Meat Ducks... They are here.... pics added.

[PAzoo2]

http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/idea.shtml

As we talk about raising healthy birds, on pasture ... I remembered the conservation efforts of this person... Maurice Fields...great ideas for brooding at all stages -predator protection...all can be modified for our muscovies and other meaties - ... for meeting the demand of "Conscious carnivores" - myself included

I love my birds - I want the best life possible - hope the info is interesting to someone...

 

[PAzoo2]

Jeff! Thanks for sharing the duck pricing...and the other information you have shared in the past ...I too have brooded in the basement - made me laugh ... your significant other is a peach.

For all those snowed in...Take Care - keep warm and safe!

 

[CityChicker]

I feel for you! Brooding that many ducks indoors would be an absolute nightmare. You would almost have to brood them outside (or out of the house) and on wire floors or at least have the water on wire floors. You may also find that, in the future, you want to be more selective with breed even for the ones you are keeping for eggs. There would have been far better choices for both meat and eggs if you decide to make this a regular part of your business and the extra expense might have been worth it. Raising the assortment is great too though if you wanted to end up with some to keep around more for fun, it just depends on your goals.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
Ya, I know... I really want the pekin females only so I can breed them to a muscovy male for meat. The hybrid between the two makes a great meat duck... so I'm told. I really wanted the khaki females for the eggs too... I heard they are amazing layers. But it came down to price. They were only $1.80 each so it was tough to pass up. I ended up with about 50 or so Pekins which was great. I'm not sure on the rest... but I will count them when I take them out tomorrow to their new brooder in the barn... Just spent all day yesterday cleaning... I'm doing the same today. It's hard because everything is frozen. Since I use my shed/barn for processing/brooding/storage/ and everything else... I have to really work hard to make sure everything meshes together. Since I'm done processing until May or so... the ducks get free reign of the barn for about 4 weeks. Since all of my equipment is now stored up stairs... and the barn has concrete floors... It's an easy choice to keep them in the barn. After that, I have a pond that they will be going to, hopefully by that time I will be able to distinguish males from females and keep them separate. I do no, that if you keep them off of water they are easier to pluck.

These are mainly to get my feet wet with this many ducks, despite the breeds... it looks like only the runners and sweedish are going to make lousy meat birds. Which I'm going to sell the extra males from these breeds and just keep the females for eggs. The Black Cayuga, Magpies, Pekins, and Rouens.... all look good. They all seem to be the same size at the moment with the pekins being just a slight bit bigger.

I do need some eye candy so to speak for the customer when they come over. They will get a kick out of 80 plus ducks swimming in the pond, that is if they really are truly st. run. I will be so mad if I get all males!! But as the year goes on, I will take the plunge and get more Khaki's for eggs.... and some muscovies for meat along with the pekins.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
No I have not, the only ducks I really ever raised were these.... and some from Meyers. I've heard Metzers has great ducks though.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:

That's funny you say that, because the guy I was talking about does this for a living and he raises mallards for hunting preserves for dog trials. He has an awesome set up... but yes all he does is take a standard laying mash and mix it with warm water.... it makes it go longer a half a bucket of feed turns into a full bucket when you add water too it. It seems to fill them up faster and there is less wast as even the fine stuff is eaten up. The corn I guess just keeps them full through out the day... plus it's cheap. When I did this for my last ducks it worked really well....

 

[CityChicker]

Jeff- What you could do also is consider the White Layers from Metzers, especially considering the quantity you are ordering. If you order more than 60 hens, they will give you an equal number of males for free. If you go to their highest price break (something like 100-120 birds, I can't remember for sure), when you factor in the free drakes, that would bring it down to something like $1.50-$1.75 per duck. I can't remember the price for sure, but I think the details are posted on their website as far as the numbers needed to get free drakes. HTH.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

What a great deal.... It's in the ball park of $1.75 / duck or something...just a quick glance but that is a great price. Especially for good layer ducks.