smallest breed of duck???

[chicken head34]

I was thinking bout getting a little ducky!!!

whats the smallest breed??? and is that breed rare and hard to find?? i dont really know that much about ducks, can a duckling eat chick starter?? thanx!!!!

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Call ducks are the smallest, I believe. They shouldn't be hard to locate. They're very predominate at the poultry shows I've been to.

 

[secretquail]

look up the posts by hottentot teal, he has some super little ducks. Boggy bottom bantams (I think that's right) has some great info too.

 

[Hattiegun]

I have calls. .. these arent the best pics but they are very small ..I have tons of pics but not many that u can really tell how small they are. They are 1 - 2 # these are all i could come up with I got mine from DUCKLUCK ....

Sweet Pea is my tiney tiney one.. she must only be about 1 #

see Omlet in the bottom right hand corner., she is full grown...lol

Ramrod is my biggest and u can just scoop him up in your hand.

 

[HottentotTeal]

Quote:
I don't think the Hottentots are the smallest, but they are pretty close.

I think Call ducks are one of the smallest domestic breeds.

The Hottentots are just barely larger than the white winged doves in my area, and are very quiet, but wild, so i can't really pet them unless i want them running away from me.

There are only a handful of registered breeders for them in the US, but fortunately they only cost a little bit more than your average pair.

I have several pics of them in my thread in my signature. I think a majority of the duck pics are on page 9 and 10, although I will try to post the best ones i have of them in here:

For sizing reference, the white and blue feeding bowls are just regular dog/cat water and water bowls.

The 2 ceramic bowls inside the white bowl in one of the pics are the kind of dishes you would have in a hamster cage. I have to use 2 ceramic bowls, because the tiny ceramic bowl is what i put their food in and will float around in the water dish by itself. So i put it in a slightly larger ceramic bowl to weight it down.

 

[silkydragon]

will calls fly away if you free range them without clipping wings?

 

[Funky Feathers]

Yes.

 

[Hattiegun]

Quote:
Mine free range everyday in a very large area but it does have a chain link fence .. the only time I see them attept flying is when I get there to see them and they have to see who can get to me first which may involve alittle flying... or they fly a few feet sometimes getting out of their pond... they seem to have no interest in flying ?? !!

 

[dieselgrl48]

Ive had 2 different small flock's of call duck's.They can and do fly quite high but mine never flew away.I think they just fancied themselve's because they would show off lol.Mine alway's went back to their sleep area safe at night.Some other type's considered,non domesticated but a lot of people raise them and you can buy them as domesticated like madarin, pintail, wood, need a covered pen or they will be gone in a second.

 

[KansasKid]

Mandarins are a small duck, I love mine, very quiet too (at least mine are)
quick tip on feeding, don't give them regular chick starter. Ducks aren't supposed to have medicated feed. You can go to most (i think) farm stores and get waterfowl starter or gamebird feed.

Your gonna have to look up the beautiful colors of the mandarin drake mine are still to young to have there brilliant plumage but just to show you kinda the size...

wire fence behind him is only 48" tall and if you look close in the background there is a bicycle tire on a pony cart if that helps at all.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/48551_100_2618.jpg