*~*Runner Duck Club*~*

[CyndiD]

I have 1 of each I get: 1 light green egg - Chocolate? 1 dark green egg - not sure who black or blue 1 Blue-green egg - not sure who black or blue 1 White egg - Fawn & White. And talk about wibble-wobbles! Our black one was inside with us for some socialization and all of a sudden she tilted backward past vertical!!! She was kind of wobbly in this position and we thought something was very wrong, then she pooped an egg out frontwards while rocked backwards and standing!!!! She must have though she was bowling!!! Crazy duck (we don't remember if that one was a dark green or a blue-green).

Hi, I have 2 chocolate, & 2 blue runner (plus buffs) and they have seperate sleeping quarters because i wanted to know who was laying and who wasn't, anyway, my chocolate runners eggs are medium/dark green and the blue runners are slightly lighter green than the chocolate's eggs, fyi. Just in case you are trying to figure out your runner eggs.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I had no idea! Nifty! I may have ended up picking McMurray when I was shopping around for some silly reason like I just liked the website better, or because I could see their customer reviews for all the runner ducklings in one place? Either way, my babies came in a super sturdy box lined with soft hay, with a nice warm pad and a little cup of water and/or baby duck health supplements. They also got extra priority gentle shipping, so the mid-October weather between Iowa (where they shipped from) and Northwest Washington (where I live) didn't seem to effect them negatively. The post office will-call people seemed amused by my little peeping box

So if they shipped from Iowa the didn't come from Metzers right? since Metzers is in CA. I like all the extras your babies had to keep them safe and healthy during shipping.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

So if they shipped from Iowa the didn't come from Metzers right? since Metzers is in CA. I like all the extras your babies had to keep them safe and healthy during shipping.

I bet if they were tracked, they shipped from CA. The return address on the box might have had Iowa, but no one returns live poultry. If you look between the sites, the types are the same (including Metzer's exclusive hybrids) the leg band colors are the same and the ship days are the same. I see no "official" statement from either one that Metzer fulfills McMurray orders, but if you google Metzer and McMurray together, you will find that many McMurray duck orders seem to ship from CA. McMurray youtube videos show only their chicken processing. Also check out these two pages:

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/gold_star_hybrid_duck.html

http://www.metzerfarms.com/Golden30...E&BirdType=Duck&Breed=Golden 300 Hybrid Layer

Hmmmm, Metzer developed a special hybrid and McMurray happens to have it with the same picture flipped.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I bet if they were tracked, they shipped from CA. The return address on the box might have had Iowa, but no one returns live poultry. If you look between the sites, the types are the same (including Metzer's exclusive hybrids) the leg band colors are the same and the ship days are the same. I see no "official" statement from either one that Metzer fulfills McMurray orders, but if you google Metzer and McMurray together, you will find that many McMurray duck orders seem to ship from CA. McMurray youtube videos show only their chicken processing. Also check out these two pages:

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/gold_star_hybrid_duck.html

http://www.metzerfarms.com/Golden30...E&BirdType=Duck&Breed=Golden 300 Hybrid Layer

Hmmmm, Metzer developed a special hybrid and McMurray happens to have it with the same picture flipped.

Since I have never ordered from a hatchery and honestly said I never would I still may try and find eggs or look for someone in my state close by who has Runners. I have read so much heartbreak on here I'm just not sure I can do it.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

So far I am 15 for 15 with Metzer (3 separate shipments). And 13 arrived on Thursday (Metzer ships Monday). I always order Grow Gel. It is very hard to find sexed ducklings otherwise and for me that is a big deal. I have enough drakes!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

So far I am 15 for 15 with Metzer (3 separate shipments). And 13 arrived on Thursday (Metzer ships Monday). I always order Grow Gel. It is very hard to find sexed ducklings otherwise and for me that is a big deal. I have enough drakes!!!

I have enough drakes too. So when do you usually have to order to make sure your on the list for next spring? I looked at Metzers web site but it was kind of confusing.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

When it gets closer, they will populate March and April. Under each breed it will show hatch dates. Unless they run out before you place your order, you just order them before the hatch date. For example, if you aren't worried about slipping to the following week because they ran out, you can order Friday to ship the next Monday. (This would allow you to monitor the weather to avoid predictable cold snaps and such.) Otherwise, you can order as far ahead as you want and they will ship on the Monday you specify.

I know their pricing seems hard to follow too but really isn't. I will give you a mock up similar to my two orders. One was minimum 2 birds and one was 10 birds but I will use all fawn & white runners as the example all sexed female.

10 --------
Duck price unsexed = $5.95 x 10 = $59.50 so more than $40 - use actual price.
Ducks 10 x $7.85 = $78.50
Grow gel $0.55 x 10 = $5.50
So the total would be $84 + actual shipping.

2 ---------
Duck priced unsexed=$5.95 x 2 = $11.90 - subject to $40 minimum price (sexing is $7.85 - $5.95 = $1.90 / bird)
Ducks $40 + 2 x $1.90 = $43.80
Grow gel $0.85 x 2 = $1.70
Heat pack/insulation/sealing most of the holes (small order charge) $12
So the total would be $57.50 + actual shipping.

And having run the math, the minimum charge for F&W runners will be charged on anything under 7 runners (7 would actually cost $41.65 before sexing).

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So Noir and Mystique were really expensive!!! but heck, they eat more than that in meal worms every year

 

[tomynoks]

Ok.....WAY off the current topic and I can't find which thread we were talking about duck egg recipes, but 'it's the season and I have too many duck eggs so I thought I'd whip up some DUCK-NOG!!! It was definitely on a whim, so I just used milk not cream, but So delicious!!! Here's the recipe. http://m.instructables.com/id/Eggnog-Recipe/?ALLSTEPS It's a lot of work for one glass, so I recommend making the big recipe unless you just want a test run like I did. ENJOY!!

 

[tomynoks]

To get back on topic..... Gertie and Jeb (my first runners in my prof pic) were given to me at about 1 week old. Merle ( If you watch Walking Dead.... Yeah redneck Merle!) my blue drake was given to me a few weeks later at 1-1/2 years. I didn't know it was an addiction... Then I bought Izzy and her 5 ducklings (Malcolm, Ellie, and the Triplets lol). That brought me to 9 runners. Then I saw an ad on CL for a free black runner ( this years hatch) so I got him and after a night in the tub to clean him up, (he was kept w chickens and I don't think he ever saw another duck or water!! Filthy) I took him out into the sun and he was a magnicent chestnut-chocolate color!!! That's the runners, 10. Then I got 4 Cayugas, Jet and the Supremes....from a semi-local lady who has too many Cayugas. and 6 Anconas ( Dudley, Bailey,Spot, Aflac(all white) and 2 yet unnamed.) that someone got in the spring when they were little and cute. So I havent bought from a hatchery, but I did a lot of research early on ( too many ducks now!). I recently bought a Brower incubator and will be trying my luck with hatching soon. If any I the Pac NW wants me to try hatching, runner, Ancona or Cayugas, let me know. I'm hesitant to even try until spring comes though.

 

[Tevyes Dad]

...( too many ducks now!)

... I recently bought a Brower incubator and will be trying my luck with hatching soon.

You DO know that hatching eggs will create more ducks? ...right??

That would be duck math for you...