****All Miniature breeds fly well and are recommended that new stock is either clipped/pinioned/ or in a covered pen until they settle.They are also best as pairs as single pet females often fly in spring to find a mate prefering rough Mallard to being single. .. .it is illegal to release domestic ducks into the wild they do not get a free life normally it is starvation or gang rape by Mallard males please send to sanctuaries etc instead
Noisy ; males can be aggressive but still cute
Call Ducks
HISTORY
Originally refered to in the early books such as Lewis Wright and others as the Decoy changing about the 1870's to the name Call.. Colours known then were the dark (Mallard) and the White.His comments upon them was that "The flesh is good:but there is too little to repay breeding them for the table, and their only proper place is on the lake
STANDARDS
A short compact and cobby bird with a round face and short bill...as a rule it should be shorter than the last digit of an adult thumb...maximum length 1 1/4 inches / 3.1 cm. Due to the large number of colours for further information about colours see the page for the Call duck club at http://www.thebritishcallduckclub.co.uk.
Names
Also known as Le canard Mignon in France and Belgium. Mignon in Italy
Country Of Origin
Great Britain. known since early Victorian times mentioned in Tegetemeir
Carriage
short compact and cobby bird
Purpose
Eggs..Meat(soup or spatchock!)...Broody...a good utility duck
Egg Colour.....................white
Egg Numbers .............They lay one clutch per year normally.......thus will not sit and brood if the eggs are removed 10+ per yearr
Breed Defects. . . . . .bill length then according to colour
Breed Hints.... Kept as trio or pair .. will go broody and hatch
Breed Tip ***Kept as pairs or alternatively trios . Need water swims for pleaseure** check good fox proofing as the female can be heard for quite a distance
Flying
Excellent fliers can thus be pinioned...the ducklings have to be done as babies..consult the vet for further information about this. If not clip the wings or net new birds to curtail their homing instincts if not be prepared with a landing net and set of expletives
Colours and Calls
These are the six factors that cover the colours of Calls:-
1.Mallard Factor
Wild Pattern/Dusky Mallard./Restricted Mallard. The Mallard Factor allows full expression of the "Wild Type" pattern.It is dominant to the dusky factor and recessive to the restricted factor. Each factor produces its own pattern in ducklings and in adult birds.
Mallard: Ducklings: Olive-black with four yellow spots on the back,the head is yellow with two ocular(eye) stripes from the base of the bill to the dorsal area.
Adults: The male bears full expression of the wild type.The female is rich buff brown with a dark line running from the base of the bill through the eye and a dark patch on the crown that runs down the neck.Each feather is distinctly pencilled with black or very dark brown
Dusky Mallard: Ducklings:The back is olive -black shading off to olive - grey on the under side, with an absence of ocular stripes and dorsal spots.
Adults:Male - There is usually an absence of the neck ring and the claret breast is either missing or very small,
Female- She is very dark and lacks eye stripes and cap.
2.Restricted Mallard
Ducklings;- Dark Pigment on the back is confined to patches on the head and tail.The remainder is dull yellow with dark under colour.
Adults:In both sexes the difference is on the wing front and bow. The restricted bird always shows areas of white on the dorsal surface.This is due to the white lacing or tipping rather than completely white feathers.The feathers may have a silvery cast o them.The females wing bow appears paler than in the wild type Mallard or Dusky.
Dark Phase Light Phase Harlequin Phase
Each of these genes affect the mallard colour.The dominant factor is dark phase; it allows full expression of any one of the three mallard factors which happen to be present.
Light Phase: It lightens the colour of the adult plumage in the female and intensifies the colour of the male.
Ducklings: At 19 to 20 days will have a white spot under the chin.The light phase ducklings never have more than one unbroken stripe running through the eye. Dark phase usually have two.When theses two phases are with dusky mallard it is impossible to tell at day old.
Adults: The light phase is brought about by the reduction of the size of the dark portion of each feather . It increases the area of claret on the breast and extends it along the sides over the shoulders.A minor modification in the males causes the black on the back to reduce to dark grey.
