Duck Farm Business Plan: Duck Eggs, Meat Ducks, a First Year

Duck eggs sell for twice what hen eggs do, to bakers who swear by them and customers who can't eat hen eggs. A good laying breed lays most days, so a flock of 200 makes about a dozen dozen a day. Feed is most of a dozen's cost; the rest is cartons, washing and the market. Meat ducks add a holiday product. The plan turns on feed, the five or six months before ducklings start laying, and the egg rules in your state. In the example, a Sonoma County duck farm starts with $24,500, ends its first year about $8,700 ahead before the owner's pay, and makes about $1,900 a month at full speed. Below is each part of the plan, the first year month by month, the startup budget, and a free template.

The short version

• Describe the farm in a paragraph: the flock, the land, who buys, the goals.
• Cost each sale: feed, cartons, processing and the card fee.
• Plan sales by product: market dozens, bakery dozens, hatching eggs and whole ducks.
• Ducks start laying at five to six months: expect a slow start.
• Your state's egg law covers licenses, cartons and labels.
• Feed is the biggest cost: watch its price.
• TaroStack keeps each day's eggs as a lot with its pack date, sold oldest first. More below.

Part 1: the business description

Hollow Pond Duck Farm, a made-up duck farm in Sebastopol, California, writes:

Hollow Pond Duck Farm keeps about 200 laying ducks and raises meat ducks for the holidays near Sebastopol, selling duck eggs at two farmers markets and to bakeries and restaurants, hatching eggs to hobbyists, and whole ducks to order. In its first full year it aims to sell about $4,500 a month.

Part 2: what a sale costs

"Other" is washing for eggs, delivery for the bakeries, and the duckling and processing supplies for a whole duck. Meat birds processed on the farm fall under a federal exemption for small flocks, with limits, covered in chicken business plan.

Part 3: the flock, the eggs and the rules

Ducklings bought in spring start laying in late summer; meat ducks are raised in fall for the holidays. Eggs are collected twice a day, washed and cartoned the same day, and kept cold. California's egg law covers who needs a registration and what the carton says; other states differ, so read yours before the first market. How cartons and labels work is in how to package eggs for sale.

Part 4: what each product earns

At full speed the business sells $4,485 a month and keeps $2,730, 60.9%; market dozens bring $1,360 of it.

Part 5: the first year, month by month

Fixed costs are $850 every month: market fees ($160), fuel ($150), pond and pen upkeep ($150), utilities ($120), insurance ($100), vet ($50), and other costs ($120). Sales start at 5% of full speed:

The year's sales are $31,081, and the business ends it $8,723 ahead, before the owner's pay. It breaks even at about $1,400 of sales a month, in the sixth month. The lowest cash point, −$3,074 in month 5, is covered by the $6,000 of working cash with about $2,900 to spare. The first months are nearly empty because ducklings take five to six months to lay; after that, duck eggs come steadily, with a dip in midwinter that the plan doesn't show.

Part 6: the startup budget

The $18,500 before working cash is earned back in about 10 months at full speed. The hen egg version is in egg business plan, and another small bird in quail farm business plan.

Get the template

Download the duck farm business plan workbook. Four sheets: your products, each with its price, variable cost and units a month at full speed; the first year, month by month, with sales ramping up, profit, cash, the first profitable month, the lowest cash point and whether the working cash covers it; your fixed costs; and the startup budget. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.

Where this stops working

The plan uses one laying rate and one feed price. The flock lays less in winter, feed climbs, and the bakeries' orders don't match what the ducks laid this week.

How TaroStack does it

TaroStack keeps each day's eggs as a lot with its pack date, sold oldest first.

Each day a lot. A day's eggs go in as a lot with the date they were packed, so every carton's date comes from the day it was laid and washed.

Oldest first. Orders take the oldest lots first by default, and a restaurant can be set to take only eggs with enough days left.

Feed in the cost. Feed bought by the bag is used by the pound, so the cost of a dozen follows the feed price.

Lots, expiry and costing are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.

Questions people also ask

How much does it cost to start a duck farm?

The example budgets $24,500, including $6,000 of working cash; the duck houses is the biggest item.

Is a duck farm profitable?

It can be: the example makes about $1,900 a month at full speed before the owner's pay, and ends its first year ahead.

How much does a dozen duck eggs cost to produce?

In the example, about $3.20 at a market: $2.40 of feed, the carton, washing and the card fee.

How much do duck eggs sell for?

In the example, $10 a dozen at a farmers market and $7 to bakeries and restaurants.