California - Northern

[zooweemama]

Never said there are lots of large commercial duck egg operations like with chickens. The demand just isn't there, at least here in the US.

But I think you may be underestimating egg laying amongst KC. They are one of the best amongst commonly obtainable ducks, at least with feed/egg/meat conversion.
http://albc-usa.org/cpl/waterfowl/campbell.html
Or if you want to go the hatchery route.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/khaki_campbell.html

We did used to raise runners as well, along with many other duck breeds (KC, cayuga, runner, muscovy (not a true duck), appleyard, ancona, a few others that I can't think of at the moment). I do find the runners a bit disconcerting to watch walking around,

He only raised/showed brown African & brown Chinese geese.

I like waterfowl very much, but chickens are easier for us with not having to deal with the water access. I know they do fine without it, I just feel like they have a happier life with it.

Deb

I have duck books, sites bookmarked- all kinds of stuff. I didn't underestimate KCs. There are just other ducks that lay as well (sometimes better) that visually appeal to me more. Much like we do with chickens? I adore Runners. I love their long skinny body. We have 2 and they are faves in our family. We like most of our breeds that we have but Pekins (we love love love them- just eat too much) will not be getting any more of them and will likely stick to the small breeds only. I like the way the Golden 300s look better than the KCs and they are heavy layers. (just me personally- I am sure there are people that love the way KCs look!) http://www.metzerfarms.com/BirdInformation.cfm?Breed=Golden 300 Hybrid Layer&BirdType=Duck&ID=GOLDE

http://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparison.cfm?CustID=1105969 for a breed comp chart with egg laying/weight etc The Golden 300 hybrid is a better layer than a KC- according to Metzers (and have found a lot of peoples posts impressed with the 300s laying abilities). But also it will vary with breeders too with non-hybrid breeds. Like Holderreads is a top knotch breeder and they sell WHs and I read - breed for not just looks but egg laying ability. So their WHs are said to be extremely efficient layers. Hatcheries are less selective (generally speaking) as they deal in volume (like chickens/chicks). So I think it depends on where you get your ducks too. When we add more ducks (poss this Spring we will likely be buying for Holderreads and be getting Runners or WH). I also read around the duck forum as well to see what people have, what they like, why, who lays well, who forages well...

We enjoy the hands free quality of the ducks. Since we do own a pond- we literally do nothing with our ducks but feed them and house at night. Let them out in the morning. So for us- after you passed the brooding phase- ducks are easier. I know when you are doing kiddie pools it is work. Emptying and refilling those pools daily IS work! LOL We did it for almost 3 months before we let them on the pond. Sooooo nice! haha! I can't imagine having to still be doing the pools everyday and I understand why people choose chickens over ducks!

 

[chiqita]

I vaugley remember reading duck were the prefers home fowl before ww2 then it was all new hybrid chickens. 3 of zoos breeds I think have kc in there linage. Golden and the wh iirc. OK maybe 2. They were both supposed to take the kc laying and make a less flighty duck. The goldens are fairly new I think? If there is any Asian population around you or small bakeries you can find a market for duck eggs. A local bakery told me if I could get 10 dz a week they would buy em from me but I didn't want more ducks. When I had them people went nuts for trading on cl.

Sent from my phone so excuse the autocorrect madness.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I vaugley remember reading duck were the prefers home fowl before ww2 then it was all new hybrid chickens. 3 of zoos breeds I think have kc in there linage. Golden and the wh iirc. OK maybe 2. They were both supposed to take the kc laying and make a less flighty duck. The goldens are fairly new I think? If there is any Asian population around you or small bakeries you can find a market for duck eggs. A local bakery told me if I could get 10 dz a week they would buy em from me but I didn't want more ducks. When I had them people went nuts for trading on cl.
Sent from my phone so excuse the autocorrect madness.

I was going to suggest the same thing about finding buyers for duck eggs. Asian markets or restaurants may be interested or know people who want to buy them. I know my MIL, who is Chinese, loves duck eggs and has a special recipe she uses anytime she gets some!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I will have a run set up. It will be 23' x 25' and has a few trees in it so they will have lots of shade, although that means I won't be able to put a top on my run. My worry is that I can't find affordable chicken wire in a heavier gauge than 20. Pretty flimsy when one has bears and mountain lions to deal with on top of hawks and coyotes. Oddly, no raccoons up here, although the snakes may replace the raccoons in going after the eggs.

I know a lot of folks contending with large predators use hog or cattle panels as a framework or even chain link panels, and lay the wire over that. It's not going to stop them, but may slow them down enough that someone will have time to use a bit more effective and targeted deterrents! If you have black bears, they are suppose to scare fairly easily.

Couple of strands of hot wire might help too.

 

[egg-lady]

We use hog panels it is much thicker. the squares are bigger then we put fencing around that that has smaller holes. so far it helps. knock on wood, LOL!!

