School Science Lessons
2024-04-18
Duck Project
(ProjDuck)
Contents
Preface
2.0 How ducks live
3.0 Observing a duck
4.0 Breeds of duck
5.0 Purchasing ducks and duck food
6.0 Before the ducklings arrive
7.0 When the ducklings arrive
8.0 Care for ducklings
9.0 Sexing the ducklings
10.0 Observing the ducks
11.0 Factors of production
12.0 Killing the duck, digestive system
13.0 Reproduction
15.0 Broodiness and hatching
16.0 Diseases caused by bad food
17.0 Record costs and returns
22.0 Prepare poultry for food
1.16 Records
1.0 Duck project
1. Ducks grow bigger than chickens.
They have flat feet for swimming, and a flat bill for finding food in
soft mud under water and they have very long necks.
2. They are not hard to raise, because they can look after themselves
if they can find enough food.
Ducks do not catch many diseases or have many pests.
Ducks can live easily in many kinds of climates and find much of their
food.
Ducks like to live in wet, swampy and boggy places, and here they may
eat animals like small fish, snails and slugs.
2.0 How ducks live
1. Ducks like to swim in water and put their heads under the water to
get food, e.g. tadpoles, small frogs, small fish and water snails.
They also like to mix water with their food, because it makes the food
softer and easier to swallow.
Ducks can also mate in water.
If ducks are kept in a house, putting the food and water side by side
is best.
Then the ducks can eat some food and then drink a little water with the
food.
If the food and water are put in places far apart, then the ducks have
to run from one place to the other.
If a broody duck goes for a swim and then goes back to sit on the eggs,
it may wet the eggs.
This is good, because duck eggs being hatched need to be kept damp.
Ducks do not feel the heat or the cold much.
Small ducklings can keep their bodies warm when they are very young,
and they can be kept in a cold brooder.
Ducks have a thick layer of feathers and this can keep them dry and warm
in cold weather.
Ducks do not get many pests or diseases and this makes it much easier
to keep them.
Ducks are hardy animals.
2. Some breeds of ducks can lay many eggs.
Ducks may lay 330 eggs in a year if they get good food.
They lay most their eggs during the night or in the very early morning,
not during the day.
The meat breeds like the Pekin and Muscovy duck are very fast growers,
e.g. Muscovy drakes may weigh 4.5 kg at 16 weeks.
However, ducks do not convert feed to body weight as efficiently as chickens.
Ducks need much energy in their food for growth and much protein, especially
when they are young.
3. Ducks are usually timid or nervous animals,
and they can be upset by sudden changes such as the sudden appearance of a dog
or a person entering their pen.
The appearance of a light at night can also upset them.
These sudden changes may cause the ducks to lose some of their feathers
in a moult.
Ducks need to be handled very carefully and
quietly if they are to lay many eggs and grow properly.
Ducks cannot protect themselves as chickens can.
Ducks are easily hurt
by dogs, because they cannot run as fast and cannot fight them.
The Muscovy duck is the only breed that can fly up into trees for roosting
at night.
Other breeds have to sleep under low shelters.
4. Ducks spend much time preening their feathers.
They run their feathers through their bills to put oil onto the feathers
so that the feathers will not be wet by water.
The ducks get the oil from a gland at the base of the tail or the "parson's
nose".
They rub their bills over this and then spread the oil from this gland
over the feathers.
5. The mating behaviour of ducks varies with the
breed.
The Muscovy duck male is very aggressive and forces mating on the female.
In other breeds, before mating the male often goes through a series of
actions that lead on to mating.
He may point his head to the female and make a small call.
Then he may
swim away and nod his head and turn the back of his head to
the female.
6. Ducks like to eat their food mixed with water
so place water containers on a netting support to allow water to drain
away and not
make the floor wet.
The eating habits of ducks suggest the kinds of foods they need.
They know when they must eat some more energy food or more protein and
they can even tell what kind of protein in they must try
to find.
When a duck is going to make then lay an egg she eats much calcium food
like shell grit.
If she is not laying, she will hunt for that food.
3.0 Observing a duck
See diagram 56.3: Holding ducks
Borrow a live duck from an agriculture extension officer.
1. The bill
Note the position of the nostrils on top of the bill.
The nostrils are much further down the bill than their position on the
upper beak of a chicken.
Note the absence of any teeth in the bill.
The bill is softer than the beaks of chickens.
The upper part of the bill usually has a hooked portion that helps
the bill to hold on to objects.
