The Migratory/Ornamental Waterfowl INFO Thread

[1lpoock]

I'm just wondering what's up with these prices.
http://squawcreekfarm.com/price-wf.html

I mean $800 for a pair of silver wood ducks!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
LOL, MY GOD!!!! They are insaine, bad thing is they have to be selling them for that price too, smew $1200??? They are $500 everywhere
That's what I am talking about, their mandarins are $110 a pair, I mean come on. everything on that list is 3 times or better what they should be. Again they are freakin nutts..

But folks please dont get me wrong. Mallard Lanes is know for good birds, and most of their prices are spot on, I just dont agree with some prices on the every day common stuff, but then again more and more people are going up on everything.Take those people for example, they want $150 for pintails??? (shaking my head) It all depends on what they are worth to you, and how much saving a little with a little research is worth to you..

Personally I'd rather look around a little and get 2 for the price of one, or in 1lpoocks link's case, LOL (my God) fill the aviary up for the price of 1, that's all.

 

[sgt_dane]

Wow that is crazy! Ive got a place i can get Mandarins for 65 a pair! Just no very pintails! What the HECK?? Lol!
Anyways, good luck on your hunting for duckies and such

Im back to staring at my eggs.. theyre due tomorrow!!

 

[HottentotTeal]

yikes, I went to go look at the site and I remember seeing their site when i was first looking for Hottentots and they were double the price of Mallard Lane.

Also, don't forget Squawcreek has shipping costs as well. I think it starts at $55 on top of the bird costs.

I'm planning to drive and pick mine up, because I can't trust the postal service.

They do the most horrible job I've ever seen with regular mail, so there is no way i'd trust them with a live bird.



I am seeing a lot of threads on cat food as treats. I also remember you recommended the fish kibble too.

How much per day would you recommend as a treat?



Also, the same question for peas? How much could i give them per day? 5 per duck?

I was thinking peas and the fish kibble would be my best option.


and if Cat kibble is ok, do i have to cut it up into smaller bits, soak it first, or will they just eat it whole? I'm not familiar with cat food.



Also, to provide an update on my construction, i went out and set up the plastic painters sheet last night before the rain came, which covered as a makeshift roof perfectly.

Unfortunately, the rain collected during today, even though i had it a nice steep angle and it came crashing down at lunch today.

If i weight it down some more, I might be able to get it to work, but I think i am going to just give up on that and just hope i can get a full week of no rain sometime in the next month or 2 and then put in all the posts in 1 day.


I have a lot more questions on the interior decorating, but i want to get this part done first, before i get ahead of myself.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

rains kill ya aint it Hottentot.

Just a note, the USPS has always done very well for me on shipping birds though, but dont blame you, if you are where you can pick them up, that is a much better way to go.

As for the cat food, ditch that idea, there are too many additives in it for cat specialised health, urinary stuff etc. Fish food is all you need, it's protein is from fish which is a natural part of their diet anyway, not many waterfowl eat cattle and lambs, LOL. I have given them small Kibble dog food before. It works fine, but I wouldnt trust cat food, not sure what all the put in it. Dog food is pretty much just dog food but again is the wrong type of animal protein to really benefit them.
Any form of greens are good too, grass, lettuce, peas, some will eat them some wont. If they have access to grass, you really wont have to worry with it unless you just want to do it for treats. For hottentots, yes just a small amount is all, they cant eat too much in one sitting. It's best they get full on their proper diet and the rest be a little treat.
No soaking is required as long as you are using small sized pellets or kibble on any of it though, they'll get it right down.

 

[Matapatos]

After doing as much research as I can without subscribing to anything, Mallard Lane Farms is very well priced. Even around here a pair of mandarins or wood ducks will be 70-80, if you know someone, maybe 60. Looks like I need to subscribe to some mags! Which ones are best? Gamebird Gazette? I dunno... Maybe I could unload excess birds locally as well?

BBB,
I have heard you can breed siblings and not have any inbreeding problems, but much beyond siblings is where you run into problems. Like many of us that have 1 pair of anything, how do we get rid of the offspring? Bring new bloodlines in? I'm sure people shy away from buying pairs that are full blood brother and sister... What to do?

Travis

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

The Gazette and A.P.W.S. you'll find decent prices in there if you call around a little, just remember, no one will have anything til this fall, but it's best to get your orders in now before they are all spoken for. People who have done this for a while know who has the bet prices and of course they book up first. There are members on here though that still sell woodies and mandarins for the normal $40-$50 per pair range, over that for either is just crazy to me, they are the most common and easiest to breed of all the waterfowl we have and the market is flooded with them, everybody has them. Most of the
"non webiste" breeders are in the two magazines I listed so a phone call or e-mail some times is the only way to reach them.

As for breeding, when you sell them just tell them they are siblings. Most breeders do that and a lot of buyers will get a pair from you and a pair elsewhere and split them up even if you say they are unrelated cause a lot of breeders just dont know whos who in there pens. When you are hatching out lots of them it's hard to keep up with where they came from parent wise.
one round of back breeding isnt too bad, not desired, but no problems, best to breed offspring to parents when possible if you dont have any other way to go, that way there's only half of the shared genetics, where as siblings are sharing the same genetics to their offspring.
Dont worry about being able to sell them though, they'll go regardless.

 

[Matapatos]

Sounds great to me! How would you list them? Just as individuals? I have 10 ring teal for sale, 6 drakes and 4 hens? That sort of thing... I've been missing out on pics though, I can't complain because I haven't posted any up myself... Will do soon though! Lets see some pics! BBB, How is your setup coming along? I would love to have acres of land with water, well or spring, and be able to raise oodles of birds!

Travis

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
I'd just list them a related pairs, or singles in the extras case. That way people will know what they are getting, and like I said, most who are concerned with that will buy others from other sources just to split them up and be safe, shouldnt be a problem at all to move them.

As for my new waterfowl aviary,
Right now just in the land clearing phase of it, it was a mini jungle to start with. After breeding season is done this fall, I plan to see how I did with the wild turkeys, peafowl and bantams, and hopefully get started digging and building. If I do it the way I hope to the main aviary will probably cost be in the neighborhood of $5000-$6000 easily time it's all done maybe even more, sure wish lumber was still low here! Fortunately , I dont need much of that, just 14 foot 4x4 post. I never build shelters for them here, as we are fortunate enough not to have to put them up. Just a small roofed shed for the feeding area. But it's going to take 4-5 rolls of netting at about $350 a pop just to cover it and 5 rolls of wire just to go 6 feet high around it, if I make the side 12 foot too like the old one, 10 rolls...I'm gladly taking donations

even engrave your name on a post or two

The area I am working on has a good slope to it thankfully, so all the concrete ponds (will be 6-8 of them at least) will be set up with 4 " drain plugs for quick and easy emptying and cleaning. The old place was flat, so it was sump pumps and a shovel, water hose and wheel borrow... Also plan to have some water falls from pond to pond. Going to try to connect all the ponds with waterfalls and streams between them and use large pumps to return the water from the lowest pond back to the highest.
Really excited about it, just got to save up enough to get a good start on it, and wait for some cooler weather this 100-110 heat index we have will kill you out there right now

 

[Matapatos]

That is crazy! Summer is taking its time getting here and no complaints from me! I would take the cold over heat any day! Sounds like a great setup you'll have... Good luck. I'm just posting up pics of mine and the new one... Will be a new thread. I'd love to hear what everyone has to say, ideas or anything!

Travis