Hello all. I've been obsessed with the thought of raising ducks for about a year now. I spend most of my free time researching and planning on starting to raise a flock. So I have spent a lot of lurking on this site during that time, but now it's time for me to start asking some specific questions.
I hope to be moving up to a rural property in Montana by next spring, and then start working the land and laying out the property to get it ready for a decent sized vegetable garden and a safe habitat for a small flock. By the time I'm done with all that infrastructure-type stuff, have built a coup, a small enclosed run, and a large free range run, It will likely be the spring of 2024 when I get my first flock members...seems so far away, but at least I should be pretty well set-up and have TONS of research done.
My starting flock will likely be 5 ducks with 1 Drake. I'm leaning towards an Ancona drake, with various breeds of ducks: an Ancona, a Cayuga, a Silver Apple wood, and haven't decided on the other ducks. My main goal for this first flock is just to learn how to raise healthy and happy ducks. My secondary goal will be for eggs, which will be more focused towards color variation vs the shear number of eggs (one reason why Anconas will be my first breeding pair, and of course why I want at least one Cayuga). This will be while working a full-time job.
After I feel confident in my abilities to raise a healthy flock, then I want to grow the flock and expand to breeding ducks for meat, and hopefully can turn raising my ducks into my full time job...selling/trading eggs (both fertile and infertile), ducklings, and meat. I'm also a career cook and trained as a Chef; therefore I would like to occasionally be able to do Chef exhibitions where I use ingredients (herbs, vegetables, eggs, duck meat, etc) from my own property.
Anyways, thanks for all of the help that this forum has already given me in my initial research, and thanks in advance for any help in the future.
-Randy
I hope to be moving up to a rural property in Montana by next spring, and then start working the land and laying out the property to get it ready for a decent sized vegetable garden and a safe habitat for a small flock. By the time I'm done with all that infrastructure-type stuff, have built a coup, a small enclosed run, and a large free range run, It will likely be the spring of 2024 when I get my first flock members...seems so far away, but at least I should be pretty well set-up and have TONS of research done.
My starting flock will likely be 5 ducks with 1 Drake. I'm leaning towards an Ancona drake, with various breeds of ducks: an Ancona, a Cayuga, a Silver Apple wood, and haven't decided on the other ducks. My main goal for this first flock is just to learn how to raise healthy and happy ducks. My secondary goal will be for eggs, which will be more focused towards color variation vs the shear number of eggs (one reason why Anconas will be my first breeding pair, and of course why I want at least one Cayuga). This will be while working a full-time job.
After I feel confident in my abilities to raise a healthy flock, then I want to grow the flock and expand to breeding ducks for meat, and hopefully can turn raising my ducks into my full time job...selling/trading eggs (both fertile and infertile), ducklings, and meat. I'm also a career cook and trained as a Chef; therefore I would like to occasionally be able to do Chef exhibitions where I use ingredients (herbs, vegetables, eggs, duck meat, etc) from my own property.
Anyways, thanks for all of the help that this forum has already given me in my initial research, and thanks in advance for any help in the future.
-Randy
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