2. The neck is very long.
3. The feet consist of three toes with flat webbing between them so the
feet can be used in swimming.
The ends of the toes are blunt points in most ducks.
The Muscovy duck has a sharp claw at the end of the toes.
4. The small feathers give the contour or shape
of the breast.
The long flying feathers are at the ends of the wings.
Find the oil gland situated at the base of the tail, which produces the
oil for preening the feathers.
Pull out one small feather and drop it onto the surface of water to show
that it does not easily get wet.
Pour water on a duck's back to show how the feathers do not get wet by
the water.
5. Gently feel the body to find the keel or bottom of the breastbone, the flat bony back, the two thin lay bones on each side
of the vent (cloaca).
Look at the vent.
If the bird is laying eggs then, the vent will be soft and moist and
large.
If the bird is not laying at the time, the vent will be small, dry and
rather hard.
Q1. How many toes has an ordinary duck? A. Three toes.
Q2. Where is the grease gland or oil gland? A. At the base of the tail.
Q3. Give three reasons why ducks like water. A. for helping them to eat
food, for mating, for finding their food.
Q4. When do ducks lay their eggs? A. In the night or early morning.
Q5. Why do ducks preen their feathers? A. To make them waterproof.
Q6. What are the names of the two meat breeds of ducks? A. Pekin and
Muscovy
4.0 Breeds of ducks
See diagram 56.4.1: Muscovy duck, Carina moschata
See diagram 56.4.2: Pekin duck, Anas platyrhynchos domesticus
See diagram 56.4.3: Indian Runner duck, Anas platyrhynchos domesticus
See diagram 56.4.4: Khaki Campbell duck, Anas platyrhynchos domesticus
1. There are two groups of duck breeds:
* The meat breeds, e.g. Pekin duck, Muscovy
* The egg laying breeds, e.g. Indian Runner, Khaki Campbell, also Indonesian
breeds, e.g. Alabio duck, Bali duck, Tegal.
2. Muscovy duck
The Muscovy duck is the largest of the common duck breeds.
It has red fleshy warts growing over the upper end of the bill and over the face.
The colour is usually white, but may be black, black and white, blue,
blue and white or white winged black.
The males (or drakes) are twice the size of the females (or ducks).
The males may weigh 4 to 6 kg and the females weigh 2 to 3 kg.
Commercial suppliers often sell them at 2.5 kg.
The face has an angry look.
These birds do not quack, but make a hissing sound.
The Muscovy duck is a large meat breed duck.
They can fly.
3. Pekin duck
The Pekin duck has creamy white feathers.
They grow rapidly and are good meat birds.
They stand up very straight.
The males (drakes) are larger than the ducks and have some curled feathers
on top of their tails.
The head is large with a high top and the cheeks are large.
The eyes are sunken under larger eyebrows and fat cheeks.
The neck is long and thick.
The Pekin duck can grow quickly if it has good food.
4. Indian Runner duck
The Indian Runner duck lays large numbers of
eggs.
These ducks may be brown, black, fawn or white in colour, but all of
them have a very upright stance and are long and thin in
appearance.
Sometimes they may be almost vertical in the way the stand.
The wings are small and held closely to the body.
Indian Runners are egg laying ducks and may lay close to 300 eggs in
a year.
5. Khaki Campbell duck
The Khaki Campbell duck has been bred from Wild
Mallard duck and the Indian Runner duck and other breeds.
Birds of this breed do not stand as straight upright as the Indian Runner
duck.
The drakes have curled feathers in the centre of the tail.
The colours, of these ducks may be dark or khaki or white. The drakes
usually have a much darker colour on the head and neck.
In the khaki coloured variety, the head, neck and wing bar are coloured
green.
The ducks too usually have a darker coloured head.
The Khaki Campbell has a small body.
These ducks do not stand up as straight as the Indian Runners and they
might be closer to the ground.
In both the males and females the head is a darker colour than the body.
6. Breeds in Indonesia
The 3 common duck breeds in Indonesia are the
Tegal duck, the Alabio duck, the Bali duck.
The Alabio duck, the Tegal duck and the Ball duck are all egg laying
breeds.
The Tegal lays blue green eggs, but eggs of the Bali duck are white.
You tell the males of some ducks from the females, because the feathers
on the tail of the male turn up.
The Bali ducks are like Tegal ducks, but have shorter necks.
Many birds have a tuft of feathers on the top of the head.
The body colour varies, some being black, some brown, but some are white.
The eggs of Bali ducks are white.
All the Indonesian ducks are noted for their ability to lay eggs.
