Call ducks???!!! - Page 3

I would recommend buying ducklings or Grown birds. If you buy grown bird you know you are getting a male or female. With egg hatching you won't know.

Both sexes actually quack but when the hen becomes excited in any sort of way wether you, danger, other birds ( usually mine do it when they see me coming because mine are like dogs and love to watch me and they know that they will get a treat) but to me i love the loud "call" they do and it isnt LOUD but you dont miss it if you are outside or around the pen but usually you cant hear it in your house. But when i first got mine and they would " call"i always laughed. Haha. But i have been raising calls for 4 years now and i am no expert but i know what i am doing and i got a batch of 24 call eggs one time and 4 came out and one lived so its about for every 5 eggs you get 1 good duckling. Also if hatching try to use a natural method via another bird that works best especially mother chickens thats what i do all the time. I recently hatched out 4 babies and they were both from 2 different clutches and i used the same chicken she sat for 2 months poor thing and she had about a total of 10 or more eggs, each clutch, and had 4 ducklings. P.S. They are very fast, love to swim, can develope some health issue like feet splaying when babies and crooked bills and angelwing, when adults eye problems and sometime bill and feet problems, but if you keep them the right way they will be fine, also they can be a bit bossy to other smaller birds but the never will hurt or kill anything usually just chase it mainly when on eggs. And they do make great moms themselves. Hope you have fun if you decide to get them they are totally worth it!!!!!!!

It would be cheaper and easier to purchase a trio of Calls than it would be to hatch out a decent trio.

 

There are 2 kinds of "Calls" out there.  There are pet quality who don't look like Calls at all.  They are sort of small and look like little duck shaped ducks.  Those are relatively inexpensive and much easier to hatch.  I've seen a lot of photos of that kind here on BYC.

 

There are genuine Calls who are small, round, short billed, and puffy cheeked.  That is what most people see that makes them decide they want Calls.  They look a lot like rubber duckies, are a bit expensive, and tricky to hatch.

 

So, you must be careful when you buy hatching eggs about which of those 2 types of "Calls" you are buying eggs from.

 

If you are getting genuine purebred Calls, you will need a very good incubator.  Nobody with Calls is using a styrofoam incubator.

 

Eggs on their sides, hand turn, rest every day, spritz with water that is exactly the same temperature as the air in the incubator, and probably assist at hatching.  Not considered eggs for beginners.

Incidentally, if all you want are small ducks and don't care if they are duck shaped and not rubber duckie shaped, then consider Black East Indies or Australian Spotted.  They are gorgeous and much easier to hatch.

Just to add my two cents, we have some calls and besides being loud they can also be aggressive towards others regardless of size.  But they can be quickly taught to mind their place.  I found that if they get territorial it works well to remove them from the area or enclosure and then re-introduce them. We only had to remove them for an hour and when we re-introduced them they fell right in line. Worked like a charm!