East Indies

[Omniskies]

We've had larger ducks but we're now looking at raising something smaller. Call ducks were the first choice, but we were afraid they would happily attract preditors with their, well, calling.

Because of this we settled on the East Indies. We've heard that they're broody and are like having miniature Cayuga ducks.

Is there anything special about the breed we need to know about?

Also, does anyone have any pictures of the ducks, eggs or ducklings?

 

[DuckLady]

Here is good info on the East Indies. They certainly are a beautiful duck!

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BkEast/BRKEastIndies.html

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

^There are 2 east indies and a snowy call duck.
One of the east indies died when they were babies, now the east indie and the snowy call live together and I'm pretty sure that the east indie is a girl and I know for sure that the snowy call duck is a male.

^Here's my full grown east indie when I was holding her. She a cutie pie.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

East Indie females can still be kind of loud. Not sure if they are AS loud as call duck females, but most female ducks of all breeds are loud, except for muscovies.

Nothing real special about their care. My guys free range most days and usually sleep outside, even though they have a nice cozy coop to go into. I have yet to breed my pair, but I hope to this year.

Not the greatest pictures, but this is my pair. They are not SQ, but they are still pretty small.

One with my D'Uccle banty:

Definitely fun little ducks to have!

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

· What have we learned about Black East Indies

A very distinctive feature of the Black East Indies is the iridescent green sheen in their black feathers. The flashing iridescent color really shows up in the sunshine. Its feathers are very soft to the touch. Indies are Bantam ducks weighing about 2.5 pounds as adults they are approximately the same size as the Call ducks. Their legs and neck are a little bit longer and its body shape is a little more streamlined. They remind me of the much larger Cayuga Duck. There should be no brown or purple in the plumage of an Indie duck. White can develop in some of the older ducks especially the females. This is considered a disqualification in show birds but most people show their younger stock anyway. Their legs, feet and bills should be black and as with the Calls their legs should be placed so that the duck stands level. BEI females have a loud quack but not quite as loud as the Calls. We love having these birds as pets and I am sure you will to if you decide to get some. There are advantages to having bantam ducks, ie: small ducks, small mess, big ducks, big mess. Another comparison is to the size of a Cayuga that averages 8 pounds. That means you can have three BEI for the same amount of food consumption and housing space. You do not need a large pond for them to be happy. A small plastic kids pool or one of the small plastic ponds from a garden center works well. Our ducks love them!

 

[Omniskies]

I shouldn't have asked for pictures. Now it's going to be even harder to wait three weeks for mine to arrive. I may have to add a couple more to the order...

Thanks for all the pictures and information. They definitely have more of a "large duck" body type. I had to stare at the picture of the two Indies standing next to the bantam for a few seconds while my brain processed how little these guys actually are.

Is there a particular season that Indies lay in or are they year-round layers? Does anyone know roughly how many eggs they'll lay in a year? Mine are end-of-March babies, so will I be waiting until next spring before they lay any eggs?

I've heard Indies are broody so we may let ours hatch out their own ducklings when they're old enough.

Getting through the next three weeks is going to be as bad as waiting for a clutch to hatch out of the incubator

 

[dccdmom]

I haven't had any other types of ducks, but my East Indies aren't very loud at all, at least not compared to my hens. The ones I got were hatched in July 2007 and started laying a few weeks ago. They definitely get broody. My female is currently sitting on a beautiful nest of 13 or 14 eggs. I wasn't planning on letting her keep that many, but the drake started coming after me every time I went into the cage after I took the first few eggs. As soon as Daisy started actually sitting on the nest Donald turned back into a little sweetie again. If anyone in WA wants any babies in about a month let me know, if all goes well I'll have extras.

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

Hi dccdmom - I think that is to many eggs. you should take some away. I had a duck sitting on to many and she could not cover them all enough and they all began to develope but as time went on the ones on the out side edge would chill to much and die.
I say candle and get ride of the bad ones..

My birds do best with a max of 9 eggs

 

[Carole AM]

I love these pix! I have one small drake, and he is the cutest thing! I bought what they told me is a female at a swap, but now I think its a bigger male. It has the curly tail feathers, but is quite a bit bigger than the EI. I was hoping I'd have a pair!

Heres some pictures: