Ducklings in the spring - hatcheries

[21hens-incharge]

I got Welsh Harlequins 6 ducks and one drake. So far he is not a jerk at all. They are also quite pretty.

 

[ibarbidahl]

Welsh are not a large breed. Appleyards, saxony, pekins, even Swedish can be easily double their weight - You'll need to consider the sizes when you purchase. Hens wouldn't really be so much of a problem, but a large drake over the smaller Welsh could be.

I've got a small flock of runners and welsh - they are show quality, but I sell small quantity hatches....but if you are really wanting the larger and smaller birds in the mix you'll be better off ordering hens from a hatchery. Effectively eliminating the problem of an oversized drake. (You could always get a smaller breed drake)

 

[DucksOhio]

don’t order from a hatchery please. shipping live day old babies is extremely cruel and lots of them die in the process! also adopt if possible ❤

I’ve ordered ducklings 3 times from hatcheries and have had only one not make it. I think most take care in packing them for USPS. I prefer this because the hatchery can sex the birds. I don’t think that it’s cruel. The hatcheries have worked out details with USPS to ensure their safety.

i have not locally seen ducks for adoption at rescue shelters here in Ohio.

 

[gclarrot]

I’ve ordered ducklings 3 times from hatcheries and have had only one not make it. I think most take care in packing them for USPS. I prefer this because the hatchery can sex the birds. I don’t think that it’s cruel. The hatcheries have worked out details with USPS to ensure their safety.

i have not locally seen ducks for adoption at rescue shelters here in Ohio.

I personally have only seen guinea pigs, pot belly pigs and rabbits only outside of the regular mill of the cats and dogs. You’d have to go to a bird or exotic rescue. They’re few and far in between. Rescues won’t ship.

But for the ethical side - as long as you’re dealing with an ethical hatchery. I’ve heard horror stories from local backyard hatcheries...Facebook is an interesting read in chicken groups at times.

I would like to believe most people love their animals - ducks, quail, chickens, dogs, etc. and most people have the best interest in them. Maybe im a tad jaded. I don’t think people are deliberately killing their animals or hurting them (not saying these people don’t exist or see chickens, fowls and other animals not worthy of life).

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My shelter had a cockatoo once, but that was the only time in 10 years and they were incredibly picky/specific of what you had to be and how much their fee was to adopt it.

 

[FunQuail]

Hi!
As someone who's had a little experience with hatcheries I'm going to join and hopefully be helpful to you.
Ordering from a hatchery.
Pros:
You get exactly what you want and as many as you want.
You can get exact ratios, no extra boys to figure out what to do with
You can raise them the way you want to.
You most likely won't be bringing in any diseases or pre-existing injuries.
Their parents should have been vaccinated meaning they should already have some of the antibodies against some illnesses.
Cons:
Shipping can be hard on the animals
Some may die, I have experienced this first hand with our first ducklings we ordered 5 out of those only 2 survived.
They lie,
This is a review that I left, it won't show up publicly something to do with Google and my account but here it is:
I warn anyone who buys ducklings from Meyer Hatchery in Polk OH. Actually the ducklings don’t come from them. They come from Metzer Farms in Gonzales CA. We bought 5 Welsh Harlequins. It took them 3 days to arrive. One was dead upon arrival. Another one was incredibly weak and on the verge of dying. And a different one wasn’t looking too good. We lost both those ducklings within the hour after arriving home. There should have been a heat pack. There was no mention of a heat pack or anything when we were checking out! I give them one star because their customer service is pretty good and they felt bad about the dead ducklings. And we still have 2 alive. I even called Metzer Farms twice in hopes of figuring out why the ducklings died in case it was Duck Virus Hepatitis. I was trying to ask if the ducklings parents had been vaccinated for the virus, because if their parents had been vaccinated then the antibodies would have been passed to the ducklings and I could rule out the virus as cause of death. But the costumer service lady was very short and cut me off and told me to take it up with Meyer Hatchery. And of course you guys wouldn’t know exactly what they were vaccinated for! Then I called again and asked directly if their breeder pairs were vaccinated for Duck Virus Hepatitis instead of trying to explain the situation like last time. She was still unhelpful and told me no she couldn’t find out today and that it was tax day. But Meyer Hatchery you need to state at the top of the duckling page in huge print that these ducklings are coming from Metzer Farms in Gonzales California!!! I will not be doing anymore business with either of these hatcheries ever again. I am very disappointed in the lack of honesty and not putting the ducklings lives before any business matters. It should have been stated clearly that the ducklings were coming from Metzer Farms. Thank you for reading and I seriously hope that you will make changes for future ducklings and customers sakes.

