Wondering if this is a good price & set of Calls...

[IHeartCapnHook]

Since I don't know terribly much about Calls (except that I want some!) I was wondering if this is a good set and a good price... Any advice, comments will be GREATLY appreciated!!

Snowy Hen

Snowy Drake

the Breeder says that they are breeder quality 1 1/2 years old. He's asking $80 and shipping will be $50. He says "The kids would do pretty well showing this pair at a show.....the female would be hard to handle if her body was more level to the ground, but you should get some pretty nice ducklings from them."

Please BY Friends...

tell me what you think!!! Anything I should ask before I go further?
Thanks so much!!!

 

[Rosecomb-Ryan]

I dont think thats bad. Snowys are hard to get nice. Those arent perfect but better than most Ive seen. I would do it if I wanted Snowys!

 

[IHeartCapnHook]

There is also a pair of whites for $200. Is that expensive??

 

[1lpoock]

Even for show quality whites, $200 is way too much....check here for call duck standards http://www.callducks.net/standards&photos1.htm

 

[Rosecomb-Ryan]

Quote:
I dont think $200 is too much. If you want show birds you have to pay for show birds. For everyday use yes but show no. At shows what calls go for EASY $100 each and they sell. So NO $200 for a showable pair is not a BAD price. Depends on what you wanna pay who they are from ect ect. I spnt way more than 200 for my East Indies. You get what you pay for IMO.

 

[priss]

Hmm I'm not sure about that drake though. It's only got one leg.

 

[tplummer]

I paid as little as $30 for a snowy pair and $100 for a grey show pair. The ones I paid $30 for have done much better in the shows placing BV 1 and RV 1 and the others 3 and 4 place. Depends on what a judge likes to tell you the truth. We used to show rabbits and saw the same thing. I do have pics on the website. If I can find them, I will post them. Good luck!

 

[duckluck]

The bill is a little long on that drake, IMO, but they seem to have nice color. I am no expert on snowy calls, though. Depends on what you want to do with them...$80 is not too much for BQ, and no, $200 is NOT too much for SQ whites...as long as they truly are show quality. I'd want to be seeing some nice birds myself at that price, but the idea of price range I have in my head of what true SQ birds should sell for is $100-$300 apiece. I'm not saying that is how much I would personally spend, but that is the price range I have been told we should expect to see.

You have to bear in mind also that if you have some good quality line-bred birds from a reputable breeder, you should be able to expect some SQ ducklings from them...maybe 3 out of 10 ducklings? Few breeders will sell their top shelf stuff unless they are really overrun with birds, need the money or need to rotate stock out because of age or production record. Questions you should be asking on any purchase are: how old are the ducks? what is their breeding history? what is their showing record? A few unscrupulous folks out there will sell show birds who, yes, show very well but are sterile or have never laid a hard-shelled egg in their lives. Sterility can be a problem with really good show quality calls, and so can pipping the shells because of the rounded beaks.

Personally, I'd like to see a registry for these ducks because they are so high priced...right now we're all sort of running on sellers' say-so as to what is what with birds we are buying. I think pedigees and registered leg bands could help this. Some of these ducks sell for as much as purebred dogs and there is no real way established to track them or their records/progeny.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

actually the bill is not too long on the snowy drake. It is half the length of his head. I am a little bias because they are my ducks though....they also sold already so they are no longer available. The body is worth more points than bill length...actually bill length is the last thing I look at in a good call duck...bill width is much more important in a breeder call duck than length..I mean dont get me wrong a short bill will make the head look bigger but, there are alot more things to look at on a good call duck.

They are small typey ducks with decent bills....that is not easy to accomplish for snowys, snowys tend to be bigger and less typey than the whites or grays...so it is much easier to win a class of 7-8 snowys at a show that cost $30 as opposed to a class of 50-60 grays...a $100 pair of grays is probably not going to place at a show, your looking at $150 to $200 for a good gray that can place at a big show.

To give everyone an idea on what high end show quality ducks go for we have paid $300 for one duck before, so $200 for a show quality pair is very reasonable. Out of every 10 ducklings we usually get 3-4 that grow out to be show quality....unfortunately the show quality ducklings are not the strongest and we loose 1/2 of them as they are growing out. This is one reason they are so expensive. Honestly we cant keep enough call ducks hatched to meet demand for them, so we really dont get our feelings hurt if someone thinks they are too expensive to buy..there are always three people behind you on the list that wants them. Showing calls is pretty deep water and it takes years to breed your own line of calls that can place or win in a show, that is why they are so expensive and why most breeders dont want to sell ducklings from their show lines.

 

[momof247371]

I personally would not pay that much for either pair. But it depends on how bad you want them and if you can afford them