Call Duck Shortage

[fryburgfarmer]

I fell head-over-heels in love with call ducks just from pictures. I was stuck buying Cayuga ducks instead this year because I had no connections to sellers/breeders locally. I really want 4-6 ducklings (in pairs of matching colors (1 male, 1 female)) in January or February. If you breed or know anyone in the mid-western Ohio area that might help, please P.M. me!!!

Thanks!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I fell head-over-heels in love with call ducks just from pictures. I was stuck buying Cayuga ducks instead this year because I had no connections to sellers/breeders locally. I really want 4-6 ducklings (in pairs of matching colors (1 male, 1 female)) in January or February. If you breed or know anyone in the mid-western Ohio area that might help, please P.M. me!!!

Thanks!

@Lacrystol might be able to help you. I breed Calls as well, but I'm farther away than it sounds like you want to travel, and I don't sell mine until they're grown.

 

[fryburgfarmer]

@Lacrystol
might be able to help you. I breed Calls as well, but I'm farther away than it sounds like you want to travel, and I don't sell mine until they're grown.

I'm talking to her at the moment. It seems that everyone either intermixes the feather coloring or sells them later in life. Thanks tho.

 

[needlessjunk]

You are going to have one heck of a time trying to get ducklings especially calls at that time of year. Calls have a short laying season and most ducks don't even start laying again till the end of Feb.

 

[fryburgfarmer]

I m

You are going to have one heck of a time trying to get ducklings especially calls at that time of year. Calls have a short laying season and most ducks don't even start laying again till the end of Feb.

I need the calls by early March at the latest.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I m
I need the calls by early March at the latest.

I agree with @needlessjunk that you're going to have multiple challenges with this. Calls typically won't be that age at that time of year, many people won't vent sex Calls and don't know what their genders are until they're a couple of months old, many people won't sell Calls at that age, and you're looking at a very narrow geographic range to overcome obstacles that would be challenging even if you were searching nationwide.

Have you considered buying hatching eggs? I think that's your best bet if you want to time the hatch/age of the ducklings. You would, of course, want to buy around 8-12 hatching eggs to have a shot at hatching a male and female. That's because hatching eggs will typically have a few in the batch that either aren't fertile or don't survive the stress of shipping. I've had great luck with eggs from @Lacrystol , and also from a seller in NY whose name won't come to me right now. I can look him back up if you're interested.

 

[fryburgfarmer]

I agree with @needlessjunk
that you're going to have multiple challenges with this. Calls typically won't be that age at that time of year, many people won't vent sex Calls and don't know what their genders are until they're a couple of months old, many people won't sell Calls at that age, and you're looking at a very narrow geographic range to overcome obstacles that would be challenging even if you were searching nationwide.

Have you considered buying hatching eggs? I think that's your best bet if you want to time the hatch/age of the ducklings. You would, of course, want to buy around 8-12 hatching eggs to have a shot at hatching a male and female. That's because hatching eggs will typically have a few in the batch that either aren't fertile or don't survive the stress of shipping. I've had great luck with eggs from @Lacrystol
, and also from a seller in NY whose name won't come to me right now. I can look him back up if you're interested.

Did you get the eggs sent to you through the mail? I've heard a lot about the age problem so I think I'll have to buy older ducks. I just don't know about the coloration problem. I show at fair and I'm pretty sure they want a uniform pair of a male and female. Yea, that'd be awesome if you could do that though! Thanks!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

Did you get the eggs sent to you through the mail? I've heard a lot about the age problem so I think I'll have to buy older ducks. I just don't know about the coloration problem. I show at fair and I'm pretty sure they want a uniform pair of a male and female. Yea, that'd be awesome if you could do that though! Thanks!

Ah, now I see what you're trying to do. I was wondering what on earth you meant when you said you "need" them by early March. Now I understand.

If you're looking for ducks for show next year, my very strong recommendation is that you buy 2015 ducks now or in the fall. You are likely going to have a very, very hard time finding those kind of hatching eggs at any time of the year, and I don't mean just shipped ones. I wouldn't be able to sell you a hatching egg if you came to my house, and that's because that egg might contain the best duckling I would get all season. Same thing with selling ducklings. You can't tell for sure how a duckling will turn out until it's a couple of months old. Since my hubby and I breed for show, we don't sell any eggs, and we don't sell ducklings. You're going to find that's overwhelmingly the case with people who breed show ducks.

The other advantage to getting 2015 ducks this fall is that the ducks will have already been graded and sexed, and that will give time for them to get to know you, and also for their cage training. You'll open yourself to a nationwide search for what you want since those would most likely be shipped ducks.

How does that sound?

 

[fryburgfarmer]

Ah, now I see what you're trying to do. I was wondering what on earth you meant when you said you "need" them by early March. Now I understand.

If you're looking for ducks for show next year, my very strong recommendation is that you buy 2015 ducks now or in the fall. You are likely going to have a very, very hard time finding those kind of hatching eggs at any time of the year, and I don't mean just shipped ones. I wouldn't be able to sell you a hatching egg if you came to my house, and that's because that egg might contain the best duckling I would get all season. Same thing with selling ducklings. You can't tell for sure how a duckling will turn out until it's a couple of months old. Since my hubby and I breed for show, we don't sell any eggs, and we don't sell ducklings. You're going to find that's overwhelmingly the case with people who breed show ducks.

The other advantage to getting 2015 ducks this fall is that the ducks will have already been graded and sexed, and that will give time for them to get to know you, and also for their cage training. You'll open yourself to a nationwide search for what you want since those would most likely be shipped ducks.

How does that sound?

That sounds amazing!! I guess I needed a slap of reality. I think older duckling would be more beneficial anyway, being as how they're calmer, sexed, and I don't have to worry about over feeding them and ruining their small size! I'll probably get them late September-October now. I just really need two pairs of similar opposite sexed calls! Thanks for the advice!!

 

[JadeComputerGal]

That sounds amazing!! I guess I needed a slap of reality. I think older duckling would be more beneficial anyway, being as how they're calmer, sexed, and I don't have to worry about over feeding them and ruining their small size! I'll probably get them late September-October now. I just really need two pairs of similar opposite sexed calls! Thanks for the advice!!

I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw something else into the mix. If you want to do this, you need to select your breeder and reserve your ducks now, like today. Most of the best breeders start taking orders in the spring on a first come-first served basis. Since we're already into August, many of the best quality 2015 ducks are already going to be reserved. If you wait until September to start looking, you may have trouble finding anything other than pet quality birds.