The Call Duck was first bred in Holland in the 1600's, originally they were used as live decoy ducks. Their small size, about 2 lbs, made them easy to carry, and their loud voice was useful for calling down wild ducks.
In modern times, Calls are by far the most popular exhibition duck and are often the largest entry at any show. Today as they are standardized in the US, Calls should feature short deep bodies, heads which are high crowned and wide in the skull, and a bill which is short and wide.
Calls are bred in a number of colors, with more being introduced all the time. Probably the two most popular, and well established colors, are the White Call and the mallard colored Grey Call.
Call ducks make excellent pets, they are hardy and easy to care for. They also have a laid back personality and usually tame down well. Unlike wild waterfowl, once settled in these birds can often be left fullwinged without worry of them flying off.
One characteristic of the Call may need to be taken into consideration if noise is an issue, this being the hens loud quack or call. Although, they have not been bred for their calling ability for many generations, the hens retain a tendency to be noisy when excited.
Unlike most wild waterfowl, a Call drake may accept several hens, so it is possible to keep these birds in trios or quads. Calls are first year fertile, and have a long breeding season. Most of my Calls lay large clutches consisting of 6-12 eggs. Some of the more showy types are less proficient, laying only a few eggs in a season. The more showy calls also tend to be less healthy and hardy than larger calls. I believe this to be due to the large amounts of inbreeding that goes into producing the very small size of show quality birds. Here at Mallard Lane Farms we focus more on producing healthy, hardy birds that will reproduce, than on producing the show quality bird. If you are wanting to show birds or raise show quality birds, we recommend purchasing from a breeder who specializes in showing and breeding show quality calls.
Most Call hens make excellent mothers and will hatch and rear their own young. We often use our calls as surrogates for the eggs of more expensive ducks. The ducklings are also useful as teacher ducklings, when put in with the ducklings of a more challenging species, such as wood ducks, the Calls will teach the young to eat.
