Call ducks

[L&Schickens]

After Loren's big wins at the show this past weekend, the lady who won best call duck wanted to give Loren some out of her line to show. I have never had calls, but my son is just crazy about them and has wanted them since he was 3 (He is now 5)
So, are calls hard to raise? Hard to hatch? Are they good flyers? Do they tame down easily?

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Calls are easy to raise in my opinion. The only thing is for the first 2-3 weeks you will need to grind the food up in a processer as they have teany tiny beaks. They are very hard to hatch. If you get a 50% hatch rate on calls you are extremely lucky. Often they need to be helped out of the egg as there heads are so round, and their beaks so tiny, that they cant zip the egg. Calls are very good fliers, so you will need to keep them in an enclosed pen. I used to let my calls out of their pen so they could fly down to the pond and swim, but then one day the were gone, probably because hawks kept trying to get them so they flew away.
Calls are very tame ducks. I had a call that when I would run, he would fly after me. He would follow me around the whole yard.

 

[jubylives]

I actually enjoy my five calls more then my chickens as they are more entertaining to watch. I keep the wings clipped on them to keep them from going to far but they can still seem to get off the ground some. The run I have them in only has an 18" fence and they have no interest in leaving. A few months ago I put them in a temporary fence as I was doing some work on the duck house and all they wanted was to get back to their area. When I opened the fence up they bolted for their home. Very funny to watch.

The only bad side is that they are extremely addicting. I don't actively look for them but I know if I found some I'd have a hard time not buying them.

jeremy

 

[L&Schickens]

Well, I am getting an off color pair. They are butterscotch colored. I don't know how well they will do in a show due to that, but the owner is trying to get this color recognized. So I am looking for a typical white to show also so my son will have something that won't get disqualified due to color.

 

[feathersgalore]

I agree with the advise given above. Enjoy your calls!

 

[turbo]

Actually Butterscotch Calls are in the standard and already recognized...and if you are talking about Donna Street, you should take them. Donna got her Butters from Brice Wonders and they are very, very good.

Jerry