Call duck colors/sex

[HeatherKellyB]

I have one Mallard that is a lot smaller than the rest of my ducks and they don't pay any attention to her at all other than the drake mates her .

My jumbo Pekin drake is in love with my Buff Duck and they've not had any problems, but they make me nervous. I think the biggest concern is when multiple drakes start attacking a hen. I've seen a drake try to mount a drake that's mating with a hen. He never actually mounted the drake but the poor hen spent more time under water than she should have. Plus if a larger drake tried to mate with a Call hen on dry land, that could seriously hurt her. Just so many possibilities. I do have a small wild Mallard hen here that will have 3 to 5 drakes after her. She usually has to fly off if this happens Just sitting here thinking about it, if my Jumbo Pekin tried to mate with one of my Call hens I think her entire head would fit in his bill

 

[Luv Ducks]

My jumbo Pekin drake is in love with my Buff Duck and they've not had any problems, but they make me nervous. I think the biggest concern is when multiple drakes start attacking a hen. I've seen a drake try to mount a drake that's mating with a hen. He never actually mounted the drake but the poor hen spent more time under water that she should have. Plus if a larger drake tried to mate with a Call hen on dry land, that could seriously hurt her. Just so many possibilities. I do have a small wild Mallard hen here that will have 3 to 5 drakes after her. She usually has to fly off if this happens Just sitting here thinking about it, if my Jumbo Pekin tried to mate with one of my Call hens I think her entire head would fit in his bill

Mine all have to mate on dry ground but do a great job of it and that is why the drakes are in Drake Jail, lol. I have a huge Muscovy Drake that loves just one of my Rouen Hens and has her feathers all gone under her wings from mounting her. I did not realize it until she lifted them up to stretch one day. I felt horrible that I did not know. She is now protected from him since he is in Drake Jail and will stay there until the hormones settle down. I can see why you would be concerned with your Jumbo Pekin as that is how large my Muscovy Drake probably is. He is soooooo big!!!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I was shocked when I read where a drake call was so mean and vicious. I would not have realized being that small that they could put marks on someone biting like that. My Mallard/Rouen Drake has nibbled at my heels and feet before but it actually tickles and he has never been able to leave a mark. He must not be trying very hard, lol.

He must be an angry little guy. One of my Aztec drakes will bite if he's being held and my Cayuga drake will bite for being held. My Australian Spotted Duck hen isn't a fan of my daughter's for some reason and she'll bite her for no obvious reason. None of my Calls are biters. They're sassy little buggers but they're not really mean, if that makes sense

 

[Luv Ducks]

My jumbo Pekin drake is in love with my Buff Duck and they've not had any problems, but they make me nervous. I think the biggest concern is when multiple drakes start attacking a hen. I've seen a drake try to mount a drake that's mating with a hen. He never actually mounted the drake but the poor hen spent more time under water than she should have. Plus if a larger drake tried to mate with a Call hen on dry land, that could seriously hurt her. Just so many possibilities. I do have a small wild Mallard hen here that will have 3 to 5 drakes after her. She usually has to fly off if this happens Just sitting here thinking about it, if my Jumbo Pekin tried to mate with one of my Call hens I think her entire head would fit in his bill