Since we lost some of the ducklings we ordered from Murry McMurray Hatchery in Iowa. Those ducklings also came from Metzer but thankfully this time they all survived. My plan if I ever buy more ducklings I'm picking them up from Cackle Hatchery, no shipping. If I were you I would call them up and ask if the ducklings that you are planning to buy are actually coming from them. I called up all these hatcheries before I ever ordered and not once did they say the ducklings weren't coming from them. I tried to make sure the ducklings would be okay and I thought I could trust the hatcheries to be honest and know what they are doing.

Adoption
Pros:
You can see the animal before buying
You'll be giving them a good home
Cons:
You don't always know why they are giving up this animal.
You don't know if they have received vet care.
You don't know if they have any diseases.
You don't know this animal and they don't know you.
You haven't raised them or know anything about them or their past experiences.

I hope this helps and good luck!
Kelly

 

[DucksOhio]

Hi!
As someone who's had a little experience with hatcheries I'm going to join and hopefully be helpful to you.
Ordering from a hatchery.
Pros:
You get exactly what you want and as many as you want.
You can get exact ratios, no extra boys to figure out what to do with
You can raise them the way you want to.
You most likely won't be bringing in any diseases or pre-existing injuries.
Their parents should have been vaccinated meaning they should already have some of the antibodies against some illnesses.
Cons:
Shipping can be hard on the animals
Some may die, I have experienced this first hand with our first ducklings we ordered 5 out of those only 2 survived.
They lie,
This is a review that I left, it won't show up publicly something to do with Google and my account but here it is:
I warn anyone who buys ducklings from Meyer Hatchery in Polk OH. Actually the ducklings don’t come from them. They come from Metzer Farms in Gonzales CA. We bought 5 Welsh Harlequins. It took them 3 days to arrive. One was dead upon arrival. Another one was incredibly weak and on the verge of dying. And a different one wasn’t looking too good. We lost both those ducklings within the hour after arriving home. There should have been a heat pack. There was no mention of a heat pack or anything when we were checking out! I give them one star because their customer service is pretty good and they felt bad about the dead ducklings. And we still have 2 alive. I even called Metzer Farms twice in hopes of figuring out why the ducklings died in case it was Duck Virus Hepatitis. I was trying to ask if the ducklings parents had been vaccinated for the virus, because if their parents had been vaccinated then the antibodies would have been passed to the ducklings and I could rule out the virus as cause of death. But the costumer service lady was very short and cut me off and told me to take it up with Meyer Hatchery. And of course you guys wouldn’t know exactly what they were vaccinated for! Then I called again and asked directly if their breeder pairs were vaccinated for Duck Virus Hepatitis instead of trying to explain the situation like last time. She was still unhelpful and told me no she couldn’t find out today and that it was tax day. But Meyer Hatchery you need to state at the top of the duckling page in huge print that these ducklings are coming from Metzer Farms in Gonzales California!!! I will not be doing anymore business with either of these hatcheries ever again. I am very disappointed in the lack of honesty and not putting the ducklings lives before any business matters. It should have been stated clearly that the ducklings were coming from Metzer Farms. Thank you for reading and I seriously hope that you will make changes for future ducklings and customers sakes.

Since we lost some of the ducklings we ordered from Murry McMurray Hatchery in Iowa. Those ducklings also came from Metzer but thankfully this time they all survived. My plan if I ever buy more ducklings I'm picking them up from Cackle Hatchery, no shipping. If I were you I would call them up and ask if the ducklings that you are planning to buy are actually coming from them. I called up all these hatcheries before I ever ordered and not once did they say the ducklings weren't coming from them. I tried to make sure the ducklings would be okay and I thought I could trust the hatcheries to be honest and know what they are doing.

Adoption
Pros:
You can see the animal before buying
You'll be giving them a good home
Cons:
You don't always know why they are giving up this animal.
You don't know if they have received vet care.
You don't know if they have any diseases.
You don't know this animal and they don't know you.
You haven't raised them or know anything about them or their past experiences.

I hope this helps and good luck!
Kelly

I had the same experience with Meyer Hatchery, only one duckling died in transit. But they ABSOLUTELY need to be transparent about ducklings coming from another hatchery. I kinda raised he** with Meyer when I discovered they were coming from Metzger.

 

[FunQuail]

I had the same experience with Meyer Hatchery, only one duckling died in transit. But they ABSOLUTELY need to be transparent about ducklings coming from another hatchery. I kinda raised he** with Meyer when I discovered they were coming from Metzger.

It's so sad and annoying! What do they not care? I ordered from Meyer because they weren't too far and I messaged them and asked lots of different questions in one of those box chat things and I think I called them too before ordering.