Are the duckies pricey??

[Cetawin]

Quote:
If your harlequins are only 4lbs...you are not feeding them enough....ducks should weigh at least 4 1/2 lbs... drakes at least 5 1/2 lbs. Mine have access to food 24/7 and they do not gorge themselves...they eat what they want and then go about to the business of play. My Ancona ducks are the same way but they are a larger breed still they do not gorge either.

Ducks can be expensive...they need a secure enclosure, a clean dry draft-free place to sleep, a pool and/or constant water and they are much messier than chickens so you will go through a higher bedding expense. In the summer they need a pool and shade.

Research raising ducks before you buy them so you are fully prepared....if you are not willing to work your tail off in order to provide for them and care for them, then they may not be the best choice for you....they need care and your time, they have different nutritional needs than chickens as well.

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Quote:
If your harlequins are only 4lbs...you are not feeding them enough....ducks should weigh at least 4 1/2 lbs... drakes at least 5 1/2 lbs. Mine have access to food 24/7 and they do not gorge themselves...they eat what they want and then go about to the business of play. My Ancona ducks are the same way but they are a larger breed still they do not gorge either.

Ducks can be expensive...they need a secure enclosure, a clean dry draft-free place to sleep, a pool and/or constant water and they are much messier than chickens so you will go through a higher bedding expense. In the summer they need a pool and shade.

Research raising ducks before you buy them so you are fully prepared....if you are not willing to work your tail off in order to provide for them and care for them, then they may not be the best choice for you....they need care and your time, they have different nutritional needs than chickens as well.

I dont have welsh harlequins. (not yet) I heard from tons of people that they only weigh 4lbs is that not true? Do you have welsh? and my ducks have always been fine on a ration. My ducks also free range and have tons of bugs to eat, so a ration is ok for mine. Plus they dont really bother with it either, they would rather have dogfood. (which I dont feed to them all the time, about 1 hand full for 4 drake every few days)

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

Plus they are very large and fat, lol.

 

[DuckiesPLZ]

Quote:
If your harlequins are only 4lbs...you are not feeding them enough....ducks should weigh at least 4 1/2 lbs... drakes at least 5 1/2 lbs. Mine have access to food 24/7 and they do not gorge themselves...they eat what they want and then go about to the business of play. My Ancona ducks are the same way but they are a larger breed still they do not gorge either.

Ducks can be expensive...they need a secure enclosure, a clean dry draft-free place to sleep, a pool and/or constant water and they are much messier than chickens so you will go through a higher bedding expense. In the summer they need a pool and shade.

Research raising ducks before you buy them so you are fully prepared....if you are not willing to work your tail off in order to provide for them and care for them, then they may not be the best choice for you....they need care and your time, they have different nutritional needs than chickens as well.

I've done A loooot of research in the past few months, and everwhere i go says they're not expensive to take care of, but building the cage alone i calculated is gonna be 200 dollars xD so I just wanna make sure I'm not gonna be spending 100 dollars a week on hay and feed, tis all

 

[dumb_cluck]

Feed in a 50lb bag will run around $15, this should last a couple months (depending on how many ducks you plan to keep).

Bedding depends on what you plan to use. I personally like straw, but it is a bit more expensive than wood chips and hay.

Most likely, if you keep their bedding clean, you will spend more on that than any feed. Hope this helps.

 

[DuckiesPLZ]

Quote:
How often would you say you need to replace the hay? If i cleaned out most of the soiled spots daily, would that help? I want to keep around 5 ducks, if not more, and my yard is pretty big, i plan on letting them out quite a bit, to play in the grass, is that going to make a difference? Sorry, just wondering O_O;

 

[ChickInDelight]

My Pekins are hogs. Check out the information provided by Metzer Farms. They compare the breeds. I suspect the Indian Runners forage more and require less feed. Mine just arrived, so I don't know yet. My flying Mallards eat much less that the Pekins, but you probably don't want a flying breed if you are in a neighborhood.

I pay $16 for a 50 lb. bag of feed.

Enjoy your ducks!

 

[FarmrGirl]

Quote:
All costs will depend on how many you keep. Let's say you keep 3 (which I feel is the minimum amount due to their very social nature). Since they're ground nesters an inexpensive but solid doghouse would be perfect. Make sure it has good ventilation - not a dogloo. I have several different houses for my breeding yards - one is an old doghouse someone was giving away so it was free. I drilled 1 inch holes all around just below the roofline about 3 inches apart. The door is an old heavy duty louvered window shutter I got on freecycle (with hinges still attached). The latch is a simple screen door latch with that little springy closure piece on the hook because raccoons are crazy smart. Then I lined the floor with an old scrap piece of tarp to protect the wood from dampness the ducks create in the straw bedding. That's more than enough ventilation but also draft free, totally solid and predator proof and cost me about $2.