Okay so I was having a brain cloud. I got on Craigslist, I just had to looking for Call Ducks. Of course yesterday I found some 2 hours away but I restrained myself and did not call them, lol. Today my will power was a lot less. I found some just listed 23 hours before and it was in the other end of our County!!! So I had to call RIGHT??? lol I told him my delima, I have two drakes that I need to rehome. A big Mule Drake and a Khaki Campbell Drake. Beautiful ducks just too many Drakes. He ended up saying he was willing to trade me for two Call Ducks!!! They may be Drakes but they surely will not hurt my hens like the other two big boys were. They quack a lot but are so much quieter than my own Mallard Hens and their bills are sort of greenish so I figure without the green heads yet they are still drakes. He of course swore that the person he got them from said the ones that l looked like Mallard Hens were girls. Time will tell and I am just happy for the swap as they will be a lot less harmful to my girls. I have them quarantined right now and they are soooooo stinking cute. I wish I could do pictures on here. One of them has its wing sticking out pretty bad as it must of gotten hurt in transit because it did not look like that when I picked them up. I clipped their wings so they will not fly away. Hopefully this works out well. Thanks for all of the help with this matter. I really did not want to have to get 6 from Purely Poultry in the spring as that is what their website says and you have to order them way ahead of time since they are in demand.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Okay so I was having a brain cloud. I got on Craigslist, I just had to looking for Call Ducks. Of course yesterday I found some 2 hours away but I restrained myself and did not call them, lol. Today my will power was a lot less. I found some just listed 23 hours before and it was in the other end of our County!!! So I had to call RIGHT??? lol I told him my delima, I have two drakes that I need to rehome. A big Mule Drake and a Khaki Campbell Drake. Beautiful ducks just too many Drakes. He ended up saying he was willing to trade me for two Call Ducks!!! They may be Drakes but they surely will not hurt my hens like the other two big boys were. They quack a lot but are so much quieter than my own Mallard Hens and their bills are sort of greenish so I figure without the green heads yet they are still drakes. He of course swore that the person he got them from said the ones that l looked like Mallard Hens were girls. Time will tell and I am just happy for the swap as they will be a lot less harmful to my girls. I have them quarantined right now and they are soooooo stinking cute. I wish I could do pictures on here. One of them has its wing sticking out pretty bad as it must of gotten hurt in transit because it did not look like that when I picked them up. I clipped their wings so they will not fly away. Hopefully this works out well. Thanks for all of the help with this matter. I really did not want to have to get 6 from Purely Poultry in the spring as that is what their website says and you have to order them way ahead of time since they are in demand.

I wish you could upload pictures here. I'd love to see them My gray drakes (Mallard color is called gray in Call Ducks) have molted and look more like females but have the olive bills. They'll get their green heads back whenever they molt into their nuptial plumage

 

[Luv Ducks]

I wish you could upload pictures here. I'd love to see them My gray drakes (Mallard color is called gray in Call Ducks) have molted and look more like females but have the olive bills. They'll get their green heads back whenever they molt into their nuptial plumage

Yes mine look like little Mallards. I wasn't sure when I picked them out because they were noisy but a light noise not a scream and with the olive bills I thought they were boys. They all sounded alike so I just grabbed the two that looked like little Mallards and figured at least my gals will be happy to see the dwarfts instead of the giants after them, lol. I too wish I could upload pictures of them. I hate that I don't have the technology. Thanks for letting me know when they will get their green heads.

 

[Crow Mountain Chickens]

The silver drakes are getting darker. All 3 boys have their curls.

Will the silver drakes continue to change in color? One almost looks like his entire head is getting darker. The other one is also but not as prominently.

I’m guessing I’ll need to get rid of some drakes

 

[Luv Ducks]

I am going to end up with 4 drakes and 8 hens but since two of the drakes are Call and are so small I don't look at them as a threat to hurting my big hens. They all get along beautifully as I let them out with the gals today. My two drakes are still in Drake Jail until they get a pardon after mating season is over. Hopefully they will be nice to the little Call Drakes since they should have no interest in mating them with them being males. I hope you can get your ratio right for yourself.

 

[Jerone1984]

3 week old call duck he unique bigger beak than all other 7 babies and hes super friendly will sit in lap. His name is malehole jr looks like the dad just with a bigger head lol. Don't know what you call his coloring but he has green tint on wings and brown dots under his butt.

 

[Crow Mountain Chickens]

3 week old call duck he unique bigger beak than all other 7 babies and hes super friendly will sit in lap. His name is malehole jr looks like the dad just with a bigger head lol. Don't know what you call his coloring but he has green tint on wings and brown dots under his butt.

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Very unique looking! His big beak looks like it belongs on someone else lol! He’s neat!

I’m brand new to call ducks/ducks in general, so hopefully someone else in here can help you identify the look!