5.0 Purchasing ducks and duck
food
1. Buy some day-old ducklings, although they may be two days old when
they arrive.
Decide whether you will order a meat breed (like Pekin duck or Muscovy
duck) or an egg laying breed (like Indian Runner duck or
Khaki Campbell duck.
Muscovy ducklings can later be used to hatch eggs.
Ask an agriculture extension officer to help you to order ducks
and food.
2. Order 20 kilos of chicken starter for twenty
ducklings to include:
* Chicken starter rations in the form of crumbles or pellets.
* Bran, pollard, bone meal and meat meal mixed together with one part
of pollard, two parts of bran, and 2% meat meal and bone
meal mixed.
* Also, feed the ducklings chopped green grass.
3. Advice from the Queensland Department of Primary
Industry is as follows:
Breeders need to be fed a balanced diet to ensure good hatchability and
healthy ducklings.
A duck-breeder diet is preferable, but care should be taken with the addition
of coccidiostat to the feed as ducks are susceptible to
some poultry coccidiostat.
A poultry breeder diet is a suitable alternative if supplemented with
extra vitamin A.
Fresh green feed is a useful supplement as it provides additional vitamin
A.
Ducks can be fed either wet or dry mash, crumbles or pellets.
Crumbles and pellets reduce feed spillage at the feeder and also result
in cleaner drinking troughs.
Where wet mash is fed, mould growth as well as flies can be a problem
if leftover food is not removed.
6.0 Before the ducklings arrive
1. You need a place for keeping the ducklings when they are still young.
Little ducklings will arrive without a mother.
They cannot fly or run fast and they can be easily hurt by dogs or rats
or other larger animals so make a small safe house.
The house must have cat and dog bars to keep out these animals, be cool
and made of bush materials.
2. Make a small cold brooder from a large carton where the ducklings
can be kept for the first ten days.
Ducklings do not feel cold as much as young chickens, so they do not
need a hot brooder.
3. Provide a small pool of water for the ducklings to use as a pond.
Build a low cement wall around the pond with a pipe leading away on one
side.
A small cork can be pushed into the pipe to stop it leaking, but this can
be pulled out when the pool is being cleaned.
7.0 When the ducklings arrive
1. When the ducklings arrive put them into the brooder and give them water
and food.
2. Observe the ducklings and note the following:
* Any feathers?
,
* Colour of the fluffy covering?
,
* Colour of the bill?
,
* Colour are the legs?
,
* Colour are the eyes?
,
* Colour of the droppings?
,
* Any sounds?.
3. Note whether the ducklings are drinking and eating.
If they are not drinking you can carefully push the bill of a duckling
into a saucer of water and it will start drinking.
Ducklings can be made to start eating by sprinkling a little powdered
food onto their backs.
Water must be close by, because ducks like to mix their food with a little
water.
8.0 Care for ducklings
1. Some ducklings may die soon after they arrive.
They may not eat well, or they be strong enough to live.
If many deaths ask the local agriculture extension officer what to do.
2. Baby ducks must be given food every day.
Make a roster that shows who will go to feed the ducks each day.
They must then wash their hands.
3. A pond must be filled and kept clean.
4. Drinking water must be deep enough so ducklings can put their heads
right under water.
9.0 Sexing the ducklings
See diagram 56.9: Sexing a duckling
1. Select a warm place so the ducklings do not get a chill, or cold.
2. Hold the duckling in the palm of your left hand with its head downwards,
and with the belly outwards.
Take hold of the tail between the thumb and first finger of the right
hand.
With the second finger of the right hand, press in slightly inwards and
upwards.
This will expose the vent.
Then with the thumb and first finger of the right hand, press the vent
back and open it up.
Do this very slowly and gently.
This last movement may make the duckling empty the contents of its lower
intestine.
if this happens, gently wipe away the droppings with a rag and look closely
at the vent.
3. If it is a female there will be a small cone shaped organ ending in
the vent.
However, if it is a male the vent opens more and a small pointed shape
appears now and again.
Sometimes it stays in view.
This shape is small and only about 2 mm in length.
Sometimes it will not appear for about 25 seconds after pressing and
then may only show for a second or so.
4. If the ducklings are of the Khaki Campbell breed the female the bill is about 0.5 cm shorter than the male bill and is also "dished" or curved.
The bill of the male is 0.5 cm longer and is flatter.
Also the duck's heads are rounder and the drake's heads are flatter.
5. If an egg laying breed, you may wish to kill the males for meat when
they are 1 to 2 Kg in weight, and only keep one male for
breeding.
