Ducklings or Eggs??

[taraann81]

I started with ducklings and then this year am attempting to incubate (day 14 on muscovy eggs). If you can't find the ducks you want in your area it would be difficult to find the eggs! I know you can order eggs but incubating is difficult in the best of circumstances and shipping eggs aren't the best of circumstances. I often hear people talk about minimum orders, the hatchery I deal with has a small order surcharge. You can get as few as you want but you have to tack on 5 bucks. Not a big deal.
I wish you were closer I would give you some Muscovy ducklings! I have 18 in the bator and another 40 or so under my hens.

 

[sweetshoplady]

Ladybug4U has really nice Cayuga ducklings and she may be willing to ship. Her ducks are gorgeous. I think she has Welsh Harlequins too.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Your best bet is to order the ducklings that you want, at least they are live birds. There are so many variables with shipped eggs that you will most likely spend as much on eggs as you would have on ducklings by the time you're through.

I have many birds in my yard that were from shipped eggs that are now worth $20-$40, because they were the only hatchling, or the only one that lived. I would never spend that much on one bird ($20 maybe), but I think I'll be changing that soon. I would rather pay $40-$50 for a pair of birds knowing that they are alive and will give me more eggs to hatch than pay $40-$50 for eggs that might not hatch at all. And yes, I have had many batches of shipped eggs that didn't have any hatch, or none that hatched lived.

Always go with live birds, no matter what the cost. You will be better off in the long run.

 

[ChickenToes]

I had the same problem when I first wanted ducks. I only wanted 3 or 4, but no one in my area has ducks. A few people have geese, but no one has ducks. I ended up ordering 10 from a hatchery. I think Metzer will ship 3 or 4 ducks, but the cost of shipping is unreal.

I've always ordered from hatcheries, but I'll probably never order from a hatchery again thanks to the postal service. From now on I'll just buy eggs from people. Buying hatching eggs is always a gamble because they can't guarantee hatchability, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. The postal service screwed up my last 2 orders from hatcheries. The first time the ducklings were left outside at some point during shipping and they were all dead by the time they got to me. The second time, someone forgot to put them on the mail truck and we had to drive 45 minutes to pick them up.

 

[hendrix25]

Quote:
I have decided to do ducklings. i have found a lady who lives about an hour from me and she by chance has some Cayuga ducklings. I am really happy that I found her. It took a lot of internet searching but it paid off. I am suppose to be going to get 2 of them tonight or tomorrow night!!

What hatchery to you use, just for future reference, I have a feeling that I am going to want more ducks as time goes on...

I have everything in place...just need ducklings to complete the deal.

thanks for all your help

 

[taraann81]

My hatchery is here in Ontario, don't think it would be much help to you. Post picks of the babies when you get them. Good luck and welcome to the addiction.