How Much Does a Duck Cost? Ducklings, Adults, and the Real Budget

Author: Elliott Garber, DVM

In small orders (the quantity most backyard keepers buy), common breed ducklings like Pekin and Khaki Campbell run roughly $10 to $15 apiece; the widely quoted $7 figure is a bulk price that only kicks in at large quantities. Rare or show breeds cost several times that, though the sellers price them one way each rather than to a going rate: Metzer Farms listed Call ducklings at $34.99 to $44.99, Cackle Hatchery listed one at $39.99, and a specialist color breeder, Al’s Quackery, listed them from $45 up to $125. Started birds and ready-to-lay adults cost more again, though no one publishes a price for them. That is the easy number. The part most price guides skip is that you cannot buy just one, and the duck itself is the smallest line in the budget once you add a brooder, feed, secure housing, and water. Plan for the flock, not the bird.

Here is what ducklings and adults actually cost, what pushes the price up, and where the ongoing money goes, so you can budget for the ducks you are about to keep rather than a headline sticker price.

To see current availability and asking prices, you can browse the duck marketplace on Creatures.

How these prices were checked (method, checked 16 July 2026). Reproducible anchors read that day from the sellers’ own listings: Metzer Farms (metzerfarms.com, California) listed unsexed Khaki Campbell ducklings at $13.45 in small orders, dropping to a few dollars at 125-299 birds; Cackle Hatchery (cacklehatchery.com, Missouri) listed straight-run Khaki Campbells around $9.99 for 1-4 birds. Small-order common-breed pricing is therefore about $10 to $15 a duckling, with about $7 at bulk tiers. Call-duck figures are quoted one seller at a time, because they are not like for like and there are too few of them to average: Metzer Farms listed Call ducklings at $34.99 assorted and $44.99 for a named color, shipping included in the price; Cackle Hatchery listed an assorted Call duckling at $39.99 before shipping, and it was out of stock when we looked; Al’s Quackery, which specializes in colors and patterns, listed them from $45 to $125 by color with shipping quoted separately; and Mallard Lane Farms in Mississippi listed breeder pet pairs from $75 a pair plus shipping. Two hatcheries, one specialist breeder, and one pair seller is not a survey of the Call market, so read each figure as that seller’s own asking price rather than a going rate. Started and adult ducks are deliberately given no range here: no hatchery or breeder we checked publishes one, and we would rather say so than invent it. US prices in US dollars; check current seller pages before ordering.

How much does a duckling cost?

For the common backyard breeds, ducklings are cheap. At Metzer Farms, unsexed Khaki Campbell ducklings run about $13.45 each in small orders and drop to a few dollars apiece in large quantities, while Cackle Hatchery lists straight-run Khaki Campbells around $9.99 for one to four birds. Pekins sit a little higher, with Metzer pricing unsexed Jumbo Pekins at about $15 each in the smallest quantity. As a working range, expect about $10 to $15 for an unsexed duckling of a common breed in the small orders most backyard keepers place; the roughly $7 figure applies only at the large bulk tiers (Metzer’s ~$7 is its 125-299 bird price). The exact number depends on the hatchery, the season, and how many you buy.

Two things move that base price right away: sex and quantity.

Sexed females cost more. If you want layers, you pay for the hatchery to sex the ducklings and send you females, and that premium is real. Metzer prices female Khaki Campbells at about $18.75 against $10.75 for males and $13.45 unsexed, so a guaranteed female runs roughly 40 percent above the unsexed price. Buying straight run (unsexed) is cheaper, but on average half of what hatches will be drakes, and drakes do not lay.

Quantity brings the price down. Duckling prices fall steeply as the order grows, so the per-bird cost of ten is well below the per-bird cost of three. That matters because ducks ship and live in groups anyway, which we will come back to.

