Call ducks: Is there a variety known as blue? (pic)

[shelleyd2008]

I got some call ducks yesterday at the auction. They are this year's ducks, so some of them are still duckling-ish. 2 of them are what I would call blue but they are not bibbed. I can't find any description for 'plain' blue call ducks. They have brown on their heads and breasts. They are very dirty, the person I got them from didn't allow them to bathe, so you'll have to excuse their appearance.

 

[Narragansett]

There are solid blue Call ducks, called Self Blue. They are not recognized. Those birds are in very poor condition, or they just may be Silkie Ducks, not Calls. Either way, both Self and Bibbed (Swedish pattern) Blue ducks do not have eye stripes, even as ducklings. I'd need to see photos after they have molted this fall to determine exactly what variety they are, and whether or not they are Silkies. If they are Calls, they are of extremely poor quality/conformation.

 

[Dandelion56]

They just need some nice fresh water to bathe in and they will clean themselves. The bluish ones may be young blue fawns Give them a chance to get themselves cleaned up before you judge their quality.

 

[Narragansett]

There is not enough water in the world to clean those birds enough to change their quality. Their type is obvious from their heads alone that they are not quality specimens of Call ducks.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Well thanks for your input Narragansett, but I wasn't asking about their quality.

I simply wanted to know what color the blue ones were. As to their condition, as I said in my original post, I just got them last night and the person who had them before me didn't give them water to bathe in. He kept them in a small cage and only gave them water in a bowl twice a day.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I think it is possible that those are silkies or silkie crosses. It's hard to imagine duck feathers looking so ragged unless they are coated in some sort of oil.

May I suggest that you let them do some swimming to get cleaned up. It's molting season right now and they are probably molting, which doesn't help their appearance. Once they are cleaned up, give us some more photos.

Between dirt and molting it can be difficult to identify color. My very blue, nicely colored Blue Swedish get a sunburnt, almost rusty tinge to their feathers right before they molt. It looks like sunburn but probably has something to do wit the feather preparing to fall off because they are in strong sun all year round and the only time they are off color is about a week before my yard looks like 50 people had a pillow fight.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I am almost positive that they are not silkie crosses. The person I got these from didn't have the parents, he'd gotten the eggs from someone else, but he has seen the parents and I'm sure he would have noticed if any of them were 'different'.

Their feathers are very dry and they were completely nasty and stinky when I got them. They have a big dish pan to 'swim' in and they are looking better every day.

I've had a few people tell me they looked like blue fawn or blue fawn mixed with something else, so I guess that's probably the closest to what they are.