call ducks-purpose?

[dinahmoe]

i have seen alot of people getting call ducks lately.i recently went to a show and saw alot of them and they are adorable.
my question is ,what are they for?can you eat their eggs?can they free range(we have a pond) or are they just a showy/hobby type duck?
someone told me they are used to call in wild ducks but then what happens to the calls?
thanks for any info.
pictures are great.

 

[easttxchick]

I think most of us have them for show/pet purposes. No way would I eat a Call egg-they are TOO hard to come by!

I don't believe there were ever Calls in the wild-they are a man-made breed and boy are they cute.

 

[chikky]

I have calls just for pets. The smaller size was appealing to me...(and lots of other silly, duckie reasons). We do eat the call eggs - baking, mac. & pot. salads, etc. Mine free-range while I'm home and live in a 20X10 pen the rest of the time. They're out today enjoying the holiday and rooting in the leaves on the ground. They do fly, so I clip wings just for one molt, til they get settled in and know where home is.

I just love them to death!

They are the sunshine of every day, with their sassy little ways. It's always a joy to come home to them and they welcome me with quacking, yelling and screaming when I pull in the drive.

 

[TK Poultry]

calls are definatly a showy/hobby/pet duck. You also have to make sure they are out of the elements in the winter. Mine stay in a barn or garage during the winter. I also bring up any extra roosters who can't go in the community pen, but that is another topic.

Calls are really friendly nice birds. I love mine and can't wait to get more!! I personally wouldn't eat their eggs because they don't lay many. they can free range but I don't know if that is a good idea. During the spring/summer/fall mine live in special breeding hutches with a pool and box.

 

[priss]

I got three calls just as pets. They are very loving and very bossy! In England they are good in a nice warm hut at night in the winter and are happy to have the run of the garden during the day. They are robust little things, but then English winters pale in comparison to full on American winters! My three laid an egg each everyday pretty much from the beginning of Feb right through to mid Sept. With just me and my husband, three eggs a day was way more than we could eat. We ended up giving them to neighbours. They are delicious though!
Okay now just in case you are thinking of NOT getting them. Take a look at Doog and tell me you don't want one lol!!

 

[dinahmoe]

they are adorable.when i saw them at the show i couldn't believe how cute and small they were.i just didn't know what their original purpose was but i see now it was just to make us humans happy.i like to see animals do what they were bred to do and i believe they are happier wether it is hunting dogs or cow horses.if these little guys are happy in pens with a pool and not wanting to fly away all the time,then thats pretty cool.
i definately want to get some but i am going to learn a little more and get their homes ready first, so maybe this spring.
thanks for the info guys.

 

[cat1994]

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[dinahmoe]

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interesting.so when the hunters killed the wild ducks they would retrieve the calls and use them over again?were the made small for that purpose or just happened to be small anyway?i wonder if the calls got traumatize by all the shooting or just got numb after awhile.
so is this why i have read where the calls are very loud?would make sense.
thanks

 

[chikky]

The link below explains how call ducks were used to hunt. I've wondered exactly how it worked back then. Check it out- pretty interesting.


http://www.callducks.net/history.htm

 

[sonew123]

My only 3 call ducks ( all drakes) went MIA yesterday

they never wandered away from home and never missed a role call at night. Ive been driving around all night and today searching..I have numerous ponds around me but they never even went to ours? I love them soo much -they are small and gentle and very sweet-I have 2 whites and ? for the 3rd have no idea but his name is "Muffin". Im praying something spooked them and they flew off not far away and are just a tad confused on how to return

I was looking into getting females for them as we speak...they are 6 months old now-