Ducklings, started birds, or adults

Age is the other big lever. A duckling is the cheapest way in, but it is also weeks of brooding before the bird earns anything or can live outside. A started duck, one that is past the fragile brooder stage, costs more because someone else absorbed those weeks of feed, heat, and attention. A point-of-lay or adult hen costs the most because she is ready to produce now. How much more is genuinely hard to say: the hatcheries all stop at day-old ducklings, and no seller we checked publishes a price for started or adult common ducks. That end of the market is set person to person, farm to farm, so there is no reliable published figure to quote and the honest answer is to watch local listings for real asking prices near you.

The trade is simple: ducklings are cheapest but slowest and most delicate, while adults cost more up front and skip both the wait and the risk. If your goal is eggs this season, a started or adult hen can be worth the premium.

What drives the price of a duck

Age and sex aside, three things decide where a bird lands in the range.

Breed and rarity. Utility breeds are bred in volume and priced accordingly. The premium birds are the rare and exhibition types. Call ducks, a bantam breed and the most popular show duck, are the clearest example. The honest way to report what they cost is one seller at a time, because the handful of sellers publishing a price do not price the same way. In July 2026 Metzer Farms listed Call ducklings at $34.99 for an assorted duckling and $44.99 for a named color, with shipping included in the price. Cackle Hatchery listed an assorted Call duckling at $39.99 before shipping, and it was out of stock when we looked. Al’s Quackery, a breeder specializing in colors and patterns, listed them from $45 up to $125 each depending on the color, with shipping quoted separately. Mallard Lane Farms, which says plainly that it does not sell show quality, priced breeder pet pairs from $75 a pair plus shipping. Averaging those into a single Call-duck range would hide the thing that matters: one price has the shipping in it and the others do not. Crested and other ornamental breeds sit above the utility breeds too. You are paying for scarcity and for the breeder’s selection work, not for a more useful duck.

Purpose: eggs versus meat versus ornament. What a breed is good at shapes both its price and its payback. Khaki Campbells are among the most productive laying ducks going: strong backyard hens commonly lay 250 to 300 eggs a year, and record strains have historically topped 340 eggs in a year (Metzer Farms). Muscovy ducks lay far fewer and only seasonally, roughly 60 to 120 eggs a year, but they are raised for leaner, less greasy meat than other domestic ducks. Ornamental breeds like Call and Crested lay modestly and are kept for looks and showing. A cheap laying duck that fills an egg basket for years can be the better value than a pricier bird that mainly looks good.

Source. Hatcheries offer fixed day-old pricing, health protocols, and shipping, but usually a minimum order and less individual history. Private breeders cost more per bird but can tell you about the parents, temperament, and line, which matters most for breeding or show stock. Rescues and farm sanctuaries sometimes have adult ducks needing homes for a modest adoption fee, often with unknown history but at the lowest cost of entry.

Where the money actually goes

Here is the honest part: the ducks are the cheap bit. Three ongoing realities cost more over time, and the first is not optional.

You have to buy more than one. Ducks are flock animals, and standard welfare guidance is to never keep a single duck. Keeping two is the floor, and three or four is better, because a lone duck is a stressed, unhappy duck. So the real entry cost is never one bird. Budget for at least a small group from day one, which is another reason the per-bird price of a slightly larger order is the number that matters.

Brooder and housing. Ducklings need a warm, dry brooder with a heat source, waterproof bedding, and a spill-tolerant waterer for the first several weeks, and adults need a predator-proof house to lock into at night. Ducks are messy with water, so bedding gets wet fast and needs frequent changing. None of this is exotic, but the one-time setup routinely costs more than the ducklings did, and skimping on the night house is how flocks get lost to predators.

Feed, bedding, and water. The steady monthly spend is mostly feed. University of Kentucky Extension notes that laying ducks eat about a quarter of a pound (roughly 120 grams) of feed per bird per day, which works out to close to 100 pounds per duck over a year, less if they forage well on pasture. Add bedding and the odd supply, and a small backyard flock commonly runs $100 to $200 a year to keep, scaling with flock size and how much they free-range. Ducks also need daily clean water deep enough to submerge their heads and keep their eyes and nostrils clear, though a tub or kiddie pool does the job. A pond is a nice-to-have, not a requirement.

