Should I order Golden 300 hybrids from Metzer's?

[Denninmi]

I need enablers. Help me.

 

[Karrie13]

When I read your title... I totally skipped over the word "Golden" I was thinking 300 hybrids, you are VERY ambitious! I just have 14 ducklings and wow... they are much harder to brood than I thought they would be.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
Thanks, yeah, I am thinking about doing 10 or 12. 300 would be a lot for my suburban couple of acres.

 

[Karrie13]

Quote:
Thanks, yeah, I am thinking about doing 10 or 12. 300 would be a lot for my suburban couple of acres.

This is my first time with ducks and I must say I have really enjoyed them (even with the work of changing bedding at least once a day). It has been a little to cool here for them to go out yet but I am building a duck pen for them to go out in now because the weather is finaly looking better. I can't wait and I am sure they can't as well! I have enjoyed watching them grow and I now hear a quack every so often when they cheep. They are so fun to watch when I take them swimming. I really love my duck's... and dare I say it??? I like them better than some of my chickens.

I have some runner eggs coming to me from a sway and I can't wait to get them in the bator!

So I say GO FOR IT!!!

 

[awesomefowl]

Yeah! Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aineheartsyou]

just my two cents. If they are just for pleasure I would get some other breed that you enjoy looking at. The golden 300 is bred for those who have big operations selling eggs. If you enjoy the look of them go for em but I wouldnt get them just because of the egg production.

 

[HiddenHill Heretic]

I ordered 50 ducks from Metzer 14 months ago. The mixed order included Golden 300s, White Layers, Welsh Harlequin, and a few assorted others. The Golden 300s outlay everyone else. They are pretty but unspectacular. Nicely sized, healthy, egg laying machines. Though they are fertile, they won't breed true. I love my 300s. If I was going to breed ducks, I would go Welshies.

 

[Denninmi]

But I do want them just for egg production. I need to keep the family in duck eggs for cooking and baking (especially baking). Duck eggs are far superior to hen's eggs for baking.

 

[TLWR]

I have 2 runners that give me an egg a day and I have eggs coming out my ears. Time too cook up a bunch for the dogs again.
How many eggs do you use a day? Or are you supplying a large extended family?

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

I just got the gold 300 hybrids; they are 10 weeks old today; they matured and feathered quickly and are quite noisy. I wanted to have dependable and prolific layers so that is why I chose them. They are sweet looking with their little brown faces and have a nice build, they are also smart and very fast (they always get the grubs and snails first). They tend to be more stand-off-ish than my other birds, so don't expect sweetness. I know cambells are good for production too, so don't rule them out either-if you go that route, at least you would have something that breeds true as well as lays dependably. If you just want garaunteed production and you don't care how friendly they are, get the 300s. I'm looking forward to all my eggs; my local stores just raised the prices for eggs 30% and my husband and I go through 20 a week--and that is if I don't bake (which I DO! Every other day at least-bread, baked goods for our single dads...so many eggs!)

I did the math and we consume on average about 1,200 eggs a year, if we buy 18count packs at 2.89 (they raised the price to 3.25 now, but sometimes go on sale at 2.89) and purchase 5-6 of those packs a month, not including additional eggs at Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas thats $200.00 just on eggs yearly. Hence, thats why I got the hybrids. I got ducks because their eggs are superior in size and quality for baking and they're so dang fun to watch!