How much will two PET welsh harlequin ducks coast per year?

[duck-horselover]

hi
does anyone know how much two welsh harlequin ducks will coast per year
thanks very much

 

[Amiga]

I want to add this up top, here - I started with eleven Runners. That's a bunch of ducks! So what I did required a good bit of space.

Much depends on what kind of shelter they have. I spent hundreds on an outdoor shelter, only to discover my Runners were better off in the walkout basement (it stays much warmer and cooler).

If you have decent space in an existing structure (we can have a long discussion of decent - but it includes no predators, no toxic stuff including fumes, warm enough, cool enough, well ventilated, safe), you can get a number of items they need - a swim pan/kiddie pool, food and water bowls, for free or cheap.

It is important not to skimp on safe outdoor shelter if you will be keeping them outdoors. I kept mine indoors for 3 months because they arrived early and spring was late, and it took me a while to get everything built outside. Again, if I'd known then what I know know, I could have saved myself a few hundred dollars at least.

So the recurring costs are bedding (I use pine shavings, but some folks have access to things like oat straw, flax straw, sawdust) and food. If you want Welsh Harlequins, if they weight 5 or 6 pounds then that's .3 to .5 pounds of food per duck per day. I would set aside some money for a vet visit, just in case. And then there are some home treatment things that are good to have before the emergency strikes.

Epsom salt, triple antibiotic ointment without painkiller, food grade activated charcoal, vet wrap, calcium supplement and a few other items like saline solution (you can make your own, by the way). Those are off the top of my head. There is also poultry vitamins, 4 dollars for a 4 year supply, clear iodine, a few bucks for a small bottle.

It's the initial outlay that can get pricey.

What you can do, also, is use their poo for plant food - so if you are a gardener, that can reduce the cost for fertilizer just a tad. The used bedding makes superb mulch for gardens. So that's another thing you don't need to buy. Or you might be able to trade duck bedding with a gardener for some fresh vegetables. Yum.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

Agreed! Cost per year is very low. Making sure you have adequate house/run and an initial "medicine cabinet" is going to be the biggest expense. Also with two you would be best off to sex them. If you can tolerate some noise and want eggs, get two ducks(girls). If you want quiet and don't care about the eggs, get two drakes. With one of each there is a decent chance the drake will overbreed the duck and that can cause problems for both the duck and you. If this is a start and you plan on growing your flock, I would start with two ducks.

 

[TLWR]

Cost to maintain will be cheap. Cost to set up will be where your expense is.

I buy them food and either share our veggies or occasionally buy them their own.


Brooder -
First batch I used our great dane sized dog kennel. Second batch I had a great dane in my great dane sized kennel, so we built one with some 2x4s we had around and some left over soffit materials from our garage. Brooders - Free

Duck stuff -
feeder and waterer for ducklings, then feeder and water for adult sized ducks
swim thing - I had a kiddie pool for my dogs. They didn't use it other than to drink, so it was given to the ducks. Then I bought them a bigger kiddie pool. Then I set up a drain in their bigger pool. Then I build them a raised pond (free, not too spendy, $$$$ - in order). You can also use cement mixing pans or anything else that holds up to the sun or whatever weather you have to deal with

Housing -
We bought a dog house kit which was big enough for my 3 runners. Would also be fine as a night house for 2 WH. That was around $80 or so. Then I got more ducks.... So we built a 3'x6' duck house using reclaimed trex decking and then bought 2x4s and fence boards to build it. Roof was existing plywood we had. Shingles were left overs from our garage build. Their house wasn't too spendy since we had much of the material. Oh, and a can of exterior paint so I could paint the interior to make it easier to clean and less likely to absorb duck ick

Pen -
might not need one. We free ranged for several years before we lost any of our birds. Now a local fox family invades in the early summer and fall. So now the girls are penned for half the year. So fencing and fence posts (posts we had left from fencing 4 acres). Then electric fence materials because I really want that fox to stay away!



So cost can depend. Once you have everything set up, not expensive to feed them. I'm sure my water bill would be less if I didn't have to pen them and therefore change pool water ever 2 days. Their pond gets changed yearly.
It's the initial set up to get them situated and into adult hood that can be expensive or if can be reasonable depending on what you want to do and what you have available to do all that they need.

 

[duck-horselover]

well i have already bought a coop/pen and run so with the medicine is it cheap or expensive and do you have any price suggestions maybe of what they like $100-$200 thanks

 

[needlessjunk]

Well you will need shavings $6/bag and food $18/bag. So just that alone would be around $300 a year give or take. It will depend on how much you use but I figure at least one bag of shavings and one bag of food a month. Plus wormers $15 for a bottle one a year. Treats, we do a large bag of frozen peas once a week at $5/bag. Plus any other produce that is on sale like watermelon a few times a year. I would say about $400 a year just to be on the safe side and be able to cover any costs that may pop up along the way like improving fencing, medical needs and such. That should also cover the increase in water usage as well. If you sell eggs you can off set the cost a bit.

 

[TLWR]

We get feed for around $11 or 12 a bag. That feeds 4 ducks for around a month (3 runners and wh)
Other than batch 2, I have never bought bedding. I use leaves and pine needles from my yard. They only get bedding in their nest box and they have been good lately about not pooping in it so the bedding tends to last a long time.

We do peas nightly or anytime we need them to head back to their pen. A normal sized bag lasts us a few weeks.
I buy cucumbers when they are cheap
They get the ends of our tomatoes, squash, etc as we use them and have no plans for the rest after we use what we need. When watermelons are super cheap, I"ll buy them one.
I grew tomatoes one year and there were 2 varieties we did not like, ducks got lots of tomatoes that season

My girls are pretty cheap.
But again, it will depend on what you need to get.

 

[duck-horselover]

umm they said ducks were cheap. my dog coast that much per year

(i am not joking he is very cheap).