Raising Ducks: how to integrate Ducks into your Urban Farm or Backyard

Last Updated on July 6, 2019 by Aaron von Frank

A presentation about raising backyard ducks prepared for the 2015 South Carolina Organization for Organic Living’s (SCOOL) annual conference, CULTIVATE portion of the conference. 

In March 2015 we gave a presentation on raising ducks for backyard or small farm organic egg production. After the presentation, we promised attendees that we’d send out a copy of our presentation with helpful links and other useful info so they could get access to the information and data presented.

If you attended our duck presentation, please let us know if there is any other info you’d like to know in the comment section below. If you weren’t part of the presentation, but you or someone you know is interested in raising ducks, we hope this presentation & associated links (below the presentation) will be full of valuable information for you.

Either way, we hope you’ll become “duck evangelists” like us!

quicklinks: SCOOL presentation | vets | duck books | where to get duck(ling)s | other tyrant farms duck posts

SCOOL Presentation

Greenville, SC Avian & Poultry Vets

If you’re going to raise birds, you should always have a plan in place for dealing with injuries or illnesses beyond what you’re able to deal with through first-aid and following forum/blog advice. In many cases, having a vet is part of that plan. Vets that deal with farm animals on a regular basis will often make house calls, like many of the vets in the list below.

• HealthPoint Vet: This team is awesome and who we take our girls to. Dr. Hurlbert has ducks of her own, so you know your birds are being treated by someone who knows waterfowl well. She comes highly recommended amongst wildlife rehabbers and other area vets (as we found out when we were calling around trying to find someone who treats birds). Located in Duncan.
• Dr. Fudge: We haven’t used him, but he comes highly recommended among other area vets. He’s a mobile vet, so he can be really convenient if you live far out, have a bird that doesn’t transport easily/well or have a larger flock.Mobile vet.
• Electric City Animal Hospital: Comes recommended from a few area rescues. We’ve never used them, but have heard good things. Located in Anderson
• Avian Vet Finder: If you are not local and need to find a certified avian vet

Reading:

Kindle links (where available) are provided in addition to book links. A lot of times it’s easier to use a kindle when you’re searching for a symptom or a specific topic that may not be included in the index.

Download Kindle for iPad, Computer, etc… 

Also, be sure to read our ever-expanding list of duck articles. 

Recommended Duck Books

• The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook: All the things you need to know before bringing home your feathered friend.: This book is our go-to book. It’s more geared to the small flock owner, but has an extremely helpful section on integrating your flocks, diseases, etc. I can’t recommend this book more highly.
• Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks: Written by duck conservation expert, Dave Holderread, this is a great book if you’re looking to raise your birds for production purposes and helpful for the small flock owner as well. kindle edition

Recommended Duck Veterinary Textbooks

I really like to understand what’s happening to my girls when they are sick, how the illness will progress and what to expect as they get better. I also like to have an idea of general treatment protocol. The internet is a great place to find tons of info, but all you usually find are halfway educated guesses and the suggested treatments are often not backed in veterinary science. We have too much invested in our small flock to throw darts, so we use a vet and I read a lot of veterinary textbooks. I’d imagine texts like these could also be helpful if you live in a rural area where there are no avian vets but there are general vets that are willing to see your birds & help with diagnoses. We own both of these books in the kindle format and I do recommend them.

• Backyard Poultry Surgery & Medicine: A wonderful textbook written for small animal vets, but has proven very useful for us in understanding illnesses in our own flock. Highly recommend. kindle edition
• Clinical Veterinary Advisor: Birds & Exotic Pets: From the amazon listing – Concise summaries of hundreds of common medical problems help you consider differential diagnoses, recommend diagnostic tests, interpret results mindful of unique species differences, utilize important concepts of species-specific husbandry and nutrition, prescribe treatments, and provide follow-up care. kindle edition

Duck Breeds

• Metzer Farms’ duck breed comparison list.

Where to get Duck(ling)s

Rescues

• Izzies Pond : Rescue & Sanctuary Located in Simpsonville, SC
• Carolina Waterfowl Rescue : Waterfowl Rescue Located in Indian Trail, SC
• National List of Waterfowl Rescues

Breeders & Hatcheries

• Timberock at Hopkins Farm: A breeder of heritage ducks, chickens, guineas and turkeys located in Simpsonville, SC. Among the list of breeds are Saxony and Silver Appleyard, both of which we’ve considered adding to our flock. I’m unaware if they utility breeder or show quality birds. I’m happy to update the listing if anyone wants to leave a comment in the comments section below
• Duck Dance Farms.: A breeder of heritage ducks, chickens, and geese located in Burnsville, NC. Our mission at Duck Dance Farm is demonstration, conservation, and education. I’m unaware if they have utility breeder or show quality birds. I’m happy to update the listing if anyone wants to leave a comment in the comments section below
• Metzer Farms: A waterfowl hatchery with a great reputation and high quality standards. They have both ducks and geese; this is where we got some of our girls. We were extremely happy with the condition they arrived in and they have been extremely healthy. Primarily Utility Breeder quality birds. Will only ship day-old ducklings; sexed or straight run.
• Holderread Waterfowl Farm & Preservation Center: We specialize in purebred waterfowl that possess a unique blend of superb production and exhibition qualities. Birds bred by us are exceptional layers, fast growing and have won top honors at the largest poultry shows in North America and Europe, including Supreme Show Champions at the American Poultry Association’s annual National Shows. Our breeding program encompasses more than 20 heritage goose varieties and 40 heritage duck varieties, including some of the world’s rarest and most unique breeds. Utility Breeder, Show Breeder Quality, Show Quality and Elite Show Quality. Will ship adult birds, or straight-run ducklings.

Be sure to check out our other articles about raising ducks!