Any duck breeders who come out on top of raising costs selling birds etc.?

[fowlsessed]

I'm just wondering if you can have the birds pay for their own feed/care by selling them/products, I love raising them, but boy can they really poke holes in the wallet!
Thanks,

 

[Kevin565]

Depending on your area I think they could probably pay for their feed depending on what you are feeding them. However, it'd be quite difficult to break even overall for the total investment in the birds.

 

[jdywntr]

I agree with Kevin. A lot also depends on breed and quality. Most people sell ducklings for about $5 each (at least where I've lived) but if you had a rare breed or you bred show quality you could sell for more.

 

[fowlsessed]

Yes, thanks for posting. I'm thinking 'rare' colored Muscovies and Ausie Spotted bantams, I'll see. Anyone else?

 

[jdywntr]

I'd say Australian Spotted may be but Muscovy aren't for everyone. I LOVE mine but many people look down on them. Again, if you raise great quality and show your birds that would help. You also need to be able to make a name for yourself and get yourself certified (via state regs) to ship ducklings/eggs. I see MANY people that say they are selling eggs/ducklings "from show quality Holderreads lines". Which is great but just because the line is show quality doesn't mean the offspring are. Most of these folks don't actually show themselves so I don't know if they are breeding to standard or not. (probably not)

Ducks aren't as prevelant as chickens so not as many people want to raise them (at least in the states). Some chicken breeds get CRAZY prices for chicks. There is a well respected multiple rare breed breeder that sells (and gets) $100-$200 PER chick! Straight run. That to me is crazy. But they appear to be people that bring in rare breeds/colors/lines from other countries so they are incurring a big expense up front. I see ALL the time people that say they have their lines.

 

[Kevin565]

I would also vote for the Aussies. They'd be much cheaper to feed and I've also run into the same problem of few people in my area being interested in muscovies. I personally adore scovies but everyone in my area wants runners or bantam ducks.

 

[fowlsessed]

Thanks again. Yea, that's another one of my problems, I don't show! (I do however breed my birds to the standard, but people still want to see ribbons)

 

[learycow]

Muscovies depend on the year (around here anyways). Last year, I had about 150 ordered. I hatched those all out between April and July and they all went to their new homes. They went for $6-10 each.
But I let my hens hatch more after July and had a harder time selling them because everyone else in the area had ducklings for sale cheap or free on Craigslist. Most of them I ended up raising through the summer and fall and then selling for meat because no one wanted any.

SO far this year, it seems like everyone has them advertised for cheap or free. So I have gone into show quality muscovies and rare colors (plus barred pattern which is harder to find) and I have a wait list going. I have about the first 150 to hatch already spoken and paid for!

So I would definitely do your research first and pick a breed that will be easy to sell, but rare enough so that everyone and their neighbor won't have them. That's what will drive your prices down. Its simple supply and demand