You don't need one of the machines - though the machines are pretty cheap (like $20 or so I think), and can be handy, especially if you don't have a lot of experience rolling out dough.
I've never done duck egg, but made a bunch of pasta, mostly without a machine.
It's really simple - flour, make a well, egg, oil, fork. I've just used basic (non-bleached, ap) flour, and whole wheat/white mix. I like to flavour too - spinach, lemon and pepper, little cayenne, olive tapenade (that one's a tad tricky, you have to drop the oil and up the flour some; once you know what pasta should feel like, it's no big), whatever.
I was into ravioli at one point - did by hand, just rolled out big sheets, dolloped a filling every couple of inches, brushed a bit of watered-down egg wash all in between lightly, laid another sheet on, press press, and used a little zigzaggy wheel cutter or knife to separate them. Put them on a cornmeal-dusted thing, even if you're making them soon.
The biggest pain in the ass about making pasta, imo, is if you want to make any ahead. Drying it takes room and, if you're doing like, fettuccinie (do not do fettuccinie), you may, I'm just surmising, end up with a broomstick suspended across chairs, covered in pasta, which can break if jostled, which then drops onto the floor, where you'll find bits when sweeping for months.
Gnocchi is also annoying, imo. Seems easy; easy dough, just roll with a fork... until you realize how many of the little suckers you get from one batch and end up making them bigger and bigger and bigger, until you're considering getting a serving fork and producing the gnocchi that ate Pittsburgh.
