Larkwell Valley (2023)

[JacinLarkwell]

Whatcha wanna know specific to calls? I can try to answer. That price point sounds pretty fair to me. Most folks do not like to try and sex call ducklings because they are so tiny. So yeah.. it's a gamble.

Mainly about the price point. I know compared to most ducks, calls are more expensive, but I wanted to make sure that this wasn't a super ridiculous price for ducklings.

I've heard before that broody females will help their call ducklings out of the eggs, is that at all true? Or would I just be setting them up for failure?

If I end up with both sexes (I'm thinking about getting 6?), do the male's need as many girls as larger ducks? Or would they likely be okay as a trio/quartet? They seem awful nice, but I've learned to just never trust a drake to be a gentleman 100% of the time

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I keep getting tempted by Calls (mostly from people here posting pics of theirs!), but the only ones around here are either whites or traditional mallard coloured. Neither of which I want.

I think the classic whites are pretty dang adorable. I love the penciled ones too.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Mainly about the price point. I know compared to most ducks, calls are more expensive, but I wanted to make sure that this wasn't a super ridiculous price for ducklings.

I've heard before that broody females will help their call ducklings out of the eggs, is that at all true? Or would I just be setting them up for failure?

If I end up with both sexes (I'm thinking about getting 6?), do the male's need as many girls as larger ducks? Or would they likely be okay as a trio/quartet? They seem awful nice, but I've learned to just never trust a drake to be a gentleman 100% of the time

Also I mainly wanted to just give my reasoning for why I was considering getting them from a hatchery and not just get a breeding pair or eggs from a private breeder

 

[WVduckchick]

Also I mainly wanted to just give my reasoning for why I was considering getting them from a hatchery and not just get a breeding pair or eggs from a private breeder

Calls are the best! Don’t tell all my other birds, though they can probably tell that my calls get special treatment.
Hatchery birds are fine, if you don’t intend to do shows. Even hatchery or pet quality calls can produce show quality offspring. Price sounds a little high to me, but not outrageous. And if they came from a breeder originally, they might be decent quality. If you want/can post some pics, we can offer some “critique”.
I put a camera on one of my hens on a nest once, and I can confirm that they will assist a hatchling, if necessary. My girls have fabulous hatch rates, even better than I do in the incubator. Mine are pet quality though, and hatch fairly easily, better than really show-typey calls.
I mean, what’s cuter than a call duckling?
Had to add some pics for @Canadian Wind too lol

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Calls are the best! Don’t tell all my other birds, though they can probably tell that my calls get special treatment.
Hatchery birds are fine, if you don’t intend to do shows. Even hatchery or pet quality calls can produce show quality offspring. Price sounds a little high to me, but not outrageous. And if they came from a breeder originally, they might be decent quality. If you want/can post some pics, we can offer some “critique”.
I put a camera on one of my hens on a nest once, and I can confirm that they will assist a hatchling, if necessary. My girls have fabulous hatch rates, even better than I do in the incubator. Mine are pet quality though, and hatch fairly easily, better than really show-typey calls.
I mean, what’s cuter than a call duckling?
Had to add some pics for @Canadian Wind too lol
View attachment 3718326View attachment 3718323View attachment 3718321View attachment 3718322

Yeah, I can grab the page link. It has a picture of a pair/group for each color they offer. If there's a color that looks like I should stay away from, let me know. Personally I'm nor a fan of the snowy, but I'm thinking I won't really get many/any depending on how many people might buy them and me getting the assortment most likely
https://www.metzerfarms.com/call-ducks.html

 

[Tonyroo]

There very cute. I notice I'm more fond of short billed ducks and calls fit the bill ( pun intended )

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Would it probably be safe if I keep a male (or females) with shorter bills and the opposite sex with longer ones? Personally, while I find show quality to be *chefs kiss*, I really don't mind them looking like normal ducks either. I just really like the size of their body and would like to try and lessen hatching issues at least somewhat.

Very happy to hear that mama's would likely help hatchling though. That was my main hesitation with getting the breed at all was that if I hatched, I'd need to be ready to assist. If I can just let them do that work, it would be great

 

[Tonyroo]

They must have modeled the call duck for the rubber yellow toy duck that I grew up seeing.

 

[WVduckchick]

Yeah, I can grab the page link. It has a picture of a pair/group for each color they offer. If there's a color that looks like I should stay away from, let me know. Personally I'm nor a fan of the snowy, but I'm thinking I won't really get many/any depending on how many people might buy them and me getting the assortment most likely
https://www.metzerfarms.com/call-ducks.html

Free shipping is a plus! I’m going to guess that the original breeder wasn’t huge on breeding show quality traits. The bodies are more slender and bills look a bit longer (especially the pic of the whites, as whites are more popular for shows and more selective breeders work hard to get “the look” with whites) But the colors look very nice, well-bred for consistent/proper color distribution, so that’s nice! The pastel pair is beautiful!
I have so many now and they all run together, so cross colors get unpredictable. Yet I still get beautiful regular colors too. So a variety of your favorites would be fine if you don’t care about mixing the varieties. Snowy is more complex genetically, and introduces some interesting genes when mixing, but I personally love the snowys.

In case you want to play with the genetics, this calculator is good https://kippenjungle.nl/kruisingEend.html

 

[Canadian Wind]

I like the looks of the pastels and pencilled, and the female snowies.