Da' Cute and Cuddly Call Duck thread!

[duckmeister]

I need some help. I got my first call duck (yay!!!) a few weeks back, and now he's been out of quarantine since Friday. Obviously he was kept far away from my mixed flock during quarantine, and they couldn't see him. For the past few days, they've kind of been able to see him (he was in a raised enclosure), and today, I let him out under close supervision. Four birds - my pekin female, my runner / abacot drake, my runner / cayuga female, and a small easter egger, didn't hardly notice him and were fine with his presence. However, my Sebastopol (the "alpha duck" - she *really* thinks she's a duck) and my small unknown breed chicken (the alpha hen), wanted to chase him around and nip at him. He's so tiny that I couldn't stand to watch him get picked on and I freaked out and picked him up and put him away. Now he's in a small wire enclosure on the ground, right beside their pool, where everyone can investigate him. How should I go about introducing him to everyone (3 ducks, one Sebastopol, two chickens)? Here he is... he's about 6 months old. He's a little smaller than a pigeon. His name is Jabba

He's a handsome little fellow! The other birds are so much bigger than him, hopefully they will accept him and not hurt him, be needs a little call duck wife the same size he is.

 

[sryglet]

He's a handsome little fellow! The other birds are so much bigger than him, hopefully they will accept him and not hurt him, be needs a little call duck wife the same size he is.

Thank you.. he's going to be very spoiled We hope to get into showing at some point. We actually got him from a connection at a local show, and I have no understanding of color standards / genetics, and didn't want another white, or else I would have gotten a female when I got him!
Luckily, the second time I let him out today (while standing no more than five feet away, haha) the other ducks let him follow the flock and eat with them, and the Sebastopol eyed him suspiciously but didn't act aggressively. The one chicken still hates him... but she'll have to get over it.

I'm trying so hard to find information about color genetics in these guys, but I can't hardly find anything at all! Every site with anything about color standards or genetics doesn't work

I can't even find the showable colors and their standards..

 

[sryglet]

So, does anyone know what colors are considered showable in the U.S.? Can you show crested or pied calls here? What colors can you pair with white if you want to end up with some show quality offspring? I seriously can't find any information anywhere!!!
I want to find the perfect hen for him before it gets too cold

 

[buff goose guy]

Okay well if I were you I would not get into crested ducks it's pretty awful what happens to some of them and very crusum . Yes pied can be shown so can magpie , bibbed, black , blue , chocolate , buff , pastel , blue fawn, grey pattern , snowy , white , butterscotch , I think Ancona can be shown im not 100% sure , I did attend one show when I was a lot younger and there were yellow bellied call ducks there but only 2 and owned by the same person so they are extremely rare but can be shown here in the USA and I'm sure I'm missing some but those are the ones I know of for sure .

Keep in mind that white is a recessive gene and will probably not show up if you breed with anything other than white for a few generations , amykins is good with colors and so is lacrystol jade could probably help too I'm sure they can help more

 

[sryglet]

Okay well if I were you I would not get into crested ducks it's pretty awful what happens to some of them and very crusum . Yes pied can be shown so can magpie , bibbed, black , blue , chocolate , buff , pastel , blue fawn, grey pattern , snowy , white , butterscotch , I think Ancona can be shown im not 100% sure , I did attend one show when I was a lot younger and there were yellow bellied call ducks there but only 2 and owned by the same person so they are extremely rare but can be shown here in the USA and I'm sure I'm missing some but those are the ones I know of for sure .

Keep in mind that white is a recessive gene and will probably not show up if you breed with anything other than white for a few generations , amykins is good with colors and so is lacrystol I'm sure they can help more

Oh gosh I had no idea... now I'm afraid to ask... what happens to them?

If I get any of those colors, will some of them turn out show quality if bred to a white drake? Or will they all end up fake pied, ruddy, diluted, etc? I've heard that bibbed happens a lot when a color is bred to white. The colors that I'm especially interested in are ancona, bibbed, snowy, blue, and buff.

 

[buff goose guy]

Crested ducks have no skull bone on top of their heads wherever the crest is . It's just tissue that covers up the hole and keeps all the organs still in the duck . Usually 25% of the babies are born with out the tissue or skull and they will be able to be alive in the shell and everything is fine and then as soon as there heads are in the airsac the organs in the head fall out and the baby dies as soon as it is ready to start life it's an awful thing to see and I've seen it happen first hand when I used to have crested rouens . I stopped breeding them as soon as I found this out but it was just a terrible experience I don't wish any duckling or person to have to go through

 

[duckmeister]

Oh gosh I had no idea... now I'm afraid to ask... what happens to them? 

