Swedish Blue

The Swedish Blue (Swedish: Svensk blå anka)[5] or Blue Swedish is a Swedish breed of domestic duck. It originated in the former dominion of Swedish Pomerania – now in north-west Poland and north-east Germany – and is documented there from 1835.[6][7] It is closely similar to the Pomeranian Duck from the same general area, differing mainly in its white primary feathers.

Swedish Blue
The three colours – two blue birds on the right, black and pale blue-white examples to the left
Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): critical[1]: 153 
  • DAD-IS (2023): at risk/endangered
Other names
  • Swedish: Svensk blå anka
  • Blue Swedish
  • Swedish[2]
Country of originSweden (Swedish Pomerania)
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    3–4 kg
  • Female:
    2.5–3.5 kg
Classification
APAmedium duck[2]
EEyes[3]
PCGBheavy[4]
  • Duck
  • Anas platyrhynchos domesticus

History

The Swedish Blue originated in the former dominion of Swedish Pomerania, now in north-west Poland and north-east Germany; the first documented mention of it there is from 1835.[8]: 62 [6][7] Some birds were exported to the United States in 1884, and the blue variety was added to the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 1904 as the "Swedish".[2][7]

The world-wide conservation status of the Swedish Blue was listed as "critical" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2007;[1]: 153  in 2023 it was listed as "at risk/endangered" in Sweden, where the total population reported to DAD-IS for 2021 was 282.[5] No data is reported from Ireland, the only other country reporting the breed.[9][10] In 2023 it was listed as "watch" by the American Livestock Conservancy of the United States,[7] which does not report it to the FAO database.[9]

Characteristics

The Swedish Blue is a medium-sized bird: drakes weigh some 3–4 kg, ducks about 2.5–3.5 kg. It is rather shorter and broader in body shape than breeds such as the Cayuga or Orpington;[8]: 63  the body is rounded, plump and full-breasted, the back is straight and fairly flat, and is about half as long again as it is broad.[11]: 391  The body is carried at an angle of about 20° to the horizontal.[8]: 63  The head is long, oval and finely made.[11]: 391 [12]: 287 

There are three colour varieties, of which only one – the blue – is recognised in the standards; their distribution is determined by the zygosity of a single dilution gene. As in other blue poultry such as the Blue Andalusian breed of chicken, if two blue birds are bred, the young are, in the expected Mendelian proportion:

  • 25%: a homozygous form, black where the blue should be
  • 50%: heterozygous, the typical blue
  • 25%: the other homozygous form, pale blue-white or silver.

If the black and pale forms are bred together, the offspring are all heterozygous and thus all blue.[11]: 36, 352 [13]: 80  Blue-coloured ducks (females) may become progressively paler as they age; while they are then no longer suitable for showing, they can be used for breeding.[13]: 80 

The Swedish Blue is distinguished from the Pomeranian Duck, another blue duck from approximately the same region, by its white primaries.[6]

Use

As a utility breed, the Swedish Blue forages well, is fairly fast-growing, and produces meat of good quality;[14]: 125 [13]: 80  ducks lay about 100–150 white or tinted (blue or green) eggs per year, of some 80–90 g in weight.[7]

It may be reared as a show bird, but the difficulty of meeting the requirements of the breed standard means that it must be kept in large numbers, which may discourage prospective breeders.[13]: 80 

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swedish Duck.
  1. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  3. Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
  4. Breed Classification. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018.
  5. Breed data sheet: Svensk Blå Anka / Sweden (Duck (domestic)). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2023.
  6. Ducks. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 November 2018.
  7. Swedish Duck. Pittsboro, North Carolina: The Livestock Conservancy. Accessed June 2018.
  8. Dave Holderread (2001). Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. Pownal, Vermont: Storey Books. ISBN 9781580172585.
  9. Transboundary breed: Swedish Blue. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2023.
  10. Breed data sheet: Swedish Blue / Ireland (Duck (domestic)). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2023.
  11. Victoria Roberts (2008). British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 9781405156424.
  12. [s.n.] (1985). The American Standard of Perfection: A Complete Description of All Recognized Varieties of Fowls. Troy, New York: American Poultry Association Inc.
  13. Chris Ashton, Mike Ashton (2009). Keeping Ducks and Geese. Cincinnati, Ohio: David & Charles. ISBN 9780715331576.
  14. Joseph Batty (1985 [1979]). Domesticated Ducks and Geese, second edition. Liss, Hampshire: Fanciers Suppliers Ltd. ISBN 9780947647025.
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