Quote:
One pair came from
duckluck, and the other pair came from the Lund Family:
http://www.lundpoultry.com/ They're here on BYC, but I can't remember their user-name. Both pairs are 2010 hatched.
The drake from the Lunds is a little on the large side, but he's built like a tank - he's so wide, so I'm excited to have him in my flock. There's a quote on Brice Wonders' website:
And from that I learned, what I think is the most important aspect to keep in mind when selecting birds for breeding ..... WIDTH.. wide body, bill and head. It is easy to make a bird smaller through breeding, but VERY hard to make a bird more wide.
I think that if I put him over the cute little female I got from
duckluck, I should get a few really nice show-quality birds from them - of course, I'll get a whole lot of ducklings with really good shape that are just a bit too large like the dad...but I know I'll get those few smaller offspring too.
I have 3 more Call ducklings growing out right now...another Butterscotch, and two Silver Bibbed, all girls (with their Dutch Hookbill "sister"):
http://i982.photobucket.com/albums/ae306/Sweetfolly-Annarie/September232010020.jpg
I'm so glad he had a good ride home and seems to be settling in well! It sounds like he is well on his way to becoming bonded to you!
His dam took Best of Variety out of my 7, which surprised me...she has the longer bill and is the largest of the group. But her color and feather quality is perfect which goes to show that you just never know how the chips can fall at the shows. My drake is the best quality of the older black birds but he really needs to molt badly. "Whitey", my white drakelet who will now be known as "Pillow" (he really needed a better name anyway) was Best of Breed and Reserve Champion Bantam duck...I think there were 104 Calls and 137-140 bantam ducks. So we did really well all the way around...you could have knocked me down with a feather when I saw Pillow's coop card!
A very enjoyable weekend all the way around!