Where can I buy a pet duck in orange county?
Question by Jordan P: Where can I buy a pet duck in orange county?
I was wondering where to buy a domesticated duck in orange county california to keep as a pet?
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2 Responses to Where can I buy a pet duck in orange county?
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my grandma was telling me that at Midway City feed around spring time they sell baby ducklings that you can raise
Animallover334
July 8, 2013 at 5:20 pm
If you’re on a farm you should be ok for zoning. If you’re in the suburbs, city or a subdivision you’ll need to check the zoning or covenant restrictions to see if they allow ducks at all.
If so, look for livestock or poultry shows over the fall and winter. County and State fairs are great, but are usually over by this time of year. This is how you can find breeders of prizewinning birds to sell you ducklings in the spring. It also gives you a chance to see what the adult birds look like, so you can choose what you like best. There are many more breeds of duck than the standard Pekin duck (the white “AFLAC” duck).
Ordering from a local breeder has several advantages. First, you get to see their stock. You can see the conditions they’re raised in, and see if they’re well treated. You can pick one or more ducklings if you like. I recommend at least two. Ducklings are very social and will be lonely without company while you’re away. Ask if the ducklings are incubator hatched or “momma duck” hatched. If reared in an incubator, so you’re the first thing they see (within 3 days of hatch), they’ll think you’re their mom (called “imprinting”) and be much tamer than ducklings taken from their mother.
You can buy the mass ducklings from the local store, but they’re often of average quality. They’ve been mass reared and may be over the 3 day limit for imprinting and will certainly have seen other people. They are also usually limited to 2-3 of the most popular or common breeds for egglaying or meat production, like Pekins, Faun Runners and Rouens. I’ve even seen ducks and ducklings on Craigslist and Eggbid.com.
If you order ducklings from a mail order breeder, you can specify if you want show quality stock (their parents won or could have won a poultry show) or average. Mail order companies have a minimum order of at least a half dozen ducklings (depending on the breeder), so they stay warm by body heat during shipping. These Will be within the 3 day imprinting limit and have probably not seen anyone long enough to imprint on anyone but you.
The reason I’ve been mentioning show quality vs average is that if you ever decide to sell your pet or give it to someone who’ll take care of it (like if you have to move), a show quality bird is less likely to be eaten, especially if it’s won a prize.
Ducklings of any quality will be very cute, silly and affectionate. Until they grow up. Then they’ll act like teenagers and only let you snuggle them for a minute or two, until they squirm away and quack “Aww, Mom, you’re embarassing me in front of my friends”.
My preferred duck breed is the Australian Spotted. In my opinion they have more “personality” than other breeds, and they’re colorful. Good qualities in pets. The runner-ups are Mini-Appleyards, Mallards, Black East Indie and the more colorful breeds of Runner duck. All except the Runner duck are small ducks about the size of mallards. Runners are funny looking ducks about 2-3 times bigger than a mallard, that prefer to run instead of fly.
Links below.
Thomas G
July 8, 2013 at 5:47 pm