10.0 Observing the ducks
See diagram 56.10: Duck feathering diagram
1. Look very closely at the ducklings each day and to notice changes
in them:
1.1 What feathers are showing? Record the growth of feathers by using
feathering diagrams.
1.2 What is the increase in weight each week?
Pick up ducklings carefully and put them on a simple balance for weighing.
1.3 What changes are there in the droppings?
If a bird gets sick, one of the first changes may be a change in the appearance of the droppings.
This should be noticed and written down.
1.4 Any difference in the look of the ducklings?
Are they as active?
Do they look well?
Do they make the same sounds?
1.5 Which ducks have longer bills?
The males or drakes have longer bills.
A duck has three toes.
2. Ducks get oil for preening their feathers from a gland just in front
of the tail.
They preen their feathers so water will not wet them.
11.0 Factors of production
See diagram 56.11: Sources of energy loss
1. If the climate is too hot or too cold ducks will grow more slowly
or to produce less eggs.
In tropical areas the temperature will not be too low.
Ducks will not feel too hot if they can swim go to cool places.
2. Diseases may be caused by the food.
For instance, if not enough Vitamin D in the food, ducklings can get
a disease called rickets, which makes their legs bend out of shape.
Ducks need energy food and protein food to grow fast or produce many eggs.
All foods should be boiled or fed wet.
3. Energy foods contain white starches or oils.
Most of the starchy foods must be cooked before being given to ducks.
For instance, taro, cassava, yams, and sweet potatoes should be boiled
first.
Grated coconut can be used as an energy food and need not be boiled.
Grains like wheat, barley and maize are better if they are crushed before
feeding to ducks.
Grain can be fed whole if it has first been soaked in water.
Pollard and bran can be used as energy feeds.
4. The best protein food is fish, but people like
to eat fish themselves rather than give it to ducks.
A half kilo fish for 20 ducks for one day.
Cook the fish and then make the flesh into small pieces that can be mixed with an energy food, e.g. grated coconut or boiled sweet potato.
Meat meal is a very good protein food, but it must be bought from a store.
Other protein foods include boiled snails, boiled crabs or shellfish, any kinds of insects or small animals that can be cooked.
Soaked soybeans can also be used as protein food, or milk powder, or peanut meal or fish meal.
5. Healthy foods include chopped green plants mixed
with their feed.
Make a mineral mixture by mixing common salt and manganese sulfate.
Add to the feed a quarter of a teaspoonful of mineral mixture for 5 kg
of food.
When ducks are going to lay an egg they eat some shell grit or coral
sand.
6. Ducks cannot defend themselves against dogs, hawks, cats and other animals.
If they are not killed ducks may still get very worried by these animals and will not grow fast.
Ducks are very nervous animals and are easily upset.
12.0 Killing the duck, digestive system
1. The best way to kill the duck is by breaking the neck.
This can be done if the bird is held properly.
Hold the legs of the duck firmly by the fingers of the left hand.
Extend the neck fully so there is no looseness or slack felt in the right
hand.
The fingers of the right hand are held around the head in such a way
that the head can be bent backwards by fingers held under the
bill.
To kill the bird, the head is bent far back, all the looseness is taken
up, and the neck is broken by a strong pull downwards.
If this is done properly, you can feel the break in the neck bones.
2. To take off the feathers plunge the dead duck
into near boiling water for three minutes.
If you think too much time is taken to remove the feathers leave the
feathers on the duck, but to remove most of the skin with the
feathers still on.
3. The skin is tied to the body by a lot of thin
tissue called connective tissue.
If the skin is pulled up, the connective tissue can be cut away.
Do this until all the internal organs can be seen.
Up in the neck you will be able to see the trachea or air tube.
It has a lot of small rings around it.
Near it is the food tube or oesophagus.
Follow this up into the neck and cut it off near the bill.
Then follow the oesophagus down to the main digestive organs.
Before you do this remove the heart.
Then find the end of the digestive tube near the vent, and cut through
it.
Then, lift out all the digestive organs onto a large piece of paper and
spread them out.
It will be necessary to cut the thin skins tying the loops of the intestine
together, so that the intestine can be easily seen.
When the skin has been cut away from the whole of the chest, abdomen
and legs, the whole front of the breast must be cut away and
lifted off the bird.
4. The digestive system
4.1 The oesophagus leads down to the small stomach or proventriculus.
Here some digestive juice is added to the food to soften it.
