Where to sell ducklings?

[duckman4450]

Hi there. Since I can't find local hatchery that carries mallards for the life of me, I think I am going to buy some eggs which are readily available to ship, and cheap. I was planning on getting 4 eggs. The only ducks I want are 2 hens. I was planning on sexing them after they are born and then trying to get sell the rest to good homes, but would really like to avoid shipping live ducklings. Is anyone aware of a place I could drop them off, even donate? Like would pet stores or feed stores such as TSC take them. I really would not want more than 2 hens. Would you recommend getting more like 6 eggs to make up for chance of infertility in some, and also drake to hen ratio. I'm just stuck on what to do!!

 

[PoultryGirly]

You can sell your 'unwanted' ducklings here on the Buy/Sell/Trade section on BYC or on Craigslist. If you want 2 HENS, I would recommend getting 10-12 eggs! Many things can happen during incubation like:
-infertility
- bacteria kills the chick in the egg
-lots of males hatch instead of females
-temp/humidity is off and kills chick
You will have a much more likely chance of getting 2 hens out of 12 eggs than out if 4-6 eggs. I set 17 duck eggs and only 2 hatched.

 

[duckman4450]

You can sell your 'unwanted' ducklings here on the Buy/Sell/Trade section on BYC or on Craigslist. If you want 2 HENS, I would recommend getting 10-12 eggs! Many things can happen during incubation like:
-infertility
- bacteria kills the chick in the egg
-lots of males hatch instead of females
-temp/humidity is off and kills chick
You will have a much more likely chance of getting 2 hens out of 12 eggs than out if 4-6 eggs. I set 17 duck eggs and only 2 hatched.

Thanks for the reply!! The only thing I'm super worried about is a lot hatching and having nothing to do with them. I mean if 3 hatched I'd be okay, but if 5,6,7 hatched, I would honestly not know what to do. It's obvious if I couldn't find someone to give them to, I'd be stuck raising them which isn't really an option because the 2 hens I'm trying to acquire are going to be pets.

My uncle is a vet who owns his own property for hunting and when there was major flooding (river went up 15 feet higher than normal) he saved 2 Canada Geese clutches before they got washed away. He got 16 eggs from the 2 clutches and ALL 16 HATCHED!!!! Imagine if that happened to me! I'm thinking there must be a better way to get 2 hens. The hatchery I used previously has been shutdown after 20 years now I can't find anywhere that sells flying mallards except eggs on eBay.

 

[PoultryGirly]

If I were closer to you I would set you up with some mallards I got 6 FREE baby mallard ducklings from an ol' friend of ours that hatches out mallards regularly. Where are you located?

 

[duckman4450]

I live in Naperville, Illinois. It's a suburban city in Chicago