Ducklings or adults?

[MommaDuck]

We have two Pekin ducklings. We are wanting to add more ducks. All the feed stores are out of ducklings. They pretty much sell out the first day they come in. My husbands cousin and his girlfriend go to farm auctions quite a bit. His cousin knows we are wanting more ducks so he let us know that there were many ducks at the auction. So we showed up and looked. I was totally out of my element. I have never been to an auction, and new to ducks. There were ducks I knew nothing about there and there were mixes. My husband and I talked and decided not to try and bid on any. They did have Cayugas. A drake and two hens went for $12. I do like that breed, very pretty ducks. Also there were a lot of drakes and I don't want drakes, well MAYBE one. Some of the things we thought of is we don't know how friendly these ducks are, how much human contact they have had. The girlfriend's friend was there too and she has a farm and lots of animals and she was helping me out, telling me what some of the ducks were. They have the auction every other week so we may go next time if we don't find any ducks before then. How is it different getting a full grown duck compared to a duckling?

 

[TLWR]

Where are you located?
There are ducklings listed on CraigsList around here.
I learned of a chicken swap at a 'local feed store' (it's open a few hours 3 nights a week) once a month near my house - went last weekend and they had mostly chickens/roosters/chicks, but there were a few ducklings as well.


As an adult, you know exactly what you are getting with breed/sex as you can tell. As a duckling, unless you are good at sexing them, not so much on the gender issue.

Have you considered ordering online? You could try to sell the extras as well.

 

[MommaDuck]

I'm in Indiana. Not much ducks being listed on CL right now. There is someone not far from us that has Welsh Harlequin ducklings but so far hasn't responded to us. I have looked on Metzer Farms and even went all the way through the process to see what the final cost would be. I would have to talk to my husband to see what he thinks of doing that. I don't know of anyone who would buy the ones we don't need. I guess if we did though we could post any we don't need on CL.

 

[Kevin565]

How old are your current ducklings? Raising ducklings is usually very rewarding but it takes a lot of time and effort that not everyone wants to do. I personally prefer adult ducks because it's less hassle and depending on the quality, the price isn't always much more expensive than ducklings. If your keeping for pets I would probably suggest trying to find some ducklings.

 

[MommaDuck]

They are almost 4 weeks old.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I worry a bit about animals from an auction. What about health issues?

I suggest that you go to "Where Am I/ Where are You?" Forum right here on BYC and find your state. There is an index at the top.

Then ask if anyone has ducks or ducklings for sale. You can find someone that has ducks right here on BYC that you can speak with and learn how the ducks were raised.

Ordering from Metzer would also work, and if nobody has ducks for sale on your local Craigslist, you should be able to sell the extras, since you will have the only ducks for sale. Plan ahead, though because some hatcheries won't sell during Easter week and many of the hatcheries charge extra during Easter week.