Standard Call Ducks:
Here at Spaniorum Waterfowl we keep, breed and show the following colours of Call Ducks;
- White
- Silver
- Bibbed (Lavender, Blue and Black)
- Mallard
- Blue Fawn
- Apricot
I keep a few of the non standard calls as a project. These include Yellow Belly, Butterscotch and Appleyard Calls.
Calls are perhaps the most delightful of all the domestic breeds of waterfowl. They are also the smallest weighing a mere 1-1 1/4 lbs. They were originally from Holland. Calls are easily tamed and make great pets. They lay roughly 50 medium sized eggs that vary in colour but are mainly blue - green tinged.
They can be kept in groups, pairs and trios. Unlike chickens 2 males will happily live together with out a female. This is particularly beneficial if you have close neighbours as the female call can live up to her name and be noisey.
The ducks make good mothers if left to their own devices and will readily go broody from March onwards. She will happily hatch and rear her young to maturity.
White Call Ducks:
Both sexes should be pure white with bright orange bills and legs.
Silver Call Ducks:
The ducks of this colour are perhaps one of my favourite colours. They are a creamy/white base colour with a dusting as the picture below shows. The drakes have the characteristic iridescent green head colouring of the male Mallard but with claret along his upper flanks.
Bibbed Call Ducks:
Bibbed Calls are a favourite of mine due to the challenge of breeding a bird with both type and colour. They come in Lavender, Blue and Black. Colour should be as even as possible over the body except for a white bib on their chests and 2 outer white flight feathers. The latter being the hard to achieve part of breeding a good bird.
Mallard Call Ducks:
Mallard Calls should mimic wild Mallards for colour. The drake has an iridescent green head, white collar, rich claret chest and a light grey flank region with dark grey strippling. The ducks are a warm brown colour with each feather having a central dark brown area as shown well on the duck below. She has eye stripes and a plain brown throat not much lighter then her base colour.
Blue Fawn Call Ducks:
Part of the Mallard Call range. It is considered to be a Mallard pattern carrying a single blue gene. They will breed you Mallard:Blue Fawn:Apricot at a ratio of 25:50:25. This to me is an added bonus as Its always an excitement to eagerly await the hatch of a batch of calls and not no what to expect, but be able to say that the resulting offspring are pure for colour. The pattern is similar to Mallard Calls but the drakes head is now a charcoal blue and a hint of blue to his body colour. The duck colour replaces the Mallard Ducks brown with a bluey grey and fawn pattern.
Apricot Call Ducks:
As above the Apricot Calls follow the Mallard patternation. They have a double blue gene as apposed to the Blue Fawn with a single blue gene. They breed true and give 100% Apricot offspring if parents are pure colours. The Drakes head replaces the Mallard colour with a blue/grey tone which is hard to describe so its perhaps best to look at the pictures. The duck is a distinct warm apricot colour which is how the name was derived. She lacks the pencilling of the Mallard and Blue Fawn but makes up for it with her rich tones.
