Baby call duck pictures - yes I finally hatched a few!

[Scott]

Congratulations! How did you get call duck eggs so late in the season? Were yours laying that late? I had some BEI eggs that were due to hatch this week. Heard them peeping a couple days in a row, but then they didn't make it. But I am looking forward to my white calls laying this spring. When do yours normally start laying?

 

[briarpatchfarms]

Quote:
You can have a call duck lay all year if you wanted it's not good for them none of the big time breeders don't let any lay in thefall causes them to lay less eggs in the spring or start later! Any pullet that you hatch out early will sometimes lay in the fall but you have to switch them onto corn and grains to stop them! That's how I got mine my pullet started laying but I had to get her to stop but I tried them in the incubator anyways!

 

[Ducks-R-Us]

This is my first year with ducks - I bought some older pairs and trios from a person locally who was cutting down the number of his calls. When I brought them here they started to lay. I tried to get some of the hens to go broody and sit on their own eggs but that only worked with one hen. I have about 20 different hens but am only getting a couple eggs a day - still. I did have some in breeding pens but now have them all together in a group. The one hen that went broody initially had 8 eggs - she only hatched out three - just checked the rest of her eggs and they are dead. I did take the 3 ducklings from her and gave her 6 more eggs to see if she will continue to sit - not sure if she will but she didn't want to give up her eggs.
The blue fawn is a lot lighter in color than a normal gray would be but I am not sure - I am new to these ducks so all this is a learning experience to me. Actually I hope it is a gray but I do have two Blue Fawn hens that were bred from a Pastel drake and I think this may been one of their eggs.
These have been on corn but just mixed in with their regular food - I may have to increase the corn to get them to quit laying. Though if they will start later in the spring that would be fine as our springs are quite late anyway.

 

[fasbendera]

They are Soooooo Cute!!!! I really need to stop opening the duck threads and torturing myself.

 

[rainplace]

 

[chickensioux]

Quote:
Ditto...

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Adorable!!!!! My calls just started laying. I couldn't believe it. I reduced their lighting and reduced their protein. I don't want them to wear themselves out before spring.

Laurie

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

Actually some of your smaller typey call ducks that you see at shows were fall hatched ducks, Charlie Hodum ( who probably shows the best whites in the country ) has an awsome December hatched white cockerel that he has been showing. All of my calls are breeding and laying like crazy this fall for some reason, I am not going to hatch any out since I dont want to keep call ducklings in the basement all winter.

Call Ducks do not have a set amount of eggs they can hatch each year, if they lay in the fall, they will lay just as many eggs in the spring. Now if you put lights on them and force them to lay in early Jan-Feb, they will molt out at the wrong time and stop laying by spring...also ducks that are laying eggs look like crap and normaly you cant show them...so most people who show try to stop their good SQ hens from laying and breeding in the fall...when most of the shows are happening. The best way to stop a call from laying would be to put them in a dark room...no light and they will stop laying.

Most call duck breeders will sell you their early spring hatch ducklings, since they know the latter hatched birds are more likely to be SQ than the early hatched ones...

I like the duckling in the last pic...nice big round head...small bill, bet that duckling will be a good one.



Jerry

Yes I stole my wifes user name again..

 

[hens & chicks]

They are so adorable. I want to get some ducks but so far know very little about any of them. I do not have any water supply at my farm other than a small wading pool for the geeese I have. But--The neighbors close to me to the north and to the east have ponds and then also north of me not even an 8th of a mile is a nice sized lake. What would happen to any ducks I would get? Will they fly away to the ponds and the lake and leave me?

 

[Ducks-R-Us]

hens & chicks :

They are so adorable. I want to get some ducks but so far know very little about any of them. I do not have any water supply at my farm other than a small wading pool for the geeese I have. But--The neighbors close to me to the north and to the east have ponds and then also north of me not even an 8th of a mile is a nice sized lake. What would happen to any ducks I would get? Will they fly away to the ponds and the lake and leave me?

I have a river just a hundred yards from their pens and so far none of my ducks have gone there. One day I even tried taking some of them to the river for a swim but the were terrified and ran back up the hill and home. Actually if the river floods like last spring, their pens will be in the water. I will be digging a small pond for them next year but as of right now all I use are the small wading pools too. They seem to like them just fine.​