4.2 Next is a large muscular part called the gizzard.
Cut it open to see the thick and muscular walls and pieces of grit or
coarse sand.
The muscular wall of the gizzard squeezes shut often and this makes the
grit and sharp pieces of sand and stone to grind up the food
into small pieces.
The bird needs the gizzard, because it has no teeth to grind up the food
into small pieces.
4.3 After the gizzard there is a loop of intestine called the duodenum.
Lying in this loop is a pink organ called the pancreas.
This organ puts some digestive juices into the food to soften it and
enable it to be taken into the blood.
4.4 The liver is a large red organ tied close to the gizzard.
It makes a green digestive juice called bile.
This bile is stored in a small bag called the gall bladder.
4.5 After the duodenum comes the long small intestine.
This is called "small", because it is not very thick.
It is the place where the digested food is taken into the blood so it
can be taken all around the body.
4.6 Towards the end of the small intestine are the two caecae.
These are small tubes that are probably concerned with the absorption
of fluids.
After this, there is only a short length of large intestine before you
come to the end of the intestine at the vent.
13.0 Reproduction
1. After the digestive organs have been removed, the reproductive organs can be seen at the back of the abdomen.
2. In the male the two oval shaped testes are tied to the back of the abdomen by skins of connective tissue.
3. In the female, the ovary is found at the head end of the abdominal cavity.
The ova are clustered together and held together by connective tissue.
The ova are of different sizes.
Some are very small and will have to wait a long time before they turn
into eggs.
Others are large and ready to form into an egg.
A large ovum or egg yolk is held in a network of small blood vessels,
but there is a long place where there are no blood vessels.
This is the place where the ovum will break away from the ovary and start
to turn into an egg.
When the yolk or ovum first breaks away from the ovary, it goes into a
thin walled tube where it may be fertilized by sperms, which
are waiting there.
It is also here that the cords are tied onto each end of the yolk.
Then the ovum passes down into along thick walled tube.
In this tube the white of egg is added to the yolk.
After this comes a narrow tube where the skins of the egg are formed
around the egg.
Then comes a very thick walled part where the hard shell is formed around
the egg.
Then the egg be laid.
4. See the network of blood vessels around the
ovum then look for the clear place where there are no blood vessels.
5. Take out the whole oviduct and spread it out in a long line on a piece
of paper.
6. In the first part of the oviduct the ovum meets the sperms.
The white of egg is added to the ovum when it enters the second part of
the oviduct, which has thick walls.
The skins are added to the egg when it passes through the narrow part.
The pink organ lying in a loop of the duodenum is the pancreas.
In the small intestine the food is taken into the blood.
14.0 Onset of lay
1. The age at which a duck begins to lay depends on the breed.
Some of the special egg breeds may start to lay as early as 41/2 months.
Muscovy ducks do not start to lay until they are about 6 months old, but some may not start laying until they are 71/2 months old.
2. Nests must be ready for the onset of lay.
The best nests are separated by walls 300 350 mm and 280 mm apart.
There should be a board across the back of the nest 150 mm wide and there
should be a narrow board 50 mm wide across the front
of the nest at ground level.
The floor forms the bottom of the nest, but must be covered with some
soft litter, such as dead grass, wood shavings or dried seaweed.
The litter must be changed whenever it becomes dirty.
Put the nests against the wall of the house to make the ducks feel safe.
Make one nest for every three ducks.
3. Most eggs are laid during the night or in the
very early morning.
Ducks weigh up to 70 gm.
Big hen eggs only weigh 60 gm.
In the first three months of lay they may lay two eggs in one day.
The age at which ducks start to lay depends on the breed, some start
at 4 1/2 months, others at 6 months, others at 7 1/2 months.
4. Observe a duck egg.
Note the size, weight and shell colour.
Crack the egg open and note what can be seen.
15.0 Broodiness & hatching
1. Muscovy duck males will mate with ducks of other breeds, but the ducklings
coming from this cross will not be able to breed.
They will be sterile.
So it is usual to mate Indian Runner ducks with males of the same breed.
2. Put one male with six or eight ducks in a separate yard together.
3. Do not collect eggs for setting as soon as ducks and drakes are mated.
Wait until they have been together for at least a month before
eggs are collected for hatching.
4. If you hatch the eggs using an incubator the eggs must be turned each
day and sprinkled with water to keep the eggs moist.
5. If one of the ducks goes broody and sits on a nest, the eggs can be
put under her.
Indian Runners and Khaki Campbell ducks do not usually broody so it is
best not to use these breeds for hatching.
