Call Duck

[Going Quackers]

Oh my goodness, i LOVE all my ducks..but there is no way i'd live with them in the house full time. whew..when i hatch them I keep them in the house on my sunporch in a pen until they get big enough, then they move during the day to an outside pen and back in at night till they're fully feathered..then they free range. I went out of town overnight and had my daughter watch them, well they got out of the pen for just a couple hours on the back porch and the mess was ridiculous!! granted there were 5 of them..but wow..the smell and the mess..i had to bleach the floor..sweep, mop..just no way..and even with diapers..i know some people do it..but I like my ducks to be ducks..thats why i love them..to watch them outside, and interacting with each other is amazing.

I think 5 would be beyond "house" lol I have the 2 calls in the house, their just 3wks old... they get out in the house.. penned! and they are ok, they are super small, i mean a 3wk 'scovie would be a nightmare in my house but these guys aren't much worse than a rabbit...

Not that they are house ducks! they think they are, sadly they are a touch imprinted i think.... sigh... i am hoping they'll chill as they age out.

 

[Erki]

Hmmm .. still trying to figure out if Erki is a male or female. The feathers are really starting to come in great. The breast is a dark butterscotch color and the belly area is very pale creamy white.. but the wings and on the tail are like a greyish purple . The head is going to be a butterscotch color like the breast area .
What does it sound like to you folks ? Male .. female doesn't matter to us.. we are just curious as to the sex and what you consider the color to be ? Thank you

 

[Erki]

This is what we think Erki is going to look like . I'm hoping..so beautiful. I think his or her color will be more like the one in the back.. I'm assuming thats a male ?

 

[minihorse927]

The main downfall i see to this if it is a house pet other than the mess is the noise if it's a hen. Call ducks are called call ducks for a reason and that reason is they are LOUD! My show hen can be heard 1.5 miles from the house when she is excited or irritated.

. I'm not trying to discourage, just want to make sure you're fully aware of what you're getting into. Heck, I've had house pekin ducks for periods of times! Ducks are awesome and I love my calls the most (don't tell the others) but no way they are coming in if they are going to scream their little ducky heads off as loud as possible. If I had some quiet hens I would let them in the house, but that probably would end in divorce...lol

 

[minihorse927]

Those are both females in that pic. This are pastels, which is what I believe yours is. I'll be back with a drake pastel pic.

 

[minihorse927]

 

[Going Quackers]

Hmmm .. still trying to figure out if Erki is a male or female. The feathers are really starting to come in great. The breast is a dark butterscotch color and the belly area is very pale creamy white.. but the wings and on the tail are like a greyish purple . The head is going to be a butterscotch color like the breast area .
What does it sound like to you folks ? Male .. female doesn't matter to us.. we are just curious as to the sex and what you consider the color to be ? Thank you

How old is it? shouldn't you be hearing distinct voice differences by about 5wks or so? Mine are only 3wks + so while noises are a bit differing not enough for me to say, boy/girl lol

 

[Going Quackers]

. I'm not trying to discourage, just want to make sure you're fully aware of what you're getting into. Heck, I've had house pekin ducks for periods of times! Ducks are awesome and I love my calls the most (don't tell the others) but no way they are coming in if they are going to scream their little ducky heads off as loud as possible. If I had some quiet hens I would let them in the house, but that probably would end in divorce...lol

I'll echo the loud part! mine are just little and man, are they LOUD you can hear them standing outside the house. fortunately, i have a macaw so noise is hardly at a low level here anyways, but i cannot imagine that going off in a more residential area, we're rural so it makes no difference.

 

[Zombified]

1.5 miles? good grief, i admit no clue on what my pair are but they are LOUD mind you they compete against a macaw lol so their still less noisy but their giving her a run for her decibel level.

A Macaw AND Call Ducks?! Good grief! One of the reasons I decided to forgo the idea of getting a Call for Pyrrhos's companion was because of the warnings against the noise. I love noise and stuff, since my dog is so freaking quiet(it gets lonely, having only South Park in the background lolol), but Mallards are enough for me! If I get a little bit irked whenever Pyrrhos screams at me for leaving her(even though I admit it's also adorable) I can't even begin to imagine what I'd feel with a Call Duck AND a Macaw lol! My dad had a young African Grey that liked to scream and yell, too(she flew away, sadly </3).

Anyways, I don't really have anything to add to this conversation, as I have zero experience with Calls other than things I've read. I just find it amazing and pretty admirable that someone can live with a Macaw and really loud ducks. XD


EDIT:
I do want to say, though, those ducklings are SO cute! And those pastels are absolutely beautiful - female AND male!

 

[Diamond88]

A Macaw AND Call Ducks?! Good grief!

Ha, yep, that made me laugh! You must have quite a tolerance for noise!

The other day, my boyfriend was out late at night while I was at home listening to music with my female call duck. When he came back home, he said to me, "I really loved how, even from far away, I could hear the duck squawking and you singing, as I approached the house." So, that was a slightly embarrassing moment for both of us.

If you don't mind the noise, keeping a call duck inside can be very fun and rewarding. Just be prepared to get woken up early sometimes and have to take phone calls outside.