Would you be most likely to buy??

[TattooQ27]

From the following list, which ducks eggs would you be most likely to buy if you were looking for fertile hatching eggs.....

Buff
Pekin
Ancona
Swede
Cayuga
Khaki Campbell


Would you buy hatching eggs that were mixed from this lot as well or just purebred eggs? All of the parent stock would be purebred so offspring would be a 50/50 mix.

We are finally building our pen(s) outside and want to make a plan for breeding. We can either separate the ducks into individual breeding pens to have purebred eggs or we can have one big pen and let them breed at will.

We only have 1 of each kind of female so if we were to sell purebred eggs we would only be able to sell in lots of 6 in order to ensure freshness. We are also considering rehoming less popular kinds to make room for more females of the popular kinds.

 

[Katy]

I'd add some more females to whatever kind you chose to go with. One female really isn't enough to sell fresh eggs from unless you are only planning on local pick-up. If you ship out 6 day old eggs they will be over a week old when they arrive.

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
That's what I was thinking too...I was just checking about interest in mixed eggs before reconfiguring everything. I also want to see what breeds are in the most demand right now so I know what females to get and who needs a new home.

 

[FenDruadin]

Well, I love my Runners and magpies, but I adore Anconas so if I were to expand into a third breed, that's where I would go. My opinion: They're likely to be among the next "trendy" breed, the way that Runners are the current trendy breed, at least around here. I just see a lot of growing interest in them, as well as magpies.

My next choice would be cayuga, just cause they're pretty. I personally don't care for khakis. I think they're boring and skittish. Great layers, but so are Runners, magpies, and welsh harlequins--so why get boring when you can have interesting AND great laying? Of course, "boring" is a totally personal thing, so if you love them, you love them.

As for mixes--I probably wouldn't buy them. I think most people love mutts *in theory* but when they're getting ready to start a flock or expand their flock, they want to plan for breeding, and most folks have their own breeding ideas in mind, based on standard breeds, not someone else's mix. Even in respect to color, this tends to be true. I have found with my Runners that if people have a preference at all, they definitely want the standard colors, not the mixes. There are folks out there who don't care--they just want cute & good laying ability, and they'll get that with any of my Runner babies. But about half the folks who want the babies, want standard color and almost ALL of them want pure Runner.

So, in short, I would plan to split into breeding groups if you can. You can always do planned mixes if you like, but you'll also have the option to offer pure breeds.

Good luck!

 

[Katy]

Quote:
That's what I was thinking too...I was just checking about interest in mixed eggs before reconfiguring everything. I also want to see what breeds are in the most demand right now so I know what females to get and who needs a new home.

You need to have them because you like what ever breed you decide to raise. What is popular and selling well today isn't neccesarily going to be popular in 6 months or next year.

You'll always get more for purebreds over mixed breeds.

 

[DuckLady]

I have never hatched eggs from my ducks.

They all get used up in making baked goods.

But I do miss having ducklings around.

 

[Brickman House]

Every area's different, but around here Pekins are a dime a dozen, and are for sale every spring at the feed stores. Plus people seem to prefer colored ducks as opposed to white, so hatching eggs and ducklings aren't much in demand.

Any of the others would sell very well around here, if purebred. Mixed breeds are less desireable.

 

[toadbriar]

Ancona

Purebred. I haven't found much beyond the b&w Anconas locally so I am hoping to establish some color.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Mixed eggs are not selling at all this year, I would choose a few breeds and get at least 1 more female for each breed you choose. You could always offer assortments of the breeds, and still have them pure. Say offer a 6+ pack of 3 different breeds, or something like that. You might get buyers that way, you might not. But you probably won't have any luck with mixed eggs unless you hatch them yourself and sell locally. Everyone loves ducklings

Personally, I like the pekins and cayugas, though I"d probably not buy pekins since I have 3 ducks of my own

 

[TattooQ27]

Quote:
We have a black/white drake and a chocolate/white duck. We are planning to separate them out for at least a few months to get some purebred ducklings. I would love to see if we could get some more chocolates, they are so pretty!