Welcome To Beaver Road Bantams: Call Ducks

                                                                                            2-7-08 still working on my site

 

     For Call varities I raise, click here    

         Current stock for sale

         Wild waterfowl

My history with Calls

 

 

 

When I started with Calls, all I wanted was some ducks for my pond but it didn't take long for me to get hooked. I purchased my first Call (a little white drake) from Art Lungdren and shortly after that started aquiring more Calls from him (Art). While building my foundation stock, I obtained Calls from other top breeders such as Evy Avery, Charlie Hodum and Darrel Sheraw. It's makes much more sense to start with good bloodlines and quality breeders than trying to breed up from lesser birds. A good pair of Calls may cost more but in the long run, well worth the investment and time saved.  

The varieties I raise are White, Gray, B/W Magpie, Snowy & Gray Pied. Pictures and info can be found on my Call picture page.

 

My breeding program

                                                      Breeding Pens

Living in the northeast, my Calls generally start laying in late march / early April. I never push them to start laying any earlier (using lights to extend daylight hours) for two reasons:

1 - My drakes generally aren't ready to fertilize eggs until early April so most eggs layed in early to mid March would be clear anyway.

2 - Due to my work schedule, I can't collect eggs until early evening. We still have cold weather in March and by the time I would be able to collect eggs, they would be frozen.

I keep breeding pens set up in pairs and trios (one drake & two ducks). Once fertility kicks in, I rarely change anything although some years I might be short a drake or like a particular drake so I will rotate him once a week between two pens of females. This has worked well for me (mostly) but you need to keep an eye fertility of these matings as I've had drakes prolapse without noticing it for a week or more.

My Calls all get on the ground at least three times a week for exercise, swimming and just to spread their wings. I have found it greatly helps fertility as Calls like to breed while swimming. My fences are thirty two inches high so I keep all my drakes wings clipped (sometimes they'd like to be in the next yard over).  Here are some of my breeding pens and fenced yards.

   

  

 

                                                      Eggs & Incubation

I keep four trios of each variety and expect each female to lay three to four eggs each week. At the peak of breeding season, I'll collect around one hundred twenty eggs per week. Bedding (wood shavings or straw) is changed often to keep eggs clean- the less you have to handle eggs, the better. For real dirty eggs, I'll use my fingernail or submerge it in very warm water for five or ten seconds. While waiting to be set, eggs are stored in my basement where it's cool and pretty humid.

I use two Leahy redwood incubators and a GQF sportsman as a hatcher. The Leahy's hold four hundred eggs each while the GQF holds one hundred. My Call eggs generally hatch in twenty six days and I set twice a week alternating between incubators. Since my incubators are in the basement, I run them dry because it's already pretty humid there although large amounts of water are used in the hatcher to keep membranes from drying out. I hand turn eggs twice a day and candle once a week to remove infertile and dead embryo's. On day twenty four, I start candling for ducklings that have internally pipped and move them to the hatcher where they will stay until hatched and fluffed out. Here are my incubators.

                                  

 

 

                                                                 Ducklings & Brooding

Call ducklings are very fragile especially in the first week. After spending their first day or so in the hatcher, they are moved to brooding pens. I use fifty four gallon plastic tubs covered and heated, welcome mats for flooring and auto waterer's to assure ducklings always have enough to drink. The tubs work well at keeping out drafts and are easy to clean. I use a work light reflector with a double bulb adapter for heat. The use of two bulbs per brooder assures ducklings have heat even if one bulb blows out. I learned early not to overcrowd ducklings as it made for major losses. Around twenty is the maximum number each brooder will support, even that number makes it messy very quickly.

Feeding ducklings is quite simple, I use Purina medicated Start & Grow for the first three weeks along with cut up grass clippings and the occasional fly that buzzes around the light in the brooder. The medication used in Purina helps prevent coccidiosis, I use it on all my waterfowl with no problems. At three weeks I start mixing in duck Purina duck grower pellets and if the weather is warm enough, they can start going outside during the day. For water, the small automatic watering cups made for chickens work very well. Ducklings can't get in the cups and all they have to do is push on the little tab in the cup to get a drink.  

      

     

 

 

Selling Calls

Call eggs are very difficult to hatch and ducklings are fragile, therefore I only sell adults of 8 weeks or older. I feel it's not fair to the buyer to get eggs that have a slim chance of hatching or ducklings that won't make it past the first week of life.

Although you can certainly show them, I sell Calls in breeder and pet quality. The term "show quality" has to many variables and everyone sees qualities differently. Breeder quality start at $50.00/pair and up while pet quality run $25/pair.

I start selling young adults in August of each year and ship when the post office excepts live animals. You are welcome to come to my place and pick out Calls or I can deliver to shows I attend. The best way to communicate with me is email as my phone is usually tied up with teenage children. My address is  cchoate@excite.com

Wintering Calls

Living in western NY, winters are long and cold. I write this on a January day with temps in the single digits and wind chills of minus fifteen. Calls are pretty tough and can handle most conditions but need to be protected against wind. When givin the choice, most Calls will stay in out of the wind and must be in some kind of shelter at night. My wintering pens are made of wood including the floor with ventalation at the top and well shielded from the cold wind.

For bedding I use fresh, dry straw for the ducks to snuggle in. It's critical to keep inside quarters as dry as possible because Calls generate moisture and can quickly make things very humid. The two things I do to keep it dry inside - good ventalation and all waterer's are kept outside. Having vents at the top of the coops keeps drafts off the floor and fresh air circulating. I keep five gallon plastic waterer's on heater pans in outside hutches. My waterfowl do not have access to swimming water when temps are below freezing, I don't have anyway to drain my pools during freezing weather.

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