20 years of a mobile 700-duck farm: about Tk 7,000 of eggs a day and nearly Tk 1 lakh a month
A farmer in Pabna has for 20 years moved a flock of ducks through crop fields and wetlands, selling the eggs. Feed is almost free, so costs are low, and his monthly income after costs is close to Tk 1 lakh.
A farmer from Bilchandak village in Faridpur upazila, Pabna has run a mobile duck farm for 20 years. According to Prothom Alo, he moves about 700 ducks through crop fields and wetlands from one district to another all year. The ducks forage all day, are shut into a temporary pen at dusk, and the next morning there are about 500 eggs. Each egg sells at the farm for Tk 13 to 14, about Tk 7,000 of eggs a day. After paying one worker, feed, medicine and other costs, he is left with close to Tk 1 lakh a month. Once in extreme poverty, he has built a brick house and bought land and property from the income. The local livestock officer says natural feed in canals, wetlands and fields means feeding costs almost nothing, which makes the method profitable. The report estimates that for a 500-duck mobile farm the duck purchase is about Tk 3 lakh (about Tk 600 each) plus at most Tk 10,000 for everything else. Such a farm gets about 350 eggs a day worth about Tk 4,500 and keeps about Tk 3,000 a day after costs. When laying declines after two or three years, ducks are sold at Tk 400 to 450. Another farmer took an NGO loan, started with 500 ducks in a partnership, and has repaid it.
Lessons
- 1.Grazing cuts feed cost almost to nothing, removing the biggest expense of a conventional farm.
- 2.Buy improved high-laying ducks and sell them at Tk 400-450 once laying declines, to renew the flock.
- 3.The main investment is the ducks themselves; you can start with almost no extra infrastructure.
We published this with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.
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