These delightful bantam ducks are smaller than mallards, but slightly larger than show-type call ducks. They also have longer bills than calls, so they have no trouble hatching. There is much information about these ducks on the internet, so I won’t repeat it here, but rather post a few of the most useful links:
https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/australian-spotted-duck/
http://www.holderreadfarm.com/photogallery/australian_spotted_page/australian_spotted_page.htm
http://www.duckcreekfarm.com/australianspotted
Video of my flock of Australian Spotted Ducks
These make great pets, and if you choose to build a raised pen as shown in the photos below, they are really not very messy.
The 3 color variants, greenhead, bluehead and silverhead, interbreed like blue/black/splash in chickens. This is a common gene in some ducke, notably the swedes, where breeding 2 blue swedes together will produce some blacks and silvers, as well as the blues. When added to a wild, mallard pattern, the names are changed. In Call ducks, the “grey” is the wild type color. Adding a single blue gene creates a Blue Fawn, and 2 copies of the blue gene would be called Pastel. In Australian Spotted ducks, no blue genes represent the Greenhead. A single blue gene produces a Bluehead, and of course 2 copies makes a Silverhead.
