards many decades ago.

With most duck breeds that lay a lot of eggs, they tend not to get that broody. They never sit on their eggs. However, the opposite does seem to be the case with the Abacot Ranger duck.

You see, this bird does make a good mother. So, if you are looking to raise your own flock of ducks, then you would only really need Abacots for that purpose.

The Abacot Ranger Duck as a Meat Bird

This duck breed is great for those that want a meat duck breed. It isn’t the largest duck in the world, but it does make some pretty decent meat.

Part of the reason why the Abacot Ranger duck likely lost popularity in the United Kingdom was the falling number of people that were consuming duck meat. However, since duck meat is still eaten extensively on the mainland of Europe, it was able to thrive there.

If you love duck meat and duck eggs, it is pretty much a ‘no brainer’ to introduce the Abacot Duck into your flock. It is one of the best utility breeds that money can buy!

Raising the Abacot Ranger Duck

This is a hardy breed. This means that you do not have to worry about the weather impacting egg production. You also do not have to worry about it getting sick all that often.

The main concern you will have is ensuring that the Abacot Ranger duck has a decent amount of space to roam around in. This is because this is a duck breed that really, really loves to forage.

So, if you have a good bit of land with a large body of water, then the Abacot Ranger duck is probably going to end up loving you!

One of our favorite things about this duck is that it is not a good flier, despite it being a fairly small duck breed. This means that you do not need to clip the wings or anything like that.

You can leave this duck to just roam around your property, safe in the knowledge that it probably is not going to end up going anywhere.

This makes a good family bird due to the friendly nature.

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