Light Phase/Dusky Mallard: will produce some claret in the breast region of the males.A lighter tone occurs in the light phase dusky female.
Harlequin Phase; Ducklings; Hunter in 1939 described a variation from the wild pattern. The mutation appeared in a flock of wild mallards that had been domesticated and inbred for about twenty four years. The ducklings were yellow with smoky coloured down on their heads and tails.
Adults; The ducks were almost entirely white on the breast. They had greyish heads and light coloured wings and tails. The black markings of the male and the wing specular of both sexes were quite normal
3.Mallard Dilution to Blue
Blue Fawn;Male; Dark seal blue head ,neck and speculum, with claret breast. Female : Grey blue and rich fawn, blue speculum, fawn laced feathers.
Pastel; Dilution of the Blue Fawn; Male; Silver blue head, neck and specular, claret breast with a shaded silver blue body
Female; Shading from golden fawn to silver blue.Rich Fawn eye streak and cap Golden fawn chest and blue speculum.
Aztec Blue; Wild pattern on lavender or silver;Male; Dark silver head and neck and speculum.Claret Breast shaded silver body . Female; Soft silver blue (No Fawn) darker speculum, shaded silver body.
4.Wild Mallard ...Dilution to Browns
Nutmeg; This is the Brighter form of the Khaki in the Wild pattern. Male; Dark Brown Head, neck and Iridescent brown specular.Claret breast, soft brown vermiculation on the flank.Female; The colour is similar to the khaki but will be lighter, brighter with each feather distinctly pencilled with a brilliant specular.
Ginger ; When you dilute nutmeg it becomes the buff colour in the wild pattern.Male; Soft brown head with matching speculum, white wing bras,rich claret breast on soft buff body. Female ; Golden buff, slight eye stripe, very light wing bows and primaries, speculum white bars with soft tan
5.Mallard Dusty Factor; Self Colours; Even Tones
Black ; flat even tone of black Blue ; dark without rust tones
Silver ; Soft blue silver
Chocolate ; Rich even tones of chocolate
Khaki ; Soft subtle pencilling without much speculum
Buff ;Tan head no speculum
Cocoa or Dunn ; Light form of chocolate may come from blue cross
Bibbed ; This is controlled by a completely dominant gene. It could appear on any of the self colours.
Runner Pattern ; The cap is separated from the cheek markings by an extension of the neck white which covers the entire neck . The breast white starts in front of the thigh and passes between the legs to beyond the vent. A third area of white is present on the wings covering the primaries, secondaries and lower part of the wing bow. This pattern can be bred on self colours and wild mallard colours.
For example;- Fawn & White ............. self colour
Pencilled ........... Dusky Mallard
Pied Drake/Duck Call & other Bantam ducks
Blue Silver Pied drake....Dark silver Pied duck Call
Hooded or Magpie Pattern ; This is most likely a modified Runner Pattern and could be bred on any solid or wild colour
6. Light Phase on Restricted Mallard or Wild Mallard
(eg Trout Runner Colouration)
Aleutian ; Grey Patterns with a reduction of the size of the dark portion of each feather.
Cinnamon ; Grey Pattern with a reduction of the size of the dark portion of each feather **This group could come in any of the colours**
Harlequin Phase ; Spot ; These look like the mallards Hunter described in the mutation from wild mallards (Hunter 1939). The female is almost entirely white, greyish head, light coloured wing and tail, normal speculum. Males are the lightest in the harlequin group with normal markings.
Snowy ; Red - buff head, some red on the chest and shoulders, black and red spotting on the back with a violet speculum.Males darker and more red than the spot male.
Blue Snowy ; Blue replaces the black in the male and female.
Chocolate Snowy; Chocolate replaces red on the male and female. Minor modifications in the harlequin restricts the colour under the chin around the neck down the breast and ventral areas of the female. The male will have white eye streaks in the eclipse plumage.
