The breed is very rare now, and possibly extinct (as of 2011.)
The ducks have a white neck and breast, and white tipped wings, with the rest of the feathers being blue.
They have slate-coloured bills, with reddish-orange shanks. They stand somewhat erect, highlighting their long thin neck.
Both male and female ducks will weigh between 2 ¼ to 2 ½ pounds (2 to 2,25 kg.)
Huttegem Ducks were valued for their egg-laying ability during the winter.
They later came to be valued for meat. Owing to ducklings being born during the winter, farmers could have duckling ready to sell for the table at Easter.
The ducks are not good brooders, so a breed of large chickens, called Huttegem chickens, were used to brood the eggs, and care for the ducklings as stepmothers.
History Notes
The Huttegem Duck breed originated in the Oudenaarde region in East Flanders, Belgium, along the Scheldt river. The small hamlet of Huttegem was roughly in the centre of this
marshy area along the river.
The breed possibly has Termonde Duck in its ancestry.
Standards for the breed were set in 1913.
Language Notes
Beate D. Scherf (editor of World Watch List for Domestic Animal Diversity. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Second Edition. 1995. Page 487) notes that Huttegem ducks were also called Huttegeur ducks, but Practically Edible hasn’t been able to find any other reference to this outside her publication.