Commercial Duck Farming--Location--Estimate of Equipment and Capital
Necessary in Starting the Business
_Distribution._ Commercial Duck farming is confined very largely to the
sections within easy shipping distance of the larger cities. A great
majority of these farms are located about New York City, particularly on
Long Island. Some duck farms are located on the Pacific Coast and a few
commercial plants are scattered about here and there throughout the
country. The size of these farms ranges all the way from plants with an
output of 5,000 or 10,000 ducklings up to those with an output around
100,000 yearly.
_Stock Used._ The stock used on the commercial duck plants of the United
States consists exclusively of the Pekin. The reasons for the use of
this particular breed are the fact that it has white plumage and
therefore dresses out well, that it is of good size, that its egg
production is good, and that it makes quick growth.
_Location of Plant._ On Long Island the commercial duck plants are
located along the streams, especially those on the southern shore of the
Island, which empty into the various bays. Locations along these
streams are not easy to secure at the present time owing to the fact
that duck farms are not allowed in many sections where summer homes have
been built. A water site of this sort is very valuable, although not
absolutely essential, since it provides water yards for the breeding
ducks and for the fattening ducklings if desired, and reduces the labor
and cost of equipment materially since the ducks always have access to
water and no additional provision need be made to provide them with
drinking water. It also enables the ducks to keep their plumage clean.
Usually these locations are on fresh water streams but some of them are
further out toward the bay where the water is salty or at least
brackish.
The mature ducks thrive well on the salt water and do not have to be
furnished with fresh drinking water in addition. For the young ducks,
however, with a salt water location it is necessary to provide fresh
drinking water. A few farms in other sections of the country are what
are known as dry land farms, that is to say, they are not situated on
the bank of a stream. In such locations running water is carried through
the yards so that the ducks have an ample supply of drinking water and
in some cases artificial ponds are constructed to provide water in which
the breeding ducks can swim. Formerly the idea was universally held that
swimming water was essential for the breeders in order to secure good
fertility, and many duck farmers still believe that better results can
be secured in this way. On some of the dry land duck farms, however,
breeding ducks are successfully kept without such swimming places. The
young market ducklings do not require water to swim in although some
raisers prefer to have it and it is commonly allowed where readily
available. On the dry land farms provision is made simply for a
continuous supply of fresh drinking water for the fattening ducklings.
Ducklings kept out of the water, do not take as much exercise and, in
consequence, fatten a little more readily.
Making a Start in Duck Farming
Duck farms or plants are sometimes operated on a considerable scale at
the beginning, the plans being carefully laid by some experienced duck
man. In these cases, operations at the start may be of sufficient
magnitude so that the output will amount to 15,000 or 20,000 ducklings
in a year. In most cases, however, these places have been the result of
a more gradual growth from a small beginning, a condition made necessary
either by the inexperience of the grower or by lack of capital. Not
infrequently men engaged in other forms of farming but possessing a
suitable location will keep 200 or 300 breeding ducks and from this
gradually build up a good sized duck plant.
_Equipment, Capital, etc. Required._ The estimates given as to the
amount of equipment and capital required are based on the assumption
that a plant is to be operated of sufficient size to have a yearly
output of about 30,000 ducklings. It must be understood in this
connection that location and various other conditions or circumstances
will influence the cost of different items of equipment and for this
reason these estimates must not be considered as absolute but should
rather serve as a guide or basis on which to figure. The figures here
given contemplate the building up of an establishment which is efficient
but which is in no particular elaborate, the buildings and other
equipment being as simple and inexpensive as possible.
_Lay-out or Arrangement of the Plant._ The plant must be carefully
planned so as to make the best possible use of the land and particularly
of the water frontage. It is particularly important to arrange the
buildings in such a manner as to cut down labor as much as possible. If
there is any expectation of enlarging the capacity at some future time,
this must also be borne in mind in the arrangement of the various
buildings and yards. The incubator cellar should be convenient to the
No. 1 brooder house and the various brooder houses to one another. The
brooder house must likewise be convenient to the growing and fattening
houses and yards and these in turn to the killing house. The feed room
should be centrally located so as to save labor as much as possible in
feeding the ducks.
_Land Required._ For a duck plant of the size indicated 10 acres of land
should be ample. This, however, means that no effort would be made to
grow any of the feed for the ducks or ducklings with the exception of
green feed. In some cases where the lay of the land is unusually
favorable so that the plant can be laid out to the very best advantage,
a smaller amount of ground than this might be sufficient but it is not
well to figure on less than 10 acres.
_Number of Breeders Required._ With the usual methods of management and
with good success, one may estimate that 40 young ducks can be marketed
each year from each breeding female. This is a good average although in
some good years duck raisers will do a little better than this. On the
other hand in poor years they will not do so well. For a plant having an
output of 30,000 market ducks there would therefore be needed in the
neighborhood of 800 breeding ducks in addition to 100 drakes.
