Among all the duck breeds which are recognized as ‘blue’, Blue Swedes are probably the closest to a true blue. Blue Swedish ducks are registered as an endangered domestic duck breed, with fewer than 163 breeders left. I ordered a few Blue Swedes from Metzer farms which were good quality, but their personality, compared to other duck breeds, was not as exuberant or intelligent. This may be due to severe inbreeding.

Blue Swedes are voracious eaters and are especially prized because of their unique meat flavor. Females can lay around 100 eggs per year.

The story of my Blue Swedes was not a happy one. It was the first time I realized that otters could fit between 2 inches of space in a gap in my fence. Not only did the otter squeeze his way in, but he somehow managed to squeeze his way out with my three pound drake in his jaws. My backyard looked like a CSI crime scene.

After boarding up the gap and checking for holes, I thought my ducks would be pretty safe. Everything was swell for 2 weeks, then suddenly another Blue Swede vanished!  It was then that I realized how intelligent otters really are. He managed to squeeze into a tiny hole a raccoon had dug through my neighbors fence and another hole which led to under my fence.

Thoroughly fed up with the otter, I filled cement along the bottom of my fence and inserted an otter-sized trap and left one hole to lead him into it. Unfortunately, he was too clever to fall for that. Otter, still at large… Blue Swedes, even more endagered than ever 🙁 .