Life span of call ducks

[AliciaM]

How old do calls normaly get? I have a snowy drake that is done getting his boy colors back, but he has no tail curl and his head isnt a solid color like pics ive seen.. Kinda mottled near the neck..
Theres a story behind him, so im not sure how old he is.. I only know that since Ive had him, Ive had to teach him what a pool was for.. how to get in one.. how to get out of one.. etc.. Hes even got his own handicapped ramp to get in and out of the pool... LOL.. spoiled little bugger...

 

[chickensioux]

I'm curious about this myself. I am going to research this and see if I can find an anwer.

 

[Snakeman]

I don't have any calls but the drakes I do have lose the good coloring during the summer and get the pretty colors back in the fall. They don't really lose the patterns but a green head for example, will fade to a brown or greyish fade. Similar to when they molt from adolescent to adult but aren't quite there yet. Just for the record, my oldest drake(currently) is just under 3 yrs old.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Hey AlishiaM -

Are you the gal I got the 3 silver appleyard and 2 calls from a couple weeks ago?

I am loving them. The bibbed call has such a great personality. The most outgoing by far. Lets out a little quack when excited or when I walk out with their feed. I need to get an updated picture - EDITED to add new pic just taken.

Nancy

July 27th

August 13th

 

[AliciaM]

Hi.. Yea.. its me.. Boy, they have changed in such a little time.. Beautiful too..

 

[chickensioux]

Bantam Ducks
The longest lived of the ducks by a considerable margin are the bantam ducks—the Calls and Black East Indies in particular.

A number of mine have lived a decade or more and one Grey Call female lived 15 years. They also tend to have longer useful lives from a breeder’s standpoint, with males remaining fertile for as long as a decade and some females able to produce eggs for an even longer period, assuming the best of care. Because they carry less weight and don’t experience ultra-fast growth rates, their bodies tend to hold up longer.

Of course, a discussion of longevity in any breed assumes that the birds are provided with a good diet and appropriate housing and are not overcrowded. ~ Lou Horton


Finally, I found SOMETHING about it......

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

^^^^^ that sounds GREAT!!!

I've only had mine a couple weeks and they are becoming my favorite and to think I didn't want them after reading calls are noisy.

Thank you Alishia for getting me to take them when I only came for the appleyards.

EDITED: added picture taken this morning (8/14) that shows the little bib is always the first to go for the feed but got beat out by the HUGE scovy that's only 2 wks older.

Do you think the other call is blue fawn (upper right) and a hen?

 

[CityChicker]

I suspect that given good care they will live a long, long time. I have kept the bantam ducks (other than Mallards) for less time than I have kept the full size breeds. I got my first Silver bantams and Aussie Spots in either 2000 or 2001 I think and most are still alive and actively breeding. In our larger ducks, we have several individuals that are 10-12 and still in good condition and breeding (although not nearly as productively as when younger). I have regularly had Mallards live to be quite old as well. I would strongly suspect that these birds can easily live to 15 or more years old.