For 3 ducks (which is what I kept in there) I added a new layer of straw about once a week and cleaned the whole thing out to the compost pile about every 3 or 4 months, your mileage may vary. In winter I allow the straw to compost down all winter which provides additional heat for the ducks.

Here a bale of good straw goes for $5 and one bale would last me about 3 months for 3 ducks... but on wet days I sprinkle some in the yard to keep their duck feet out of the mud. One 50 lbs bag of feed is just under $14 here at the local co-op and for 3 ducks I estimate that I could get about 2 months or longer out of that bag... how much they eat depends on the temperature and how hard their bodies work to stay cool or warm. So I estimate that your monthly cost of keeping 3 ducks would be less than $9. But you'll get about one egg per day from your 3 girls and you can subtract the cost of eggs for the month off the top of that number. Extras can be sold for an average cost of $3/doz - regional amounts vary quite a bit.

I'd venture to say you could add 3 ducks more for an extra $4 per month. They'll need a very large doghouse if you have 6 and that may require you to locate 2 free or cheap doghouses and link them together.

Of course, mine get treats and extra stuff that are impossible to put a price on because they just enjoy them too much

But yours will be equally happy with frozen peas, or left over watermelon.

I hope this helps.

 

[dumb_cluck]

Quote:
How often would you say you need to replace the hay? If i cleaned out most of the soiled spots daily, would that help? I want to keep around 5 ducks, if not more, and my yard is pretty big, i plan on letting them out quite a bit, to play in the grass, is that going to make a difference? Sorry, just wondering O_O;

Yes, if you clean out (muck) the area once a day, that would be great. When it gets smelly (like 3-4 days), now you have to really shovel the poo. Much more work and you better have a place to dump it (legally). I would start small and see what happens. You may decide to go bigger, or just quit. The most important thing to consider is their housing at night. Predators will take them all if they get the chance. Mine are outdoors ONLY when I am there to supervise. Otherwise, indoors in their pen.... and in their cage at night. (if you want to read my story on my mallards, please see my website...it will be an eye opener.)

 

[DuckiesPLZ]

Quote:
All costs will depend on how many you keep. Let's say you keep 3 (which I feel is the minimum amount due to their very social nature). Since they're ground nesters an inexpensive but solid doghouse would be perfect. Make sure it has good ventilation - not a dogloo. I have several different houses for my breeding yards - one is an old doghouse someone was giving away so it was free. I drilled 1 inch holes all around just below the roofline about 3 inches apart. The door is an old heavy duty louvered window shutter I got on freecycle (with hinges still attached). The latch is a simple screen door latch with that little springy closure piece on the hook because raccoons are crazy smart. Then I lined the floor with an old scrap piece of tarp to protect the wood from dampness the ducks create in the straw bedding. That's more than enough ventilation but also draft free, totally solid and predator proof and cost me about $2.

For 3 ducks (which is what I kept in there) I added a new layer of straw about once a week and cleaned the whole thing out to the compost pile about every 3 or 4 months, your mileage may vary. In winter I allow the straw to compost down all winter which provides additional heat for the ducks.

Here a bale of good straw goes for $5 and one bale would last me about 3 months for 3 ducks... but on wet days I sprinkle some in the yard to keep their duck feet out of the mud. One 50 lbs bag of feed is just under $14 here at the local co-op and for 3 ducks I estimate that I could get about 2 months or longer out of that bag... how much they eat depends on the temperature and how hard their bodies work to stay cool or warm. So I estimate that your monthly cost of keeping 3 ducks would be less than $9. But you'll get about one egg per day from your 3 girls and you can subtract the cost of eggs for the month off the top of that number. Extras can be sold for an average cost of $3/doz - regional amounts vary quite a bit.

I'd venture to say you could add 3 ducks more for an extra $4 per month. They'll need a very large doghouse if you have 6 and that may require you to locate 2 free or cheap doghouses and link them together.

Of course, mine get treats and extra stuff that are impossible to put a price on because they just enjoy them too much

But yours will be equally happy with frozen peas, or left over watermelon.

I hope this helps.

GASP, this is so much help!! xD Thank you! I'm planning to go to the feed store near me soon to check out prices of feed and figure out where i can get some hay from... I have two guinea pigs, but the hay they use isn't the kind I want for the duckies xD I'll look around for dog houses... but I might just have to build one or find something i can convert... I heard you can use rubbermaid tubs, but i'm wondering if that'll be big enough, since maybe two ducks can fit in there, THANK YOU SO MUCH!