Australian Spotted Ducklings

[Duck Drover]

4H goes up through age 18 and looks great on college applications


​We live rurally and smack dab in the middle of farm country. Most kids here take it straight on through the summer of their graduating year. We're actually the oddballs for never having done it before lol

My older daughter did 4-H but she was not competitive minded so it was just a social club for her (so was school, lol). She showed her Austrailian Shepherd dog instead of her Welsh pony, goats, chickens, ducks, etc. but she spent more time with her dog so that worked out. I am not sure I would want our birds going to shows because they would be exposed to too much disease and stress. I would rather they stay home and lay eggs we can hatch.

Girl Scouts is just as good on college applications and maybe better in some ways when they are active members. My older daughter did both and went on to drop out of high school due to her learning disability and desire to work instead of going to school (I did everything I could to keep her in school but once she was an adult it was not up to me to decide for her).

My hope is that there will be more Australian Spotted duck breeders across the country so they will be easier to find everywhere. The Pacific Northwest is an ideal climate for ducks so we are doing our part here. I am sure Holderreads has shipped them all over but people often use them as layers rather than breeders. We have worked on getting more people in our area to breed in order to diversify their genetics and make them more available.

 

[Messica]

Holderreads is no longer breeding at all unfortunately. They've passed their torch (and stock) onto Duck Creek Farm, and DCF are letting very few go from what I've heard and read.

Thankfully the breeder I found in WI got her original stock from Holderreads before they stopped with the Aussies.


As they do equally well in heat and cold I have every confidence they'll thrive here

 

[Duck Drover]

Yes, it is because Holderreads stopped breeding and shipping them that we have been thinking about shipping but I will always have a preference for pick-up. I already get people taking trips to Seattle and stopping for birds on their way home. We want to get ducks to people who want them but I don't want to have to take responsibility for things beyond my control if the post office does not get them delivered safe and sound. I used to ship books and it was unnerving how many packages get lost during shipping, even with tracking, or even returned as undeliverable (I cut and pasted the addresses and it was checked through USPS software prior to shipping). Books can take alot more handling abuse in bubble mailers than a box of live birds or fragile eggs. Then there is the added cost of shipping boxes that has to be charged to the customer on top of the price of the birds.

Local pick-up with cash transactions is far easier than taking orders and getting electronic payments. We tend to spend time talking to people with questions and we get people contacting us directly for advice rather than researching their questions. Because this has been my daughter's Girl Scout Silver Award service project, education is part of the package rather than packaging being part of the service.

 

[dheltzel]

When any breed starts to get rare, anyone with breeding stock would do well to try to get their genetics preserved for future generations. It is so easy for a breed to go extinct. I have some rare chickens and I am going to send eggs to Sandhill Preservation Center. They are eager to try them and if they can establish a flock, they will preserve them for years to come and get them distributed across the US (something I am not equipped to do). They do have a number of duck breeds, but no bantam ducks (they do have bantam chickens, though), so I'm not sure they could preserve AS, but if anyone is willing to try, reach out to them and see.

Doing a little this year could make a big difference years from now.

 

[dheltzel]

Yes, it is because Holderreads stopped breeding and shipping them that we have been thinking about shipping but I will always have a preference for pick-up. I already get people taking trips to Seattle and stopping for birds on their way home. We want to get ducks to people who want them but I don't want to have to take responsibility for things beyond my control if the post office does not get them delivered safe and sound. I used to ship books and it was unnerving how many packages get lost during shipping, even with tracking, or even returned as undeliverable (I cut and pasted the addresses and it was checked through USPS software prior to shipping). Books can take alot more handling abuse in bubble mailers than a box of live birds or fragile eggs. Then there is the added cost of shipping boxes that has to be charged to the customer on top of the price of the birds.

Local pick-up with cash transactions is far easier than taking orders and getting electronic payments. We tend to spend time talking to people with questions and we get people contacting us directly for advice rather than researching their questions. Because this has been my daughter's Girl Scout Silver Award service project, education is part of the package rather than packaging being part of the service.

I agree 100%. My chicks are local pickup only and I have had people drive 3+ hours each way to buy chicks. Cash at pickup is so easy it lets me concentrate on extremely good customer service and excellent birds.

But I do admire and support the people that ship. They are filling a need that I simply can't meet.

 

[Sakiza]

We ship AS eggs and do local pickup for ducklings We’re in upstate NY. Still cool out but the Australian Spotted are laying quite nicely.

 

[dheltzel]

We ship AS eggs and do local pickup for ducklings We’re in upstate NY. Still cool out but the Australian Spotted are laying quite nicely.

Excellent! Mine are laying too (35 eggs in 7 days from 5 hens!). There are 12 ducklings hatched, the oldest are about 10 days now. These are some of the first group of 3, just a day old.

 

[Sakiza]

Excellent! Mine are laying too (35 eggs in 7 days from 5 hens!). There are 12 ducklings hatched, the oldest are about 10 days now. These are some of the first group of 3, just a day old.
View attachment 1321354

They like to lay early!! Look at those cute little faces My brooder room is busy now. Can’t wait for the weather to warm up so I can take everyone outside!