Make money with Ducks?

[BuddyT]

Hi, I am planning on getting some khaki campbell ducks and was wondering if i could turn a small profit or at least break even some how? Im looking for info like how many birds i would need and good ways to save on feed (30$ at TSC for 50lb) im not sure where else i could buy it.

Thanks for any advice.

I intend to do it as a hobby one way or the other, it would just be nice to do something enjoyable AND make a lil some thing

 

[agregg15]

Well it depends. Are you selling the eggs or breeding the ducks?

 

[jm93030]

Ducks dont need high protein feed

here I can get a 50 lbs bag 16% protein for $ 13.50 just make sure they always have water plenty of it

where are u located?

in some places is hard to sell chicks

for any kind of bussines you have to make sure that there wil be customers interested

I once wanted to raise quails to sell eggs


But once I was collecting 100 eggs a day

I was not selling as many

I had to get rid off my birds ASAP

kind of lost money

 

[TLWR]

Wow, my feed is less than $15 for a 50 pound bag at TSC. Where are you located that it is costing that much?

 

[3Kids&2Ducks]

I am not sure about the $ thing, like the pp said there has to be interest. About the feed, that seems really high. I usually get mine at TSC too, but i pay like $8/bag. I would try a local feed store if you have one, if not then try Rural King or maybe someone online...there might even be recipes online for making your own.

 

[lovesgliders]

If you factor in your time and the cost of building a coop/run, I'd be surprised if you EVER broke even. Not to discourage you, as you can certainly make a little back selling eggs or ducklings, but I definitely wouldn't get into ducks hoping to make a little $$$.

 

[muslw4]

Depending on where your located, you might try a local farmer to buy feed from. We use our own ground corn here and add some minerals to it but if the birds can free range then they seem to do fine. We sometimes sell grain (oats & ground corn) to people. It's cheaper than from a feed store. In the winter we actually throw a flake of hay to the chickens, geese, and ducks for greens. THey love it.

 

[70%cocoa]

If you have good quality, pure bred stock that are from a known egg-laying line and also breed and then sell the offspring then you might make a little more to cover some costs of feeding during the non-laying season.

If you got a Khaki drake and Dark Campbell ducks then you could tell the sex of the ducklings as soon as they hatch - the boys will be Dark and the girls Khaki. Or you could just keep Khakis only and sell as unsexed.

It is worth investing in good quality stick to start with, I think.

Just another thought - it's good to be able to find feed that is not expensive but you don't want to sacrifice quality. You want to keep egg production high and your birds a good, healthy weight (and not end up with nutritional deficiencies in offspring). So make sure cheap doesn't = poorer quality food.

 

[BuddyT]

Thnx for the replies.
I live in Maine.
Free range is pretty much out of the question because i have Eagles and Hawks around on top of racoons, coyotes, wolves and there have even been moutain lion sitings in my neighborhood...
I was planning on selling primarily eggs. however i would want at least one drake to produce fertilized eggs to possibly sell/sustain the flock... can you eat caampbells? i hear hey are too small? just wondering

But again thanks i will double check TSC

 

[70%cocoa]

Yes, you can eat them. You won't get as much meat from them as you would from a large breed, of course, but that's the only difference.

If you are keen on making money out of egg sales then I'd be trying to get my hands on some really good quality laying Campbells (ones from a breeder that breeds for egg laying). I am not sure how well TSC Campbells would lay, or whether they are likely to be pure bred either.... But they are cheaper and easier to find, I guess. It'd be worth doing a bit of research (even asking on here) to see how well TSC Campbells lay. If they lay well then that's great