Bantam Duck Page

[dmiravalle]

Ok, so I have a brooder question.

We have basically pet quality ducks that came from show lines. Our hen is finally laying her own eggs. I have been collecting them (3 now). I have a LG incubator and I did hatch our current ducks in it, we got 4 out of 6.

Am I better off letting her brood her own eggs and then keeping an eye on them at hatch time????? What would you recommend?

 

[fowlman01]

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Thanks! I will put that on my business card under "title". (judging genius). Glad you did so well, I didn't know who won what. That was a huge class of bantam ducks.....maybe the largest class I have ever judged. I like to hear the results as I seldom know. You fly in and fly out and never know who won.
Right or wrong it seems like I might have been consistent.
Glad you folks did well! Is the check in the mail???

Walt

I thought you did a good job, I didnt hear any complaints and that is a compliment since call breeders can be hard to please (we think we know it all..LOL). Your BB in calls belonged to Ciera Endsley and she has what I think is one of the best hen lines in Whites, the call she won with was a really nice bird, Charlie had RB with a great white. The White I got 1st in old males with placed RB at the next show in Shawnee, OK under Dave Anderson...I think you were liking the same things that everybody else likes..Hell your a call breeder from way back, you know what you are looking at.

I think the calls are really bad about showing well on minute, then looking like they are asleep the next minute...then you walk back down the asle 5 minutes later and a different call is really fluffing up and looking good.

Thanks! You just never know and as you say, they can change from minute to minute. I changed a some of the placings before BV...you probably noticed that. I don't have any problem changing the placings if they look different (better) and has not gotten to BB. I annoyed Charlie several years ago when I did that and Lee Morey beat him...I think he was already counting his money. haha

Bob,
All you have to do is smell one of those marks a lot type markers and you have to know that it is not a good idea to use them on something like an egg. If you sniffed one of those a couple times you would be waking sideways. lol I know people who use them though.

Walt

 

[turbo]

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Sometimes it helps to mark on the fat end of the egg with the pencil, I think we use what is called a groceries pencil or a grease pencil. I wouldnt use a sharpie either Bob, I agree with you.

 

[easttxchick]

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I could be wrong, but I'm not sure Calls make very good broodies.
For me, those darn eggs are just too precious to allow a Call hen to set.
They require so much care that it's easier for me to have them where I can keep a close eye on them.

 

[dmiravalle]

That is what I was originally told. But now I am nervous after all the talk of having special incubators.... A little confused.

 

[K9Carrie]

Hi, new to Calls so just learning it all. Can someone tell me if the Pastel Calls are supposed to have a ring around their neck?

 

[easttxchick]

Even with the most expensive incubator, under optimal conditions, Call eggs are hard to hatch, period.
Give it a shot with what you have and follow all of the good tips here on BYC for hatching Calls. I hatched some Calls last spring in a crappy LG incubator-I got VERY lucky and all of the planets must've aligned!
If you'll look a few posts back, Turbo mentioned brooding Calls under chickens-if you have a broody hen when the eggs are ready to incubate, you could give that a go-chickens make amazing broodies.

 

[easttxchick]

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Neck-"Soft powder blue cut short by distinct white collar which fails to quite encircle the neck". ~American Standard of Perfection-2001.

 

[dmiravalle]

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I keep telling my cochins it is time to brood, but they are all older and look at me like I am on drugs!!

But that is why we didn't invest a huge amount of money to start. This is my nine year olds project, they are really amazing little ducks and now of course the whole family is hooked!

 

[easttxchick]

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I keep telling my cochins it is time to brood, but they are all older and look at me like I am on drugs!!

But that is why we didn't invest a huge amount of money to start. This is my nine year olds project, they are really amazing little ducks and now of course the whole family is hooked!

Calls always start out as a, "Aw, look at the cute little ducky" and then, you're hooked.
Even my husband has gotten himself a couple of pairs of them after telling me last spring, "NO ducks".

Yeah, never a broody around when you need one, but always when it's 5000 degrees outside and you have to constantly be shoving them out of the nests to keep them from dying of heat stroke.