I try to keep the feed separate, but the chickens sneak out and eat the duck/goose food. I have:
60 adult chickens
30 juvenile chickens
12 week old chicks
2 Pomeranian Geese
8 Ducks (2 Rouen, 5 Runner, 1 Ancona)
3 Guinea Fowl
This is the feed I buy in a month: All my birds, except juveniles/chicks, free range daily:
5 bags of Layer Crumbles (50#) @13.00/bag
2 bags of Layer Pellets (50#-during laying season for the geese....otherwise 1 gamebird feed mixed with 1 layer pellet)@12.95 a bag
1 bag of wheat for the ducks/geese to mix with their feed (during the winter only) @ 12.50 a bag
3 bags Starter/Grower (50#) @14.00 a bag
2 Bags Scratch Grains (50#) @14.50 a bag for the brand I like
So, combined that is 650 pounds of feed a month divided by 115 fowl and divided by 30 days= .188 pounds or roughly 1/3 cup per day during the winter.
I eliminate the wheat and one bag of scratch during the summer and their feed consumption = .159 pounds or a bit less that 1/3 cup per day during the summer.
Their are a lot of variables, such as size of the breed, time of year, free ranging, supplementing their diet with leftover produce or in the case of chickens table scraps. However, you should be able to safely get up to 6 ducks without breaking the bank. I would think that one 50# bag would last a month with some supplemental grains.
Prior to breeding season, my geese were actually the most economical of all my birds: They rarely visited the food dish and spent much of their time munching their pasture. The winter grass is just coming in and the summer grass is dying...plus it's breeding season, so they have been parked at the food dish for the past few weeks.
One thing to consider is the offset from eggs though. Out of the 60 chickens, 48 are hens, out of the ducks 5 are hens, and one of my geese is female. The ducks are my best layers: I get an average of 4 eggs a day from the 5 hens. I sell both chicken and duck eggs (2.25/dz for chicken 3.50/dz for duck). If I consider the eggs we eat and no longer have to buy, plus the egg sales, I am only out of pocket about $20 for the feed per month right now...probably because I have so many juveniles and chicks at this point.
So far with the ducks, my biggest expense was their housing. Our simple duck house quickly turned into a really cute cabin, which tripled the costs. We can see it from the windows in our living room so wanted something nice. The cost is worth it though since I know they are safe at night and their house is really cute sitting out by the pond we dug for them.
Also, if you are letting them free range, you may need fencing. We had to fence off a wooded section of our property: We got a brave raccoon that came out during the day and was snatching anything that wandered into the edge of the woods. We lost 4 chickens and a Black Swedish drake before we stopped him and got the fence fully installed. The fencing also slows down/stops stray dogs and feral cats. We got the geese to protect the ducks from hawks and they have been very effective so far.
Good luck to you and your family. I hope you find the right breed and proper number of ducks!
60 adult chickens
30 juvenile chickens
12 week old chicks
2 Pomeranian Geese
8 Ducks (2 Rouen, 5 Runner, 1 Ancona)
3 Guinea Fowl
This is the feed I buy in a month: All my birds, except juveniles/chicks, free range daily:
5 bags of Layer Crumbles (50#) @13.00/bag
2 bags of Layer Pellets (50#-during laying season for the geese....otherwise 1 gamebird feed mixed with 1 layer pellet)@12.95 a bag
1 bag of wheat for the ducks/geese to mix with their feed (during the winter only) @ 12.50 a bag
3 bags Starter/Grower (50#) @14.00 a bag
2 Bags Scratch Grains (50#) @14.50 a bag for the brand I like
So, combined that is 650 pounds of feed a month divided by 115 fowl and divided by 30 days= .188 pounds or roughly 1/3 cup per day during the winter.
I eliminate the wheat and one bag of scratch during the summer and their feed consumption = .159 pounds or a bit less that 1/3 cup per day during the summer.
Their are a lot of variables, such as size of the breed, time of year, free ranging, supplementing their diet with leftover produce or in the case of chickens table scraps. However, you should be able to safely get up to 6 ducks without breaking the bank. I would think that one 50# bag would last a month with some supplemental grains.
Prior to breeding season, my geese were actually the most economical of all my birds: They rarely visited the food dish and spent much of their time munching their pasture. The winter grass is just coming in and the summer grass is dying...plus it's breeding season, so they have been parked at the food dish for the past few weeks.
One thing to consider is the offset from eggs though. Out of the 60 chickens, 48 are hens, out of the ducks 5 are hens, and one of my geese is female. The ducks are my best layers: I get an average of 4 eggs a day from the 5 hens. I sell both chicken and duck eggs (2.25/dz for chicken 3.50/dz for duck). If I consider the eggs we eat and no longer have to buy, plus the egg sales, I am only out of pocket about $20 for the feed per month right now...probably because I have so many juveniles and chicks at this point.
So far with the ducks, my biggest expense was their housing. Our simple duck house quickly turned into a really cute cabin, which tripled the costs. We can see it from the windows in our living room so wanted something nice. The cost is worth it though since I know they are safe at night and their house is really cute sitting out by the pond we dug for them.
Also, if you are letting them free range, you may need fencing. We had to fence off a wooded section of our property: We got a brave raccoon that came out during the day and was snatching anything that wandered into the edge of the woods. We lost 4 chickens and a Black Swedish drake before we stopped him and got the fence fully installed. The fencing also slows down/stops stray dogs and feral cats. We got the geese to protect the ducks from hawks and they have been very effective so far.
Good luck to you and your family. I hope you find the right breed and proper number of ducks!