Pet ducks versus layers: which costs make sense

If you want ducks mainly as pets or for the yard, buy unsexed ducklings of a hardy common breed and keep the group small. You will save on the purchase, and you do not need to pay the female premium if eggs are not the point. Just remember that drakes can be loud and, in a group with few females, can harass the hens, so an all-drake or drake-heavy group has its own headaches.

If you want eggs, the math tilts toward paying more up front. Sexed female Khaki Campbells or Welsh Harlequins cost more per duckling, but a productive hen laying well over 200 eggs a year quickly earns back that premium against a bird that never lays. A started or point-of-lay hen costs more still but produces this season instead of next. Over her laying life, the higher-cost bird is usually the cheaper decision.

Buying well without overpaying

A few habits keep the cost sensible.

Buy the group together rather than adding singles later, since introductions are stressful and you were going to need a flock regardless. Match the breed to your actual goal, so you are not paying show-duck prices for a backyard layer or utility prices for a bird you wanted for looks. Line up the brooder and the night house before the ducklings arrive, because scrambling for setup after they hatch is where people overspend. Ask any breeder about the parents and health, and plan for daily water and messy bedding as a permanent part of the routine, not a surprise. If you are comparing poultry, our guide to how much a chicken costs walks through a similar budget for the other common backyard bird.

You can compare specific breeds on the Pekin, Khaki Campbell, and Welsh Harlequin pages, read the full Creatures duck species guide for care and housing, and see what is actually listed near you on the duck marketplace.

What ducks really cost over their life

Pull it together and the shape is clear: low sticker price, small but steady running costs, over a life that commonly reaches 8 to 12 years with good care. For a small backyard flock, the real budget is a handful of inexpensive ducklings or a few pricier adults, a one-time brooder and predator-proof housing that outweighs the birds, and then feed, bedding, and clean water for a decade. The single biggest thing new keepers get wrong is treating a duck as a one-bird, one-time purchase. It is a multi-bird, multi-year commitment, and going in with that picture is what keeps the cost predictable instead of a surprise.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a single duck?
A common-breed duckling like a Pekin or Khaki Campbell usually runs about $10 to $15 unsexed in the small orders most backyard keepers place, with the ~$7 figure applying only at large bulk quantities. A rare or show breed costs several times that, priced seller by seller rather than to a going rate: Metzer Farms listed Call ducklings at $34.99 to $44.99, Cackle Hatchery listed one at $39.99, and specialist color breeder Al’s Quackery listed them from $45 to $125. But you should not buy a single duck. Ducks are flock animals and standard welfare guidance is to keep at least two, so budget for a small group.

Why do sexed female ducks cost more?
Because you are paying the hatchery to identify and send females, and because females lay. Metzer Farms, for example, prices female Khaki Campbells around $18.75 against $13.45 unsexed, roughly a 40 percent premium. Straight-run (unsexed) ducklings are cheaper, but about half will be drakes.

Are ducklings or adult ducks cheaper?
Ducklings are cheaper to buy but need weeks of brooding before they can live outside or lay. Started and adult birds cost more because someone already raised them through the fragile stage, but no hatchery or breeder we checked publishes a price for them; they sell farm to farm, so check local listings for real asking prices. If you want eggs now, an adult hen can be worth the extra.

What is the most expensive part of keeping ducks?
Not the birds. Over time it is the setup and the ongoing costs: a brooder and predator-proof housing up front, then feed, bedding, and clean water for a flock across an 8-to-12-year life. Feed alone runs a duck through close to 100 pounds a year (University of Kentucky Extension).

Which duck is cheapest to keep for eggs?
Khaki Campbell is the classic answer. It is inexpensive to buy and among the most productive laying ducks, with strong hens laying 250 to 300 eggs a year, so it delivers a lot of eggs per dollar spent.

Do this next on Creatures

Whether you are pricing your first ducklings, waiting for a specific breed to come up, or already keeping a flock, Creatures is the marketplace, directory, and records layer to do it in one place.