6. The best ducks to use for hatching are the Muscovy duck.
If given good soft nests they will often go broody easily.
It takes 28 days for duck eggs to hatch.
If the Muscovy duck will not sit for this length of time put the eggs
under another sitting duck.
Reducing the amount of protein in the food, makes ducks stay broody.
7. If a Muscovy duck starts to lay her own eggs, she may go broody and
sit on them.
If this happens, wait for the time that the duck leaves the nest and
goes to the water.
Then her eggs can be lifted and the other eggs put into her nest.
A duck can usually sit on 20 or even 30 eggs, but it must be a large
duck and she must cover the eggs properly when sitting on them.
16.0 Diseases caused by bad food
1. Ducks do not get many of the kinds of diseases that attack chickens.
However, they can get diseases if their food is not right for them.
2. The disease "wet eye" in ducklings is caused, because the birds are
not getting enough Vitamin A.
The birds are not steady on their feet and may have a wet substance coming
from the eyes.
Ducklings need a large amount of Vitamin A, which is contained in green
feed.
Stop this disease by increasing the amount of green feed given to the
birds, mix some milk with their feed, feed a Vitamin A supplement.
3. Rickets is caused when not enough Vitamin D.
The birds lose the use of their legs and the bones do not form properly.
To stop this disease let the ducklings go into the sun often, include
bone meal in the feed when the ducklings are very young, extra
vitamin D3 supplement in the feed.
4. White eye disease causes ducklings to stagger when they try to walk,
and many die quickly.
The birds have a white film forming over the eye.
The disease occurs in birds less than eight weeks of age.
Take away affected birds from the others, because the disease can spread
from one bird to another.
Get zinc sulfate from an agriculture extension officer and put a 2% solution
into the eyes of affected ducks.
Also, give birds Vitamin A in green feed.
17.0 Record costs and returns
1. Returns refers to a record of all the money that comes from selling
the ducks for eating, or from selling duck eggs during the year.
2. Costs refers to a record of all money spent on buying things for the
ducks.
3. Establishment costs is money paid to buy items that will last for
years, e.g. knives, cement, sawn timber.
Add the establishment costs and divide the total by the number of years
the items will last and still be used in the duck project.
If you think the items will least 3 years, divide the establishment costs
by 3 to gives the cost for one year.
4. Production costs is the money spent each year to start a duck project, e.g. cost of another dozen ducklings, cost of some more chicken
starter feed for the young ducklings, cost of medicines to stop diseases like coccidiosis.
5. To find total costs add the production costs for a year to one fifth
of the establishment costs.
6. Profit for one year = (returns - total costs)
Example
Returns:
Date 1. Sold 4 drakes at $2.50 each: $10.00
Date 2. Sold 5 dozen eggs at $1.40 per doz. : $7.00
Date 3. Sold 6 dozen eggs at $1.40 per doz.: $8.40
Date 4. Sold 5 dozen eggs at $1.40 per doz.: $7.00
Date 5. Sold 6 dozen eggs at $1.40 per doz.: $8.40
Date 6. Sold 5 dozen eggs at $1.40 per doz.:$7.00
Date 7. Sold 4 dozen eggs at $1.40 per doz.: $5.60
Date 8. Sold 3 old ducks at $2.50 each $7.50
Date 9. Sold 4 old ducks at $2.50 each $10.00
Total returns = $70.90
Duck eggs may be used by artisans for carving and inlay work.
Costs:
1. Establishment costs
wire netting 3 metres at 82 c per metre $2.46
2 hinges $0.63
lock and key $2.00
hasp and staple $2.00
knife $5.00
cement, 2 bags $9.50
sawn timber to make house, nests $28.00
spade 12.66
Total establishment costs = $60.25
expected life of equipment = 5 years
So annual establishment costs = $60.22/5 = $12.05
2. Production costs
Date 24 ducklings at 60 cents each $14.40
Date 25 kg chicken starter $6.00
Date 50 kg laying ration $11.00
Date 50 gm Amprolium $1.00
Total production costs $32.40
Establishment costs $12.05
Total Costs = $44.45
Profit = (Total returns - Total Costs)
Profit = $70.90 - $44.45 = $26.45 for first year.
Preface
Before teaching this project, discuss the content of the lessons with an agriculture extension officer and get advice on duck breeds,
method of obtaining ducks, site for duck project, design of buildings, control of pests and diseases, medicines, feed supplements.
Use only the procedures, medicines and insecticides recommended by the local agriculture extension officer.