Thinking about getting Call ducks

[Quacking Pigeon]

Ive been thinking about getting some call ducks recently, although I’ve wanted to get some for years. There are some ducklings for sale at the moment as it’s still spring, the ducklings are from two different sellers. There are also some adults for sale from one seller.

Thing is I would like to get some show quality ones. Our standard here doesn’t really ask for a certain bill size I’m pretty sure, as you can get normal billed (common) to small billed (hard to find) call ducks.

One problem is that I don’t really have any more room for new ducks at the moment, although I could put them with the mallards for the time being.

What do you think?

 

[happy duck]

I would get them! If you feel that they will fit in your flock of course. I really want calls so if it was my decision I would get them.

 

[LlamaGirl4]

I would love to have call ducks so I would get them. Of course if you have all the right supplies and money and like @happy duck said make sure they fit your flock

 

[MillersFarm]

I see no problem with housing them in the same pen with your mallards, My calls co-exist just fine with my standard ducks.. They sleep in the same coop and tend to stick together in one big group when free ranging as well.

 

[Upper Brook House Farm]

Ive been thinking about getting some call ducks recently, although I’ve wanted to get some for years. There are some ducklings for sale at the moment as it’s still spring, the ducklings are from two different sellers. There are also some adults for sale from one seller.

Thing is I would like to get some show quality ones. Our standard here doesn’t really ask for a certain bill size I’m pretty sure, as you can get normal billed (common) to small billed (hard to find) call ducks.

One problem is that I don’t really have any more room for new ducks at the moment, although I could put them with the mallards for the time being.

What do you think?

Hi,

I’m one of the best call duck breeders in the U.K., and I certainly recommend them! We keep whites, abacots (Americans call them snowy) and silvers (Americans call them spotty.) All of our calls are exhibition.

If you’re wanting show calls you should look for a beak under 3.9cm (preferably under 3.2), a strong head and of course a chubby body. Whites shouldn’t have ANY black feathering and now black spots on the beak. Silvers should have grey graining on the head, and grey graining on the upper breast. The lower breast should be white.

Abacots should have grey graining on the head (like the silvers) and have fawn-apricot colouring on the breast.

I would recommend going for whites if you are a first-time call keeper, as they are much easier to find. Silvers and abacots are notoriously hard to breed and find good examples of. Exhibition whites normally sell for around £200-250 a pair, abacots sell for £200-300 a pair and silvers sell for £250-350 a pair.

Hope this helps and if you have any more questions, please ask!
A photo of one of our whites and one of our abacots is enclosed.


James

 

[Quacking Pigeon]

View attachment 1584437 View attachment 1584438 View attachment 1584439 View attachment 1584437
Hi,

I’m one of the best call duck breeders in the U.K., and I certainly recommend them! We keep whites, abacots (Americans call them snowy) and silvers (Americans call them spotty.) All of our calls are exhibition.

If you’re wanting show calls you should look for a beak under 3.9cm (preferably under 3.2), a strong head and of course a chubby body. Whites shouldn’t have ANY black feathering and now black spots on the beak. Silvers should have grey graining on the head, and grey graining on the upper breast. The lower breast should be white.

Abacots should have grey graining on the head (like the silvers) and have fawn-apricot colouring on the breast.

I would recommend going for whites if you are a first-time call keeper, as they are much easier to find. Silvers and abacots are notoriously hard to breed and find good examples of. Exhibition whites normally sell for around £200-250 a pair, abacots sell for £200-300 a pair and silvers sell for £250-350 a pair.

Hope this helps and if you have any more questions, please ask!
A photo of one of our whites and one of our abacots is enclosed.


James

Very beautiful birds. I’m just reading our standard here for our Australian Calls, it asks for a bill size no longer than 3.75cm. And I recon it’s going to be difficult to find calls with a bill size like that here. Even in shows the calls don’t have incredibly small bills, they are usually a few centimetres shorter than the mallards.

Also white may not be the best colour for me, as my white birds get stained very easily. I was going to show some of my white muscovies but they were stained, as well as my white mallard duck.

Also I’ve just had a look at all the call colour standards, we have:
-Apricot Mallard
-Apricot Silver
-Bibbed
-Blue Mallard (formally Blue Fawn)
-Blue Silver
-Dusky Mallard
-Magpie
-Mallard Coloured (formally Brown)
-Pied Mallard
-Silver
-White

And the weights are:
Male 680g-1.1kg
Female 510g-900g

Scale of points:
Carriage 10
Head, bill and neck 20
Body 20
Legs and feet 5
Condition 10
Colour 20
Size 15

 

[MillersFarm]

Pied, white, and apricot sell best around here.. Even my black calls will go pretty fast.
But I would try and stick to breeding lighter colors.. I can sell extra for my whites, pastel, snowy, and pencileds(pied) You wont get much for mallard color unless they're show quality. I tried selling a pair of show quality mallard colored calls for $60 but no one seemed interested in them, The hen was pretty good quality too.

 

[Upper Brook House Farm]

Pied, white, and apricot sell best around here.. Even my black calls will go pretty fast.View attachment 1584696
But I would try and stick to breeding lighter colors.. I can sell extra for my whites, pastel, snowy, and pencileds(pied) You wont get much for mallard color unless they're show quality. I tried selling a pair of show quality mallard colored calls for $60 but no one seemed interested in them, The hen was pretty good quality too.
View attachment 1584710

Oh, elite exhibition mallards sell for as much as whites over here, £500 a pair.

 

[MillersFarm]

Oh, elite exhibition mallards sell for as much as whites over here, £500 a pair.

That's about $650 for us, Never seen a call pair go for that much, Although they're very common and easy to find here in the US.

 

[Upper Brook House Farm]

What do you think of our silver? This one is the mum to our duck, the best silver in the country. Our pair cost £400.

Australia will have slightly different standards to the U.K.

I would probably go to one of the shows and then meet one of the breeders and ask to buy some.