_Housing Required for Breeders._ In figuring on the amount of housing
required for this number of breeding ducks, it is necessary to figure on
2-1/2 to 3 square feet of floor space per bird, 3 square feet being better
than 2-1/2. This would require a housing space 20 feet deep by 120 feet
long. However ducks are not usually housed in one building of this size,
and in fact it is better not to do so since the smaller the flock of
breeders kept together the better they will do. In no case should a duck
raiser run more than 400 ducks in a flock and it is very much better to
run them in pens of 100 each. In fact, some breeders do not place more
than 25 to 50 breeding ducks in a pen.
_Incubator Capacity._ Incubators are used exclusively for hatching the
eggs. At the present time in practically all cases some form of hot
water mammoth incubator is utilized for this purpose. An investment is
required both in incubators and in a cellar in which to operate them. In
figuring on the incubator capacity necessary to take care of a
proposition of this size, it is necessary to base the estimate on the
number of eggs produced during the season of flush production. The duck
raiser figures on incubating all eggs suitable for the purpose rather
than to sell any of them for other purposes as there is a greater profit
in rearing and marketing the ducklings. For that reason he must have
incubator capacity enough to take care of all the eggs laid at any time
of the year. During the season of flush production the yield will
ordinarily run in the neighborhood of 80%. The period of incubation is
28 days but 2 days more should be added to this to allow for cleaning
out the machines, etc., before starting another hatch. This means that
there would be 30 days between hatches. Figuring on 800 ducks with an
80% production for 30 days an incubator capacity of around 19,200 eggs
would be required.
_Brooder Capacity._ A brooder house capacity, where artificial heat can
be supplied, sufficient to take care of about half of the total output
of the plant at one time is necessary. This means there would have to
be on this plant a heated brooder house capacity for 15,000 ducklings.
About half of this number or 7500 would need accommodations in the
number 1 or warmest brooder house where the heat can be kept up to 65 or
70 degrees in the house itself, and warmer of course under the hover.
The other 7500 ducklings capacity would be in the number 2 house, that
is, a house where heat could be supplied in the early spring and where
the temperature could be run up to 60 degrees. Hovers in such a house
are not really needed but it is common to cover the hot waterpipes with
a platform in order to provide a runway on which one can run a wheel
barrow and thus simplify feeding. Ordinarily after May 1 no heat is
needed in the number 2 brooder house. The young ducks are usually 2 to 3
weeks old when they go into the number 2 house and they stay there for
about 2 weeks depending on the weather. Heat for the brooder houses is
supplied by means of hot water pipes and a coal burning stove such as
are used in brooder houses for chickens. A number 3 or cold brooder
house is also needed where ducklings can be housed and can be driven in
at night and in cold weather after they have graduated from the number 2
house. From the number 3 house a part of the ducklings are taken
directly to the yards where they are housed in open front sheds.
_Fattening Houses or Sheds._ In addition to the brooder houses, there
are required fattening houses or sheds for the ducks when they are moved
from the No. 3 brooder house to the yards. Suitable houses for this
purpose are 16 feet deep by 24 feet long. In front they are 5 feet high
and in the rear 3-1/2 feet. They are set on posts with a base board around
to make them tight. The fronts are entirely open and provided with
curtains which are used only in the winter to keep out the snow. The
ducklings are shut in these houses when desired by means of wire panels
which close the lower part of the front. Houses such as described are
divided into two parts and each side will accommodate 200 ducklings.
_Feed Storage._ Considerable feed storage room is necessary as it is
very desirable to be able to buy feed in quantity and also to carry a
considerable stock on hand in order to offset the possibility of not
being able to secure feed at any time. There should be storage capacity
for 4 cars of 30 tons each, in other words, for 120 tons of feed. Still
greater capacity than this is desirable. In connection with the feed
storage there should be a place where the feed can be mixed and where
feed can be cooked. Two power operated feed mixers are required as one
is not sufficient during the busy season to allow the mixing and feeding
of the mash for both the breeders and the young stock at the same time.
A feed cutter is necessary in preparing the green feed which is mixed in
the mash. The usual type of kettle feed cooker is commonly used for
boiling fish and preparing other cooked feeds but in its place a small
four-horse steam boiler can be utilized to good advantage as this makes
it possible to cook the feed right in the mixer by using a steam hose.
_Killing and Picking House._ A killing and picking house where the ducks
can be prepared for market is another necessary building but this need
not be an expensive building. It must be located with reference to its
convenience to the rest of the plant. It is also desirable to locate it
over a spring if one is available for the spring water can be used to
excellent advantage in cooling the dressed ducklings. When a spring is
not available water must be piped to this building. The killing house is
usually built with at least one side open or partly open. A place is
provided outside the picking room where the ducks can be hung and bled.
Inside room is required for six or eight pickers. A kettle for heating
water to be used in scalding the ducks is necessary as are also tanks in
which to place the ducks after they are picked. Additional room is
needed where the ducks can be weighed and packed ready for shipment.
