Houck Hollow

The Runner Flock

Sadly, we’ve lost several of our beautiful runner ducks that ran with this group. They are the parents of many of the gorgeous ducks we have on the property today, and every time I see a beautiful runner, I remember the ones we lost. We have more than one hundred ducks on the property so I haven’t named all of them yet, but there are a few special ones and I’ll talk about all the types so you’ll get to know them when you see them.

The only true OG runner we have left is Samantha. Runner ducks lay eggs with blue/green tones so you can always recognize them from other duck eggs if you want to hatch out a batch of runners. They come in a variety of colors including fawn, white, silver, blue, black, chocolate, and one I sorely miss, a very special red-colored duck.

They’re so fun to watch and very sweet and friendly. This flock was named for Bewitched and Gilligan’s Island. The only four we have left now are Samantha, Gilligan, The Professor, and Lovey. Thurston defected to another flock.

Samantha—Born 2023

The only full blooded OG runner we have left, Samantha is mated to The Professor.

You’ll recognize the pair when you see their black bands on the legs.

Sam is very friendly, the egg she was hatched from was collected from my friend, Ann’s, property. Her nose looks a bit like a hookbill duck to me so she might have some of those genes in her as well.

Type—White Runner Duck

The Professor—Born 2023

The Professor is a Cayuga and Black Swedish hybrid. That is, as far as we know. He was born at my friend, Ann’s house and his egg was taken from a Cayuga mom’s nest.

From what I can see, he might have a bit of runner in him as well. His original mate was Tabitha, a pretty gray runner duck. When she was killed, he moved on to her bestie, Sam. I guess The Professor likes the tall supermodel type.

Type—Cayuga/Swedish Hybrid

Gilligan—Born 2023

Gilligan’s egg was taken from the same nest as his half-brother, The Professor.

Though his mom was a Cayuga, his nose gives him away as a hybrid. A true Cayuga would have a black nose and black feet.

This one has had two girlfriends, Mary Ann and Lovey. Though we’ve lost the sweet Mary Ann, a black and white duck likely his sister, he and Lovey are quite happy.

Type—Cayuga Hybrid Drake

Lovey—Born 2023

Lovey is too small to be a Pekin so I’m just calling her a White Layer Duck.

She’s a very sweet little gal who terribly misses the others in her flock. She’s mom to several of our white duckies at Houck Hollow and lays pretty eggs very consistently.

Lovey and her offspring are some of the friendliest ducks on the property and are usually the first to approach for treats.

Type—White Layer

The Appleyards

Silver Appleyards were bred by Reginald Appleyard in Suffolk, England. They’re big, beautiful ducks, nearly equal in size to the jumbo pekins but without many of the problems associated with jumbo pekins, such as difficulty with back issues or gait. They are excellent foragers, and they’re raised for both meat and eggs.

These are some of the gentlest, sweetest ducks I’ve ever worked with. We started out with twelve ducklings in 2024, eight drakes and four females, and raised them together. They are a happy little family who prefer to stay close. They enjoy the quiet on the west side of the property, foraging along the creek far from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the flock, and typically only poke their heads up out of the bushes around lunchtime when I call out that it’s time for a snack.

We decided to give them all apple names, so I perused an apple tree website to find some nice monikers for our birds. We’re down one drake as of this year and we’re hoping to add a few new ducklings to this group since we have a lot of lonely bachelors. Right now our Appleyard flock includes: Cortland, Braeburn, Pippin, Albemarle, Jonathan, Crispin, Sugarbee, Opal, Brock, Roxbury, and Mcintosh.

You might see one Appleyard duck with a slightly bald head and only one eye. That’s Jonathan. He came back to the barn one day, missing most of his scalp, covered in blood and ants, and without an eye. Brad scooped him up and raced back to the house hollering, “Duck emergency!”

Though we have several doctor friends, most were stumped. We treated him the best we could, dosing him with antibiotics and pain meds and cleaning his wound. On day three, the poor guy was covered with maggots. Having some leftover chlorhexidine from an oral surgery, I used that to get rid of the bugs and clean him up again, and we put him under one of our heat lamps. It was a good thing he’d been very fat because he lost about half of his body weight.

