Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks: Breeds, Care, Health

by Dave Holderread

For 17 years readers have turned to Storey Books for advice on raising animals. Our Modern Way series of six books has sold more than 1,000,000 copies. In an effort to provide readers with the best how-to animal books on the market we are completely updating all six Modern Way titles and reintroducing them as part of our Guide to Raising series. Written by experts, these guides give novice and experienced livestock farmers all they need to know to successfully keep and profit from animals. Each book includes information on selection, housing, space requirements, breeding and birthing techniques, feeding, behavior, and health concerns and remedies for illness. The books also address the business of raising animals -- processing meat, milk, eggs, and more. The authors were chosen not only for their expertise but also for their ability to explain the ins and outs of animal husbandry in an inviting and authoritative manner. Whether readers are ready to start an entire herd or flock or are considering purchasing their first animal, Storey's Guide to Raising series offers vital information; each book is an indispensable reference.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Animals, Agriculture

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 2011

About the author

Dave Holderread is a waterfowl breeder, researcher, and historian. He has worked with all recognized breeds of ducks and geese and is the first person to have studied the inheritance of all their plumage colors and patterns. His books on waterfowl are used by commercial producers, small flock owners, agriculture development workers, and researchers.

Reviews

[Numidica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent soup-to-nuts guide to raising ducks successfully. I built a predator-proof duck coop following his drawings, and never lost a duck to fox, raccoon, possum, nor snake when they were in the coop.

I will note that once you start keeping ducks outside, they are vulnerable to hawks and other predators during the day when they are out of the coop. I protected my ducks before they began to fly by putting netting over their enclosure. Mine were mallards, and once they started to fly, all bets are off. I made a duck island for them on the pond at our house, but once they are living on their own, unprotected, you will lose some unless you continue to put them in the coop at night, which is possible if you train them right from the start. Mine were very willing to come back to the barn when I whistled for them because (I assume) they associated me with food. Having ducks fly to you when you whistle is a cool experience, since mallards are fundamentally wild birds.

[Max Lovelady · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love ducks. Talks about breeds and how to take care of them. It mentions lightweight breeds, bantam breeds, mediumweight, and heavyweight breeds. It has ranking for the best laying breeds and the egg sizes. It also compares ducks to chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, and other bird types. It compares them with weight, size, feed consumption. At the end it also has recipes for ducks, ducklings, and their eggs.

[Blake Laberee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I wanted! Specific duck breed info, egg production, feeding schedules and nutrition requirements. Tons of helpful nuggets (like making sure your non-laying ducks are not getting too much calcium) that I wouldn't have thought of! Very detailed, helpful charts and pictures! 5/5!

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book NEEDS to be a to-read for all duck owners! I was a little overwhelmed when it talked about all the different types of colors to each breed and all the illnesses my ducks could get, but it has helped me tons! I highly recommend it!!

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have liked some photos of set-ups, health indicators, etc. I'm sure I'll reference it often in the future. Excited about ducks now!

[Martha☀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being brand new to raising ducks, but not new at livestock, I found this book minimally helpful. It is heavy on the breeding, lineages and showing of ducks but light on necessary information. I need more detailed info on where to source niacin, how to bandage a bumblefoot webbed foot and what an 'enlarged hock' looks like. I feel like I have learned much about the do's and don'ts of duck-keeping but there was little practical information on how to do the right things and how to recognize the problematic issues. An example of this is Holderread's example of keeping ducklings' food and sleeping areas clean and dry in a brooder box while having a water source in the same area. How does he do this? It is a wet sloppy mess within 3 minutes of laying out dry straw and food and then the ducklings are lying on soaked bedding. I have only had ducklings for one month but I already have chapters in information to add to this resource. I will be spending time searching for info in other places.
The Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens is a far more practical guide.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holderread has compiled a vast amount of information on raising ducks in this guide. Most of it is aimed at small farms and households, which is exactly what I was looking for. His approach is straight-forward and welcoming...and somewhat inspirational. I'm looking forward to the arrival of my own patinos within the month!

[Stephanie Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't read every word but I got the chapters most important to me and my three Cayugas. A lot of good information to help you in your life of duck herding.

[Betty Loven · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the information you could want on ducks....and then some

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in raising ducks, this is the best book.