If I get any of those colors, will some of them turn out show quality if bred to a white drake? Or will they all end up fake pied, ruddy, diluted, etc? I've heard that bibbed happens a lot when a color is bred to white. The colors that I'm especially interested in are ancona, bibbed, snowy, blue, and buff. 

My white call drake mated to a gray call hen, ended up with white, bibbed and gray call babies, you never know what you'r going to get. Your little fellow looks show quality to me, that is very difficult to duplicate show quality, best way is to get some breeder/show quality gray, pied or bibbed hen for him to get offspring
as nice as your white drake.

 

[JadeComputerGal]

So, does anyone know what colors are considered showable in the U.S.? Can you show crested or pied calls here? What colors can you pair with white if you want to end up with some show quality offspring? I seriously can't find any information anywhere!!!
I want to find the perfect hen for him before it gets too cold

Complex question, but I'll do the best I can as briefly as I can...

You can show any duck, some just aren't standardized. The current standardized varieties are black & white magpie, blue bibbed, blue fawn, buff, butterscotch, chocolate, gray, khaki, pastel, snowy, spot and white. It is very, very difficult to win or even place in the top 3 in any show other than perhaps one at a regional fair if you're entering a white. Whites and grays are the most common and popular colors, and you'd typically need an Art Lundgren or Charlie Hodum type of duck to win in those varieties. That's not to discourage you, just to set expectations. It takes a very, very typey duck to win those.

If you're at all interested in showing, I can't recommend mixing varieties with a white. You will never get the, for lack of a better term, pollution out of your bloodline.

I have white Calls for sale, but they aren't SQ, which is why I'm selling these particular ones. Art is going to have some in the next 3 weeks or so, but I can't remember if there are any whites in those. I can check with him if you like.

As Buff said, I'd stay away from crested ducks of any breed. Some people love them, and that's okay, but the crest is caused by a genetic defect that can lead to many health problems. Not always, and not in all crested ducks, but it's something I don't want to have to worry about.

 

[sryglet]

Crested ducks have no skull bone on top of their heads wherever the crest is . It's just tissue that covers up the hole and keeps all the organs still in the duck . Usually 25% of the babies are born with out the tissue or skull and they will be able to be alive in the shell and everything is fine and then as soon as there heads are in the airsac the organs in the head fall out and the baby dies as soon as it is ready to start life it's an awful thing to see and I've seen it happen first hand when I used to have crested rouens . I stopped breeding them as soon as I found this out but it was just a terrible experience I don't wish any duckling or person to have to go through

Jesus. That's horrible.

 

[sryglet]

Complex question, but I'll do the best I can as briefly as I can...

You can show any duck, some just aren't standardized. The current standardized varieties are black & white magpie, blue bibbed, blue fawn, buff, butterscotch, chocolate, gray, khaki, pastel, snowy, spot and white. It is very, very difficult to win or even place in the top 3 in any show other than perhaps one at a regional fair if you're entering a white. Whites and grays are the most common and popular colors, and you'd typically need an Art Lundgren or Charlie Hodum type of duck to win in those varieties. That's not to discourage you, just to set expectations. It takes a very, very typey duck to win those.

If you're at all interested in showing, I can't recommend mixing varieties with a white. You will never get the, for lack of a better term, pollution out of your bloodline.

I have white Calls for sale, but they aren't SQ, which is why I'm selling these particular ones. Art is going to have some in the next 3 weeks or so, but I can't remember if there are any whites in those. I can check with him if you like.

As Buff said, I'd stay away from crested ducks of any breed. Some people love them, and that's okay, but the crest is caused by a genetic defect that can lead to many health problems. Not always, and not in all crested ducks, but it's something I don't want to have to worry about.

Where is Art located? I'm not particularly interested in shipping a call simply because of the cost and stress to the bird....... although... my birthday is coming up... and I'm pregnant

I'm not particularly worried about winning a show - yet I'm more into the experience and meeting other duck enthusiasts! I grew up breeding and showing rabbits and I miss the whole showing experience.
Can a non-standardized color still win, place, or not be DQ'ed in a show? I'm not too concerned about pollution in the bloodline as long as some of the offspring are show quality - I suspect I shouldn't have too much of a problem finding pet homes for unshowable calls, because they're freaking adorable!
Any colors to completely avoid mixing with white? At this point I'm now leaning toward blue bibbed, snowy, butterscotch, and spot.