For a while, we worried about his bill. The right side was nearly detached, then I read a blog about vets working on raptors. It stated that bill injuries can be repaired due to the bird’s ability to regrow bill tissue. His skin began to granulate. Within two weeks, I feared him dying more from starvation due to melancholy than from his wounds, so one day, after bathing him outside and seeing him respond happily to the sounds of his family, I decided to let him visit.

He was thrilled to be back with them, so we let him stay and just packed his wound every day with heaping globs of Vaseline. The treatment worked. Though he occasionally gets nipped on his blind side by geese, his feathers have mostly regrown to cover the wound, and he’s mostly back to normal, proving the resilience of these amazing birds.

Interesting Ducks

In this section, I wanted to add a few interesting ducks or share some stories.

Daisy—Born 2024

Daisy was hatched in the spring of 2024. She’s a beautiful baby. Her parents are Milagro, a Golden Cascade and his mate Goldie, a chocolate Khaki Campbell.

Milagro has since passed. We lost him to a bobcat the summer of 2024. At least we think so. We know there are coyotes out here as well and the occasional cougar.

About a month after she was born, we noticed Daisy sitting by the creek, crying. It looked like her back was broken.

We thought about having her put down, but chose to nurse her instead. Months passed and she…healed! You’d never know her back had been broken. She’s our own walking miracle.

She has a devoted boyfriend who presents as a large mallard.

Type—Golden/Campbell

HRPufnstuf—Adopted 2024

A few friends of ours came calling one day saying they had some birds and they didn’t realize how difficult it was taking care of them. They asked if we would take them in.

Normally, we don’t. There is a great danger in mixing new birds with a healthy flock. It’s just not worth the risk in most cases. You have to quarantine the animals for up to six weeks. It’s a pain in the neck. We’ve even had people drive up, release their birds, and take off. Not a cool thing to do to the animals or to us.

Of the five we took in that day, only this sweet little thing remains. Her twin crested duck was taken by the notorious bobcat. Puffy has a special quack. I can always tell it’s her. She’s a nervous Nelly.

Type—Crested Pekin

Seven—Adopted 2024

Seven was born on my friend, Ann’s, property. She’s likely part Cayuga and part black Swedish.

She was part of a big cougar attack that happened at Ann’s place, and she along with the rest of her flock was rescued and brought over to my home.

Poor Seven had almost been killed. Her neck had been torn open. Ann and my mother are both nurses and they worked on her as best they could.

Ducks have an amazing ability to heal. Within two weeks, she scabbed over and was desperate to be outside. Poor Q-Tip, her crested Pekin boyfriend was lost and now she has a pair of handsome Magpie Twins who follow her everywhere.

Type—Cayuga/Swedish Hybrid

Thurston, Thelma, & Goldie—Born 2023

I’ve been told that you must have at least five ducks for every one drake. I’ve also heard that ducks are not monogamous, that they will choose a new mate every year.

In my experience, I’ve found both of those statements to be false. What I will say is that a happy duck sticks by her drake. Usually, ducks pick the fellow and rarely leave.

The exception might be if the drake is too big, like a Jumbo Pekin. That’s how poor Huey lost Mary and Sarah. When Goldie’s mate, Milagro, died, she preferred to stay with her group. The girls stay with their besties. Sometimes that means sharing a guy. Thurston doesn’t seem to mind.

Type—Chocolate Khaki/Golden Cascade

Sarah & The Terminator—Bought 2023 & 2024

Sarah and her two sisters, Winnie & Mary, were named for the Sanderson sisters.

All three were originally inseparable and stayed with Huey, a Jumbo Pekin full-time. Mary and Sarah were unhappy with Huey, though they loved their sister. He wasn’t as easy on the in-laws as one would like.

Winnie is still with Huey, and Mary was with Hawkeye for a time, but she disappeared in the summer of 2025.

Sarah has now found new love with a handsome Magpie. Since we kept her name, we dubbed him The Terminator.

Type—Golden/Magpie

Huey & Winnie—Bought 2023

Winnie was very depressed when Mary and Sarah abandoned her.

It wasn’t her fault though. Huey wasn’t easy on her sisters. Both girls found happiness elsewhere. Sadly, we’ve lost both Mary and Winnie.

Hawkeye recovered quickly, but Huey hasn’t been the same. He’s a very lonely fellow who battles with bumblefoot and hides in bushes by himself during the day.

It’s almost like he’s given up on life without his gal. He barely even perks up for peas or watermelon. Poor Huey!

Type—Golden/Jumbo Pekin

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