I am getting call ducks...

[feedstorechick]

They are seasonal layers, late spring to early summer. They are much harder to hatch in the incubator than chickens. The show quality ones especially.

 

[arherp]

Will they lay in winter with a 14hr light cycle?

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
They may but , do not do this it makes them moult early ! are you going to show ? i would say start with what ever Qulty you can find in your area , and what ever colour you can find in your area. rather then haveing eggs shiped or haveing aludt pairs shiped. Also a hint of advice if they want to hatch there own eggs of let them , they often have 95 - 100 % hatch rates when the duck incubats them , if you do it your self 75 % is relly good, on eggs that you collet

 

[arherp]

Do you know why their eggs are so hard to hatch?

And what do you mean "they may" respond to 14hr light cycles?

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
The eggs are so hard to hatch because of there size , and the better the Qulity the harder to hatch.

And what i mean when i say May respond , is they may or may not lay eggs. But i do not sagget that you put them on 14hr day at any othere time of the year besied when they lay.

 

[arherp]

1.) How does size make them hard to' hatch?
2.) What is wrong with an early moult?

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
Again, depends on the duck. I was told by one well-known duck breeder that he expects 5-6 eggs a week out of his best layers, but then I was told by another to only expect 25-50 eggs per hen per season. I actually got two eggs out of one of my call hens this past month but they were not fertile because this is not the season for drakes to be fertile. Call ducks have limited fertile breeding season, generally speaking, compared to other ducks and there are many sterile individuals out there. I am told that the best show ducks can oftentimes not make good breeders because they have been linebred extensively for their extreme type and turn up sterile. I bought some of the best ducks I could find and am taking the best care I can of them in the hopes they turn up fertile and lay well. I already have one hen that I know of who is eager to lay and the drakes, well, let's just say that if they can't get the job done it won't be for lack of trying, LOL. The minute the sun comes out these ducks are out there jumping on each other!

Call ducks eggs, I am told, are extremely difficult to hatch for many different reasons, so read as much as you can and ask as many questions as you can of as many different call duck people as you can if you are going to try it, so you have a lot of methods in your toolbox to refer back to.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
The eggs are so hard to hatch because of there size , and the better the Qulity the harder to hatch.

And what i mean when i say May respond , is they may or may not lay eggs. But i do not sagget that you put them on 14hr day at any othere time of the year besied when they lay.

The best quality show call ducks have very short round bills, and these bills make it hard to pip their membranes/egg shells. They also sometimes get their bills stuck when pipping the shell, and if someone doesn't see that and push the bill back into the hole, they die.

 

[arherp]

Hmmm.. Ok. Do you suggest I hold off until springtime then?

 

[call ducks]

if you can find ducklings in your area , that's how i would start rather then hatching eggs. But yes wait tell spring