A DUCK will set you back about $80 at a restaurant and $40 at a butcher but the upmarket table bird sold for as little as a dollar at the pig and calf sale in Warwick today.

Poultry was the hot-ticket item at the weekly livestock auction with every type duck, chicken and goose imaginable from exotics breeds to regular farm birds poking out of pens.

Leanne Wilson (below) took home 20 mixed ducklings, including Khaki Campbells, at a $1 a bird and said they would be an asset to her dairy farm near Warwick.

"Ducks are wonderful at the dairy, they keep insects away, they are great pets and the eggs are deliciously sweet," Leanne said.

"Once you have had fresh duck eggs, no other eggs compare."

Duck eggs can cost about $8 a dozen so a dollar duck is a good investment, Leanne said.

Allan Oxford (below), from Stanthorpe, was in the market for chickens to build up his former 80-strong flock.

He bought six Plymouth Rock chicks and describes the breed as a prolific egg layer and great table bird.

"We just want chickens for the eggs, not to eat," Allan said.

"Back when we had 80 pet chickens, we were getting 36 eggs a day so we don't want to get back up to that level again," Allan said.

"About 20 layers would be a good number."

Meanwhile, Paul Sutton (below), from Leyburn, snapped up 12 mixed chickens to replace his flock which was entirely wiped out by a dog last week.

"It was very upsetting, a dog got into their run and killed the lot," Paul said.

"I assume it was a domestic dog that got out of its yard one night."

Others in the crowd were just out for a sticky beak and a catch up with friends.

Ellie Compton,from Warwick, and Veronica Clasohm, from Allora, (below) pop by the sale each week.

It's a great day out of the house," Veronica said.