Waterfowl

I purchased my original pair of silver call ducks, Simon and Alice, having read a magazine article about call ducks recommending them as ideal pets with wonderful characters, who can become very friendly and are great for keeping slugs and snails out of the garden and due to their small size they do not make too much mess. At the time of reading the article I had no idea what a call duck even looked like, but did my research and my husband bought Simon and Alice for me on Valentine's day 2003, chosen from lots of other pairs because they seemed so much in love with one another!

Good quality call ducks are notoriously difficult to hatch, and we only managed to hatch one little duckling in 2003 - (Micki). Poor little Micki was very lonely and spent the first 3 weeks in our spare bedroom, and in the evening would be brought in to watch TV in bed with us. With summer holiday looming we were concerned about how she would cope without us, and moved her in with some young Indian Runner ducklings until she was old enough to move back in with her parents.

At the encouragement of members of my local poultry club in February 2004 I attended my first show, where I was delighted that Simon came 2nd, and encouraged by this I entered more shows and have been delighted with my results in call duck classes in 2004 listed as follows: Simon came 1st at the Devon County Show, Alice was 3rd at the Bath and West Show and the 3 ducks that I have kept from their 2004 hatch were awarded 1st and 2nd in the 2004 hatch silver class at the British Waterfowl Association Show (see picture), and Micki (on her first outing) came 2nd at the Devon and Cornwall Waterfowl Show 2004. My new Silver Drake has also done extremely well, having been awarded 1st place at the Bath and West Show

I have subsequently become "hooked" on showing and have acquired exhibition quality pairs of apricot, mallard and white call ducks from top bloodlines with the aim of breeding top quality exhibition call ducks. In 2006 I only attended 2 shows, but was very pleased with the results - at a local poultry club show I won the trophy for "Best Waterfowl" with my apricot call duck, and at the British Waterfowl Association Show my silver call duck came 3rd in the 2006 hatch class

My original pair of Mallards were unfortunately killed by a fox, and I only managed to hatch one egg that had been laid just prior to the attack - Jo was the result and he has done very well showing - he was 2nd at the British Waterfowl Association Show 2004 hatch mallard class, and came 1st at Dawlish Youngstock Show. I have now acquired a lovely wife for him and am hoping to hatch some nice ducklings this season (see their picture as link button on front page).

The white call drake shown above is a beautiful specimen. He and his wife were purchased from Graham Barnard in 2004 and I am very much looking forward to hatching some ducklings from this beautiful pair. I have taken the drake to 3 shows and on each occasion to date he has won his class, his wife accompanied him and she was awarded 2 x 1st and a 2nd place.

INDIAN RUNNER DUCKS

I have always been attracted to Indian Runners due to their unique appearance and excellent reputation for egg laying. Indian Runner are very distinctive with their long, flat, straight head and long, slender neck, the back should be long, straight and carried upright

Indian Runners were first imported into the UK from the East Indies between 1850 and the 1890s.

When visitors asked what breed of duck our runners are, we often describe them as our "alien ducks" as they are so different in characteristics and appearance to other breeds of duck, and our pair of trout indian runners are called "Mork and Mindy!".

I have only been to 3 shows since 2005 due to the bird flu situation - however, I have been extremely pleased with the results I have obtained: British Waterfowl Association Show 2006 - 3rd, Cullompton Poultry Club - Best Waterfowl with my apricot duck, and 2nd with my white drake,Taunton Poultry Club Regional Show - March 07 - 1st Silver Call Drake, 2nd Apricot Call Drake, (whites and mallards not currently being shown as wings are clipped), Indian Runner Ducks - Black came 1st and Fawn and White drake came 3rd in their class - see pictures above

LINKS

The following links provide extensive information on breeds of waterfowl,health, husbandry and breed standards.

I have included the Argos link because they supply rigid shell sandpit/paddling pools which are ideal for ducks as they are reasonably priced, lightweight and very easy to empty and clean. (They do not appear to stock them during the winter months but I am sure they will reappear again once spring is approaching). I use the roof of their cat litter trays as a nest box for broody birds and also for my runners, who were insistent on laying in the middle of the field and crows kept stealing their eggs, I covered the area with said roof weighted down, and problem solved! The base I use as a starter pond for my ducklings. The dog cages are also excellent for show training a bird or for isolating a new arrival.