Runner ducks?

[spamee34]

I was wanting to know if anyone had runners they are so neat! I have twenty four seven are males the other females. We have blue, black, and brown and one fawn and white he's the oldest biggest drake . I am wondering if we should cull some of the males or are they ok with the females being a good number? I am also wondering when to expect eggs they are between 5 and 5 months old . I am also wondering about them mating they are busy busy all day long doing the deed so does that mean eggs or just having fun? I also was wondering if ppl buy duck eggs ? or do they sell duck eggs ? I was wanting to sell them . Well I am hoping someone will be able to answer these questions for me if not give me some insight .

 

[duckyfromoz]

YUP... Plenty on here have Runners. I think your numbers arent too bad the way they are, It gives you at least two ducks per drake. You should expect some eggs in the not to distant future by the sounds of it. And yes..people do buy ducks eggs. They are a little harder to find than people wanting chicken eggs. But a lot of people prefer them for cooking with.

I love my babies.

 

[MagsC]

I have had runners in the past and liked them best of ducks we have had. Hope to have some more in about a week.(Eggs due)

 

[Amiga]

I am expecting to receive day-old runners in about five weeks, and I already have people asking for the eggs. It will still be a bit of a sales pitch, though, to expand my market because of the number of eggs I will have late summer. I think if I pitch during the early summer, I will have customers when the ducks really start laying.

Word of mouth is a great advertising method - do you know a few people who seem to know everyone in town? If you can introduce them to the eggs, and they like them, that might give it a boost.

 

[CityChicker]

I have Runners too and absolutely adore them! I just 9 new adult birds yesterday. I have pairs in White, Gray, Blue Fawn, Pastel, Saxony and some odds and ends in Black, Blue, Fawn and White. They have always been some of my favorite ducks. Nothing is funnier than a flock of Runners!

 

[spamee34]

Thank you so much for the reply and love the pic!!

I miss typed my age on the ducks my choc and black runners are products of meitzer hatchery and they came around the beginning of June and the blue runners came around the begginning of july so they are closer to seven months old . What age do they normally start laying ? When my hubby gets home I will try to have him upload my pics to share them .

 

[CityChicker]

Generally, it depends on the time of year they hatch. Mine tend to start laying slightly earlier than my other large breeds, usually at 4.5-6 months old. The birds hatched in Spring usually are laying by Fall. The later in the season they hatch, the less likely they are to start laying before the next season, probably because of the length of daylight. Not always though, sometimes the birds that reach laying age in the middle of winter will start laying then and not wait until Spring.

 

[tia]

I have 9 runners. Eight of them are females. I've heard that 1 drake to three or four females is good. I ordered eggs and hatched them and they were all females, so just recently got an adult drake and another female. My original 7 hatched the last day in July and started laying eggs in December. They are indoors during the day in a lighted area. They are wonderful!!!

 

[spamee34]

I want to ask also what are you all feeding your ducks? How often and how much ?I am feeding mine three pounds of laying pellets in the morning and three pounds of scratch in the evening I don't know if this is good for them but that's how I was told to feed them from the feed store .

 

[Wifezilla]

I feed mine game bird feed. They also get some kind of greens daily (kitchen scrpas, peas, lettuce, cabbage, etc...) and free choice oyster shells. I do not limit of regulate their feed intake. They eat what they need.