Hatchery Recommendations for Ducklings

[DuckDuckSook]

Hello!

Just wondering if you could share hatchery recommendations. I was looking at Meyer's or Metzer's. We are in PA so Ohio is closer than California. I'm not getting eggs. I'm going to order ducklings. Any tips/recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[johntfs]

My recommendation is don't use a hatchery. Hatcheries are businesses. They're about efficiency and profit. I don't know what happens to the "day-old" ducklings they haven't sold on day two+ but I doubt it's anything good.

Look around your state thread or in the buy/sell/trade section. You'll likely find an actual human person who will sell your some ducklings and it'll likely be cheaper and closer. Also, the ducklings will come from animals that were cared for instead simply being "products" being sold.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Well i can understand the resentments against businesses that deal with life animals, there are other points to put into consideration.
If you buy ducklings from a well-known hatchery…

• … you can be sure that your ducklings are healthy and are not infected with any diseases
• … your ducklings will be very much to breed standards
• … your ducklings will be sexed almost correctly, so you can decide how many ducks and drakes you want to have

My experiences with Metzer Farms were very good - yes, one of my ducklings was injured, but it very likely happened during transport.
My second order was from IdealPoultry in Texas and they sent me Black Swedish ducklings instead of Magpies, but at least all birds were strong and healthy
I have heart good things amout Meyer Hatchery in Polk OH, so should i order ducklings this year they will most likely be from there.

 

[Mandrogora]

I have six ducks from Metzer farms and the only issue I had was that we ended up with one male that was supposed to be a female. The ducklings arrived quickly with cozy bedding a heating pad that was still emitting heat and grogel. I've ordered chickens from Meyer as well and haven't had any problems. However it is my understanding that Meyer's ducks come from a different hatchery on the west coast not Ohio and a lot of people report that they are shipped from California so I suspect they come from Metzer farms anyways. If you look at Meyer and Metzer duck pics on their websites a lot of them are identical. I'd cut out the middle man and order directly from Metzer.

 

[Texag87]

I have six ducks from Metzer farms and the only issue I had was that we ended up with one male that was supposed to be a female. The ducklings arrived quickly with cozy bedding a heating pad that was still emitting heat and grogel. I've ordered chickens from Meyer as well and haven't had any problems. However it is my understanding that Meyer's ducks come from a different hatchery on the west coast not Ohio and a lot of people report that they are shipped from California so I suspect they come from Metzer farms anyways. If you look at Meyer and Metzer duck pics on their websites a lot of them are identical. I'd cut out the middle man and order directly from Metzer.

Your avatar

 

[DucksOhio]

Hello!

Just wondering if you could share hatchery recommendations. I was looking at Meyer's or Metzer's. We are in PA so Ohio is closer than California. I'm not getting eggs. I'm going to order ducklings. Any tips/recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I would suggest ordering from Metzger Farms in California. You can order from Meyer or Murray McMurray, but I guarantee that your ducklings will come from Metzger Farms anyway. This has happened to me twice. And there is absolutely no transparency from the other hatcheries that this is the practice. But I’ve had good luck getting ducklings shipped from California.

 

[Runner duck mom]

I've ordered from Metzer twice and have gotten happy, healthy ducklings both times. They hatch and ship on Monday and made it across the country to Georgia by Weds both times.
We have an incubator now so hatching our own from now on to save our ducklings the stress of shipping, but would order from them again.
The only complaints I have is that our 1st order was for 2 males and we received 2 females...turned out for the best but wouldn't want to order 2 females and get males instead. 2nd order was correct genders.
Also their shipping fee is high for small orders (under 6 ducklings), $35 for shipping + $35 small order fee + the cost of the ducklings.
Either way they have sent us beautiful ducklings each time

 

[Pinckney]

I just posted a thread about Holderreads in OR. Metzer has been buying their breeders as Holderreads has gotten out of breeds/inching to retirement. Holderread is a Master Breeders and highly regarded internationally, if you care about breeding to the SOP. There.are also highly regarded breeders closer.

What breed are you interested in?

Will these be pets or are you looking to show? For show buy from a winning flock, for pet any place will do. Consider rescues? Going to a local show and talking with the exhibitors would be your best bet for show quality nearby.