[Summer Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re new to raising water fowl, this is a good place to start. I have three Khaki Cambells and this was a wonderful catch-all guide when I first began with ducklings. Highly recommend!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re planning on adding ducks to your homestead, I highly recommend getting this book as it’s a great resource to have on hand. It includes all of the information you need to get from little ducklings to adults. It covers housing, feeding, and healthcare issues. It goes over the different breeds to help assist in making choices on what breed(s) best suit your needs and environment.

It covers the care from birth to death. If you’re raising for meat, it goes over the proper processing and handling methods and includes a few recipes. If you’re looking for alternative care methods, you won’t find them in this book as it deals with the traditional care and feeding of ducks. While a little dry in some areas and lacking enough pictures (I love loads of pictures in this type of book), it is a solid reference book.

[Sidney Meeker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never been so convinced that an author knows what they are talking about. I really loved this and I’m really excited to get some ducks. My main issue is that most of the advice was for raising the best of the best (fastest growing, high egg production, etc.) I wish there was a little more info for people who are somewhere in between or not wanting ducks for their utility. Extremely beginner friendly, but there is so much information that it’s hard to know where to begin. Now that I’m finished, this is going to be a really really great reference.

[Endira77 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many sections are repetitive as part of the "standard care." If you're only reading about a particular duck, it would be fine, but if you're reading about all of them, it becomes annoying, almost like a duck encyclopedia auto-response. It is detailed in the types of food, body shapes, and colors of various species. It's a standard text for beginners. It's well organized and easy to understand.

[Kade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information, and may have had an impact on my bringing home two ducklings last weekend.

[Caspar Bøtchiær · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has everything I need so far. And some interesting anecdotes

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has so much detail, it was a bit much for me.
Lots of good information in there but took some wading through to get to the bits I was looking for.

[Spring Dugger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was ok

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great descriptions of types of ducks. I was expecting more about housing ducks but maybe it's not as complex as chickens?

[Johan · Rating 5 out of 5]

No nice pictures but a very informative study/read about ducks. Everything you need to know, if that is your interest.

Well-written and really complete book on raising ducks!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the Storey's guides are good enough, and some are great. This duck book hits in between the two options, clocking in around "very good." It's thorough and readable, with good diagrams, but perhaps too much information on breeds and showing for me. But I can just skip those parts, and the book did a good job of introducing me to things I needed to know as we tried raising ducks for the first time.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great source of information on duck buying and raising. Has information on slaughtering, egg production and cooking recipes. Goes through a breed by breed description of the different types of ducks available and their pros and cons. Also, how to raise ducks with other water fowl, land fowl and chickens.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far, the most complete and best resource for people who want to raise ducks as pets, flocks, feeding and finishing to laying. Funny anecdotes, great resource as far as nutrition. I refer to it often, and it proves useful now as it was when we didn't have a clue about ducks the week before our ducklings arrived. Easily my favorite book of the year.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the other Storey's Guides I've read. The author focuses on the small farmer. Other authors in this series glibly tell the reader to feed pre-mixed, medicated food to animals securely locked into cages; Holderread provides information to those who want alternate methods.

He does dwell too long on the different breeds. The first 100 pages could have been an appendix.

[Fernleaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for the beginner or experienced duck keeper. This book covers topics ranging from the basics of duckling and adult care and management to in-depth discussions of color genetics for the serious breeder and includes instructions for formulating your own rations. Detailed breed descriptions and recommendations as well as information on showing, butchering, and laying ducks.

[Tatjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was terrific. I almost decided to exclusively concentrate on raising ducks after reading this book.
The book is well organized, descriptive and enthusiastic about the subject matter. If you are considering raising ducks, this book would be an excellent jumping off point.

[Sarah Pfeiffenberger Reinholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book to be super helpful, and am able to keep going back to it and anyways find answers to my questions.
Only down side is that there is not a lot of natural ways to do things our treat wounds

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This work deals mostly with show ducks. It does have limited information on the breeds and scant information on truly raising ducks. There is detailed information on conditioning and exhibiting ducks but is intened for a very narrow niche.

[Cherice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fabulous resource from an experienced duck-raiser of 40 years. I have a lot to learn. Poor Bill & Pete, they're my "guinea pig" ducks.