Appleyard ; The wild mallard pattern
Butterscotch ; Female ; Rich golden red with eye streaks over white.Male ; Rich blue with claret extending over the shoulders, down the flank and low on the breast region.
Yellow Bellies ; This is the same pattern as the butterscotch female, wild colour on the back and head,The eye streaks and the entire underside is yellow. Male ; wild pattern with yellow belly
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Calls/BRKCalls.html
photo's rupert-the-fish
Black East Indies Ducks
HISTORY
The breed has been written about since the first standards in 1865 but has been known by a variety of names such as "Buenos Aries Duck'" Labrador' and "Black Brazilian".Tegetmeir in the 1860's talks of the (London) Zoological Society recieving a pair from Beunos Ayres but qualifies it saying thta the ship came from that port but stopped at many others. They were then not known as having been in Labrador ( p 355 Tegetmeir) .They are mentioned in Lewis Wright in the 1890's as a beautiful bird selected for no white or brown feathering and being around the 4 to 5 pound weight....now they have been bred down to 11/2 to 2 pounds
BREEDING CONDITIONS
Kept as pairs or alternatively trios ..depending upon the drakes energy levels. They lay one possibly two clutches per year.......thus will not sit and brood if the eggs are removed. Excellent fliers can thus be wing clipped or pinioned ..consult the vet for further information about pinnioning as not used unless needed
STANDARDS:*
Black Bill, Eyes, legs as black as possible.Plumage glossy with a beetle green sheen. Also available in Blue which can be 'mucky' with brownish tinges
Black East Indian Ducks
Names Le carnard Labrador in France/Belgium
Country Of Origin;......... Probably the Americas Mentioned in all the 1870's books
Carriage; . .Similar to the Campbell ducks angled front
Purpose;..........Eggs../ exhibition / cuteness,slug hoovers
Egg Colour.............. any colour from white to gey/white
Egg Numbers .............10 /20
Breed Defects. . . . . .white in males feathers.White feathers in the male can appear on the chest with age if a number of males fight, if this is not the cause DO NOT breed from them.
Breed Defects. .. . . odd coloured bill, pale legs , orange legs
Breed Hints..... . Kept as trio or pair .. will go broody and hatch
Weights;4 to 5 pounds
Breed Tip ***As in the Cayuga and solid colour Runners the females will often fade and get white feathers with age...they will still breed true.
Flying . . . .can fly well if startled. If collecting new birds ask for them wing clipped first
Genetic profile/ Gene : Extended black/ symbol E/ Dominant.
Causes solid black pigment to be laid down in all areas except those influenced by genes for white spotting. Typical of the Black Orpington, Black Cayuga and Black East Indian. Evidence exists suggesting that extended black influences eggshell color giving it a grey tint
showing aged feathers in the female
Miniature Appleyard Ducks
The Silver Appleyard was developed in Britain during the 1930s and '40s by Reginald Appleyard, a well known writer and breeder of domestic waterfowl. He was trying to produce "The Ideal Duck" for both egg; meat and exhibition purposes
The drakes are quick to mature and make fine table fowl. The 7-8 pound duck is an good layer of about 100/180 0large white eggs. The duck is silvery-white with a heavy flecking of fawn on her back. The 8-9 pound drake has a beetle green head and neck and his throat is white with fawn markings. Add to this his silver-white neck ring, breast, wing coverts, and tail tip and you have a very handsome bird. Beak should be yellow, legs and feet orange, and eyes dark hazel.
