Barbary duck. In France these are mainly bred in the South.
A breed of duck from Bourbourg in Nord-Pas-de-Calais near the Belgian border. It is descended from the white Aylesbury duck of England and the Mertchem duck of Belgium and appeared around the end of the 19th Century. Not much interest being shown in it the breed nearly died out in the mid-20th Century but it is now a rare breed duck of some interest with the standard established in 1824. Like the Aylesbury it is itself white, with a large body, stands in a very horizontal position, has a pinkish-white bill and orange-yellow legs.
The canard de Challans is a very common breed of duck, predominantly bred in the Vendée around Challans. It is characterised by its small size and plumpness, and mildly flavoured flesh. Apparently during the reign of King Philip IV of Spain in the 17th Century, many Spaniards settled in Brittany and the Vendée. They drained the gulf and built canals. The ducks would be let free from the farms and would go to the canals where they laid their eggs in specially provided conical nests. There were no controls over the mating, so the females might as well mate with a passing wild duck as with a proper Challans duck.
Bred around Yvetot and Duclair in Normandy, this is a breed of duck, usually weighing from 4.5- kg (9 lb) with eggs of at least 80g with a greenish shell. They are a cross between a domestic and a mallard. Although they have a long history, the breed was only properly established in 1923.
Rouen clair ducks selected by English breeders, these are inelegant, waddling ducks, darker than the Roune clair. The females lay little, the eggs being 80g minimum with a greenish shell. The male weighs about 3.5 kg, the female 3. kg. Rouen is to ducks what Bresse is to chickens. These are generally killed by strangling or smothering to retain the blood. The flesh is dark red and gamy. They are generally plucked while still warm and are often stuffed with their livers.