 

[AnonAMauze]

You really need a Livestock Guardian Dog. A big one, maybe even a pair, since you are dealing with those large predators.

Kim

Well, we do, he's still young and learning, he's a border collie, and we only got him after I lost all but 2 of my flock this year. Next year should be better.

 

[zooweemama]

I vaugley remember reading duck were the prefers home fowl before ww2 then it was all new hybrid chickens. 3 of zoos breeds I think have kc in there linage. Golden and the wh iirc. OK maybe 2. They were both supposed to take the kc laying and make a less flighty duck. The goldens are fairly new I think? If there is any Asian population around you or small bakeries you can find a market for duck eggs. A local bakery told me if I could get 10 dz a week they would buy em from me but I didn't want more ducks. When I had them people went nuts for trading on cl.

Sent from my phone so excuse the autocorrect madness.

My Golden 300s area hybrid and have KC in them. WH started as a KC color variation that a breeder then selectively began breeding FOR that color specifically. I feel like I have KCs already haha!


Excuse my typos. Sent from my iPhone.

 

[debs_flock]

Ah but see, the chart you referenced, the only thing that beat the KC in egg laying, were the hybrids (I think, I only gave it a quick glance, busy vacuuming dog dust).

I was only talking about purebred ducks (don't forget, our primary purpose was for showing, the eggs were just a bonus). If you're primarily going for egg laying ability, hybrids are the way to go, much like with most chickens. It's hard to beat the sex-links and production (hatchery) quality birds for shear numbers.

Variety of breeds/colors is what makes things interesting, everyone can go with what they like. Just like I am able to put up with poor laying in some of my breeds of chickens, because I just want to work with that breed. Other than our egg flock of 12 feedstore birds (as purebred as a hatchery bird can be), the rest of our birds are all from exhibition lines. So far, I'd give egg laying in my chickens to my campine, almost every day a large-x-large egg without exception. But then, many of my breeds haven't started to lay yet for comparison.

And Holderreads is a great place to research. All of our show waterfowl came from them (20 years ago) and his books make a superior reference. Great people to work with.

Deb

 

[AnonAMauze]

I know a lot of folks contending with large predators use hog or cattle panels as a framework or even chain link panels, and lay the wire over that. It's not going to stop them, but may slow them down enough that someone will have time to use a bit more effective and targeted deterrents! If you have black bears, they are suppose to scare fairly easily.

Couple of strands of hot wire might help too.

I've looked at hog/cattle fencing, even for a pen smaller than a hog would need, it would be beyond my finances. I'm still trying to figure out if I can afford all wood posts instead of t-posts. They would make for a stronger fence, even if I'm using lighter fencing. However, layering the fencing isn't something that's occurred to me before. In some ways it seems like a colossal waste, since I'd have to buy twice what I need. The hot wire is a good idea, but I'm not sure if it would be SAFE where I am, since we have lots of pine and oak trees and that means leaves and needles on the ground, and the weed grasses can get quite tall. Don't want to terrify my chickens by having to run the weed eater every few weeks near their pens!

And yes, we do have black bears. A black bear took 16 chickens and 2 turkeys from me this year. It was a mess.

 

[zooweemama]

Ah but see, the chart you referenced, the only thing that beat the KC in egg laying, were the hybrids (I think, I only gave it a quick glance, busy vacuuming dog dust).

I was only talking about purebred ducks (don't forget, our primary purpose was for showing, the eggs were just a bonus). If you're primarily going for egg laying ability, hybrids are the way to go, much like with most chickens. It's hard to beat the sex-links and production (hatchery) quality birds for shear numbers.

Variety of breeds/colors is what makes things interesting, everyone can go with what they like. Just like I am able to put up with poor laying in some of my breeds of chickens, because I just want to work with that breed. Other than our egg flock of 12 feedstore birds (as purebred as a hatchery bird can be), the rest of our birds are all from exhibition lines. So far, I'd give egg laying in my chickens to my campine, almost every day a large-x-large egg without exception. But then, many of my breeds haven't started to lay yet for comparison.

And Holderreads is a great place to research. All of our show waterfowl came from them (20 years ago) and his books make a superior reference. Great people to work with.

Deb

This is exactly where I got my information regarding how heavy the WH will lay (see his website which tells about how well their WH lay). 260-350 a year. http://holderreadfarm.com/photogallery/welsh_page/welsh_page.htm

According to other charts (all over the net) KC average 165-250 annually. According the ALBC- it is on par with what Holderreads shares about their WHs. So at the very least WHs hold their own next to KC. WH's are not a hybrid and are straight bred/pure bred.

I love Holderreads books and their website. Always helpful and informative! I have his books for geese and ducks- I have learned so much from them. I like Storey's guides too.