As the name implies, the Silver Appleyard Miniature is a miniaturized bantam version of the Silver Appleyard duck.
This rare duck breed was created in the 1980s by Tom Bartlett of Folly Farm in Gloucestershire. Tom Bartlett kept 130 poultry breeds and worked to recreate and revive the large Silver Appleyard as a breed, after which he decided to create a miniature version of it.
A miniature version of the Silver Appleyard did already exist, one bred by Reginald Appleyard (the creator of the original Silver Appleyard duck). However, it wasn’t true to color and resembled an Abacot Ranger rather than a Silver Appleyard.
Silver Appleyard Miniature ducklings. Photo used with permission from Vicky Quick.
After Tom Bartlett introduced his new Silver Appleyard Miniature with the correctly replicated color, the off-color breed was renamed the Silver Bantam—in the UK, at least. In the US, the off-color variety is still often called the Silver Appleyard Miniature, as the true Miniature isn’t standardized yet.
In the US, Holderread Farm and Duck Creek Farm have a breed they call the Miniature Silver Appleyard, but it’s not this breed—it’s the breed that is called the Silver Bantam in the UK.
The Silver Appleyard Miniature is one of the best layers of all the bantam duck breeds, laying 60-160 eggs a year.
They are about one-third the size of their larger counterparts, with drakes weighing around 3 lb and ducks weighing around 2.5 lb.
Miniature Silver Appleyards were first shown in 1987 by Tom Bartlett at the BWA Championship Waterfowl Exhibition, and they were standardized in the UK in 1997. To my knowledge, they haven’t been imported to the United States yet.
As a bantam breed, they are good fliers. They are hardy and good mothers.
A drake. Photo used with permission from The Domestic Waterfowl Club of Great Britain.
Their color, genetically, is light-phase restricted mallard, like the Silver Appleyard. Males have a dark head with a green sheen and a white neck ring. Their breast and shoulders are a white-laced coppery brown and they have a blue speculum. Females have whitish heads with a prominent fawn line drawn through the eye and a speckled fawn stripe from the top of the bill to the back. Their back, shoulders, and chest are cream and fawn with brown streaks. They also possess a blue speculum.
A female duck. Photo used with permission from The Domestic Waterfowl Club of Great Britain.
Ducklings are mostly yellow with a prominent dark spot, shaped a little like a mowhak, on top of their head.
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