calls question...?

[dwhite]

I wish I could get a good answer on why some calls fly and some don't, if all calls flew then a breeder close to me wouldn't have lost quite a few when a dog jumped in her yard and started chasing and killing them.

Mine don't fly when our dog runs after them, or I mow the yard nothing, they just run.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

REAL call ducks always fly, they are famous for it. Not sure if you have mix breeds, pinioned or wing clipped birds, or if these things just happened while they were in molt.
But yes all call ducks can and do fly. If yours dont, there's something wrong with them,they are content and choose not to fly, or they arent call ducks.
Never in my 36 years seen one that wouldnt if need be. The lawn mower reference was just a reference, doesnt mean they will always fly from one, mine hardly ever do unless they are bedded in tall grass and it sneaks up on them.
The ones in the pen may not have had enough room to get up to flight before the dog got them, not sure on that. Mind can fly straight over a 6 foot fence standing at the bottom of it though, just a squat , jump and they are gone.

Are yours super fat? If they are over weight, they obviously wont fly as well. But in short a flightless call duck isnt a call duck.
Kinda like saying and eagle cant soar.

As fars as getting caught, well that just happens, a persistant dog or predator will eventually get them if they dont just leave the property. They have been domesticated for so long, their natural get gone from here insticts have left them. Where a wild duck would just take off and go, they will just get up, fly til they THINK they are good and land again, often getting caught because they didnt know any better.

But yes, any time you feel one just is flat out flightless, grab it up and toss it in the air and see what it does....ALL bantam ducks except silkie ducks, can fly IF THEY CHOOSE to.

Just because you havent personally seen them do it, doesnt mean they dont have the ability.
I've never seen a skunk spray something, yet I see 2-3 on the farm every day...but I know they can do it.

 

[dwhite]

Until I found this site every call duck person I talked to said no need to keep them covered as they won't fly.

Mine are call ducks, if not there are some high profile people selling mixed as calls.

The breeder that lost hers had them in about an acre field with about a 5 foot fence, hers came from a high profile breeder as well.

I have a few I know are a bit big in the body (butterscotch) compared to the perfect show call, but the others are either from birds that have been shown on the west coast and done quite well or have been shown and done well.

I will test the toss method to see what happens.

I know what you mean by just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen, maybe calls are just less inclined to fly since few people out by me keep them in covered pens.

I did earlier this year get to see a standard BLRW hen flap her wings and go 5 feet up in the air before I grabbed her so she didn't go over the neighbors fence.

 

[AliciaM]

My girls have there wings clipped because I caught them flying over the fence.. Once they were on the other side, they were perfectly happy to waddle around.. And my young boys arent clipped.. yet... they have flown a bit, but havent gotten any altitude.... I think its just because the rest of the flock is still on the ground doing there ducky thing..

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

yep dwhite,
that could be part of it, if they are out of show lines, they are so use to people handling them and being around folks generation after generation that they just completely loose the desire or need to feel to do it. Also like all birds, they have to exercise the muscles to do it well. If they have never been flyers, their muscles are most likely under developed in the wing and flight for them would most likely take some effort.

We as people often alter animals to suit our needs threw generations of breeding and selecting for what we want.
as a call duck or any bantam duck, they in the end still have the ability of flight unlike their 8-10 counterparts, but in the calls, they have been spoiled for so long that it is possible for them to just totally decide not to fly, even in high risk situations if they have never know they have the ability, after all to a degree, it does have to be taught to them threw trial and error. So if they made it to adulthood and have never tried it, most likely they just feel they cant.

So often, these PRO breeders keep all theirs in tiny cages for show conditioning, well in there ,there is no way to fly obviously, so I feel in some, the ability is still there, but their instinct to do it is being bred out of them. If that makes sense?

Think it all boils down to how there were raised. Pen or cage raised, less likely, mother or free ranged raised, very likely.

I do have some show line calls here that very seldom try it. Then I have some aussie spots that were free ranged raised by their mother. They'll bed up in the high grass around the edges of the yard, if you walk up on them and dont see them, spook them and such, they squat jump and fly off like a covey of quail.

So line and brooding conditions I feel may play a large part in why some fly all the time and why some choose not to.

 

[pheasant24]

well my avairy is covered because i also have mandarins in there and they are really good flyers.
so if the decide to be flyers then I'm good with that!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

yep, they'll be good there, I personally wouldnt keep any uncovered unless they were just pet quality yard ones. Any of the good breeders will be in fully covered pens for me. Safe than sorry.


Now those mandarins are a whole nother story. Calls dont mix too well in a pen with wild ducks, they'll bare watching come next breeding season.
All the domestic breeds are sex hogs, they'll often bully your male mandarins to the point they will never get to breed, and usually mix with ALL migratory style waterfowl, though I have never seen a mandarin sucessfully mix with anything, you'll just end up with sterile eggs.

Also they can just out right get aggressive toward them at times during breeding season and have seen them kill other species of waterfowl.
They are also food hogs too, so do watch the mixing of domestics with migratorys, usually donesnt end too well for the migratory species.
Just be careful with that, would hate for a call to kill something that pretty

 

[bemba]

Here is a pic of 2 of my call x bantam appleyard flying to the lake.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

they definitely dont have a problem with it do they.
Beautiful place by the way.

 

[pheasant24]

Quote:
ohhh...ok well I'll sparate them as soon as I get my other pond in. as far as breeding calls, is it hard? will they set on their own eggs?