This breed also appears in miniature, as the Bantam Appleyard. as the Silver Call and as the Miniature
STANDARDS
Male:Head /neck black with a green sheen .Breast/shoulders red brown with white lacing.Bill yellow /green. Speculum(shiny feathers on wings) violet green
Female:Cream and pale fawn with brown streaks.Speculum(shiny feathers on wings) violet green. Bill yellow to grey green usually marked as in photograph
BREEDING CONDITIONS
Kept as pairs or alternatively trios ..depending upon the drakes energy levels. They lay one possibly two clutches per year.......thus will not sit and brood if the eggs are removed. Excellent fliers as are all bantam ducks clip or net new stock until familiar with the territory
Miniature Crested Ducks
Crested ducks are basically an aberration appearing in any colour and as such hava mixed history. The crest is essentially a mutation associated with skull deformities and known for hundreds of years. There are those who claim that crested ducks first appeared in Britain, which is unlikely but they were certainly first Shown here and appear in many early poultry books . Genetic mutations appear occasionally all over the world. Selective breeding would then have increased the numbers of birds with the same characteristic. 17th century Dutch paintings show crested ducks on wildfowl such as Melchior d'Hondecoeter (1636 -1695) and Marmaduke Craddock (1660 - 1717) from Somerset in the Uk showed them
The crest is formed from a mass of fatty tissue that emerges through a gap in the cranium.( skull) From this, feathers grow. Crests vary from centrally placed, full crests, rather like powder puffs, to knobbly protuberances with just a few feathers; or the occasional earring when it has 'slipped'. The crested gene can be bred into any breed except Muscovy as one parent crested will breed a percentage of crested offspring .All crested seldom breed successfully but if they do produce better stock. If using a crested female with a large crest watch as the drake uses this as to ' assist ' mating and she can get injured easily. The tuft of feathers on the head, which occasionally appears, having been recognized as a point of attraction, selected and bred for of the off spring many will be plain headed but carry the crested gene so a crested drake will turn any breed crested . . they also have the energy for this so watch out
The crest gene is an incompletely dominant one. ie, if an chick receives a double dose of the gene &endash; one from each parent (homozygous) it will die in the shell. If only one of the parents passes it on (heterozygous) the resulting hatches will be :- 25% will not hatch, 25% will not have crests and 50% will have crests. If a crested heterozygous bird is crossed with an un-crested one, the resulting hatch should be 50% crested and 50% plain. So, as you can see, breeding Crested ducks is challenging and not recommended for beginners; also if the crest is so large as to intefere with normal eating and mating etc it would need to be 'trimmed' to allow the duck a normal life
The Lethal Crested Gene
This gene is a dominant gene with a lethal variant. If C=crested and p=plain non-crested, it works like this:
Crested Drake =C p (this means that a crested drake in a pen can turn any breed crested)
Crested Duck = C CC Cp
their offspring will be:- pp is a non-crested duckling,....Cp is a crested duckling,..CC (theoretically crested) dies in the shell due to skull deformities
Miniature Crested
Names Also known as Le canard Huppe' in France/Belgium. Ciuffate in Italy
Country Of Origin;......... Great Britain
Purpose;..........Eggs../ Exhibition
Egg Colour................... eggs white
Egg Numbers.............100
Breed Defects. .. . . .Any colour is permitted. Defects are thus split crests or deformity rather than colour breed points . As with many 'orange billed' birds they discolour with age particularly females
Incubation:. . . . . . .28 days
Breed Hints....****.Not a beginners breed
Weights; 4 to 6 pounds/ drake is 3.2kg duck is 2.7kg.
Breed Tip Kept as pair or trio
Silver Bantam Ducks
needs pics
HISTORY;The Large Silver Appleyard Duck was developed in Britain during the 1930s and '40s by Reginald Appleyard, a well known writer and breeder of domestic waterfowl. He was trying to produce "The Ideal Duck" for both egg; meat and exhibition purposes
The large drakes are quick to mature and make fine table fowl. The 7-8 pound duck is an good layer of about 100/180 large white eggs. The duck is silvery-white with a heavy flecking of fawn on her back. The 8-9 pound drake has a beetle green head and neck and his throat is white with fawn markings. Add to this his silver-white neck ring, breast, wing coverts, and tail tip and you have a very handsome bird. Beak should be yellow, legs and feet orange, and eyes dark hazel.
This breed also appears as a Miniature, also as the Bantam Appleyard./Silver bantam
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