_Residence._ In addition to the other buildings enumerated, a residence
would of course be necessary. The size and elaborateness of this and
consequently its cost depends entirely upon the owner's needs and
wishes.
_Horse Power._ One horse and wagon for the purpose of drawing the feed
about the plant and for certain other necessary work would be required.
If the owner desires to do his own hauling of the feed from the railroad
and the other necessary trucking he would, of course, have to keep more
horses, a team at least, or an automobile truck. Where only one horse is
kept, this trucking must be hired done.
_Feeding Track._ On many of the larger duck farms, a feed track is
employed in feeding the stock. Such a track consists of a framework of
sufficient strength to support a car filled with mash which is pushed
along the track by hand. The track leads from the feed mixer across the
various yards where the ducks to be fed are located, including both the
breeding ducks, yard ducks and brooder ducks in yards. This involves a
considerable amount of trackage which must be fairly level and which
runs over the yard fences or along the ends of the yards so that the
feed can be shoveled directly from the car into the feeding trays in the
yards. The use of a feed track simplifies the feeding considerably but
its construction is quite expensive. Where a track is not used, the feed
as mixed is dumped into a low wagon which is driven along the yards, or
through them by removing movable panels in the fences and the feed
shoveled from the wagon to the feed trays.
[Illustration: FIG. 16. Power feed mixer. The feed is dumped into a low
wagon from which it is shoveled to the ducks. (_Photograph from the
Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture._)]
_Electric Lights._ Most duck farms at the present time are located where
electric lighting is available. It is desirable and in fact almost
necessary to have the various houses wired so that lights can be turned
on when desired. In addition, lights are usually provided in the yards
for fattening ducks and are used at night and especially during storms
to keep the ducks from stampeding.
_Water Supply._ An adequate water supply is essential. This will consist
of a well or spring furnishing an ample amount of water, a power pump
and a water supply tank. From the tank, the water must be piped to the
incubator cellar, the brooder houses, the killing house, the feed house
and to any of the yards where the ducks do not have access to a natural
supply of good water. In addition, of course, the water from the same
tank is usually used to supply the residence.
_Fences._ Not a great deal of investment is necessary in fences since
the yards are rather small and the fences are low. Two-foot fences of
two-inch mesh wire are used for the yard ducks while for the little
ducks 18-inch wire of one-inch mesh is used. The biggest items of
expense connected with the fences are the cost of the stakes or posts
used in their construction and the labor used in this work. The portion
of the yards extending into the water are the most troublesome and most
expensive to build. In some cases, rather elaborate wooden picket fences
are used in the water yards. These are more permanent but are more
expensive to build.
_Labor._ For a plant of the size indicated there would be required in
addition to an active working proprietor three other men. One man would
be needed to operate the incubators, one man would devote his time to
the brooder houses, one man would feed the yard ducks and the fattening
pens, and one man would do the killing and packing, take care of the
feathers, clean the yards, etc. Of course, there would be periods when
these men would not have their entire time taken up with their
particular duties and this would permit them to turn in and help with
the miscellaneous work on the plant.
In addition to the regular men employed, additional labor would be
necessary to do the picking. For this purpose pickers are usually
brought in and work by the piece. During the spring of 1920 these
pickers received six cents per duck and they will average about 75 ducks
a day, beginning work at 6 in the morning and finishing by noon or a
little later. Some pickers will average as high as 100 ducks a day. In
the busy season from 800 to 1200 ducks will be marketed per week and the
usual practice is to kill and pick not over three days a week, usually
during the first part of the week.
_Invested Capital._ Investment in the business exclusive of working
capital, that is to say, the money in the land and buildings and other
equipment would require under present conditions about $1,000 for each
thousand ducks marketed. In other words, in a plant of this size, close
to $30,000 would be invested. The amount of invested capital depends to
some extent upon location and upon the elaborateness of the buildings
and other equipment but with a well laid out economical plant an
investment of the size indicated should be sufficient.
_Working Capital._ In addition to the capital invested in the plant
there would be required a considerable amount of working capital. From
the first of November to the beginning of the marketing of the ducks
there would be required from $6,000 to $8,000 with which to purchase
feed, meet the pay roll, and for other running expenses. Even after the
marketing begins there would be a period of from a month to six weeks
when the expenses will continue to be greater than the receipts so that
some additional capital might be necessary. However, returns would begin
to come in which could be used to take care of the more pressing current
obligations so that additional working capital which might be needed
over that indicated would not be large.
_Profits._ The profits in commercial duck raising vary widely, as must
be expected, depending upon the management, upon the season and upon
prices received. After deducting all overhead charges and interest on
the investment, the net return per duck should be at least 10 cents per
duckling marketed. In fact the return should be 15 cents to provide much
inducement to engage in the business. Some seasons the returns will run
greater than this but on the other hand, there is always the chance of
occasional big losses.