Australian Spotted Ducklings

[EllenInWis]

Does anyone know where I could find Australian Spotted ducklings for sale this spring? Holderread no longer carries them. Thanks!

 

[Duck Drover]

We have them and we will start incubating in February to hatch ducklings. We have just a few more adults to sell as a flock reduction and then we will mostly sell all the ducklings without raising them to adulthood unless we need to see down to feather color transitions. So far we have not shipped birds and we always sell out locally to the Seattle area and beyond.

 

[EllenInWis]

Thanks, 'Drover. How do I place an order with you?

 

[Duck Drover]

You can send me a PM. If we have enough interest we may look into shipping in the future. I don't have faith in the post office when it comes to shipping live babies so I prefer local pick-up.

 

[Messica]

I am incredibly interested if you decide to ship Duck Drover. If I was closer the drive would be more than worth it, but as I live in Minnesota that's just not a possibility. I can't seem to find a solid breeder anywhere in my area

 

[Duck Drover]

I have some test eggs in the incubator now to make sure the incubator is set properly after it has been off for some time. Once we start hatching it will be ongoing so I need to consider whether shipping hatchlings is worth the risk. I am concerned about handling beyond my control.

Right now we need to come up with a nesting solution to keep our new LGD from eating eggs she finds on the ground. The chickens lay in the coops but the ducks lay on the ground and she has been eating their eggs if she finds them before we do.

 

[buff goose guy]

It might be better to ship eggs, shipping live babies is a lot of precautions and preparation that you have to do so that they arrive safely.

 

[Duck Drover]

It might be better to ship eggs, shipping live babies is a lot of precautions and preparation that you have to do so that they arrive safely.

That actually does sound like less risk except that I have heard stories about shipped eggs not working out and I don't want to be blamed for that. I think fully feathered birds may have the best chance surviving shipping but then we would have to raise them and there could still be issues. So far local pick-up is best but I get requests to ship all the time so it is something to consider.

If there is interest in hatching eggs I could give it a try. I hatch successfully in Little Giant still air incubators with automatic egg turners. I incubate dry since I live in a somewhat humid area and I don't raise the humidity as much as recommended because that has drowned ducklings just before hatching once the first hatches raise the humidity even higher. I have even had successful dry hatches without shrink wrapping so the still air seems to keep the eggs humid enough without adding water to the tray. I have sold some hatching eggs at times and talked people through the hatching process but I know it is hard on people when the hatch does not turn out like they expected. I just don't want to be blamed for something I have no control over.

 

[Messica]

Just to pick your brain buff goose guy, I saw in your sig line that you don't support 4-H. I'm contemplating letting my kids join this year and haven't heard anything negative about it thus far, do you have other perspective you'd care to share?

 

[EllenInWis]

Messica, I looked all over for AS ducklings now that Holderread doesn't carry them any more. I finally found someone in Florida who sells eggs and I bought an incubator and have had them for about a week. So far, so good, although I wasn't crazy about trying to hatch eggs. However, it's the only way I could find them. Don't know if I'll end up with ducklings or not but I hope so. Meanwhile, my plan was to keep an eye on this thread in case someone else pops up and to see what Duck Drover ends up doing. As I told him, I understand anyone's hesitance to ship ducklings.