"I mean look at him, look at him, he's so cute, little little duckling, first real Livestock on Gold Shaw Farm." The speaker's voice brimmed with affection as they gazed upon the tiny creature, a pivotal moment marking the true beginning of their agricultural journey. "So I don't think I have ever told you the story of how I got my first batch of ducks. If you were a farm OG and you go back with us about seven years ago, you might know the story, but the odds are you're not because back then there were like 10 people people watching and probably eight of those people were related to either me or my wife." The present, a "cold and windy one," served as a backdrop for a nostalgic trip down memory lane. "All right, come on guys. So let me take you back to a Time on the farm, back to the spring of 2018."
The farm of that era was a blank slate. "There was no Toby dog, there was no Abby dog, there was no Jenny Barn Cat, there were no ducks, geese, goats, chickens, cattle. There was nothing. The only animal on our farm at that time even was Pablo Barn Cat." For the speaker, this spring held immense personal significance. "But for me personally, that was like a really important spring because back in the fall of 2017, my wife Allison had left Washington DC where we both been living, and she moved to this old farmhouse here in Vermont, and I was still living and working in Washington DC." A long-awaited relocation was on the horizon. "I was desperately trying to find a job somewhere in New England that would let me relocate, and it was in the spring of 2018 that I landed a job at a local life insurance company here in Vermont, and I was able to quit life in DC and move up here fulltime." The move signified the realization of a long-held dream. "Part of why I was so excited to move to the farm fulltime was because I knew as soon as I had moved to the farm that would be the time that I could get my first animals."
The farm's acquisition in 2016 had been followed by extensive renovations in 2016 and 2017, including the planting of the permaculture orchard. However, the speaker's continued residence in Washington DC rendered animal husbandry impossible. "When you live in Washington DC but your farm's in Vermont and you have a nearly 600 mile commute to make to go from where you live to where you farm, you can manage having something like trees, but trying to have animals on the farm is just definitely a prospect you should not ever consider." The speaker's sensible decision to wait for the move paved the way for their first foray into animal ownership. "And while I didn't know much, I knew that, and so that's why I opted to wait, and once I got that new job in Vermont, that's when I got my green light to get my animals." This marked a significant milestone. "Now these would be the first farm animals I would ever have. I have never in my life lived with chickens or ducks or geese or goats or pigs or sheep or cattle or really any farm animal whatsoever." Growing up in suburban Connecticut meant a pet repertoire limited to dogs, cats, and the occasional small caged creature. "I had grown up in the suburbs of Connecticut, and that meant that, you know, we really only ever had dogs or cats or maybe the occasional Gerbil or goldfish, but we'd never had farm animals." Even into adulthood, animal care had been absent. "And my entire adult life really from the start of college onward, I never had any animals to take care of, and Pablo Barn Cat's addition to the farm really was the first animal I'd ever owned, even though Allison was living here at the time, and so it was really more her cat than my cat, which remains true today as you guys know, I am not a cat person." The decision of which animals to acquire first weighed heavily on the speaker. "And so I felt like I had a major decision on my hands when I decided to get those first animals on the farm once I knew I was moving up, and so that's why the first choice of animal on the farm was such a big decision because it was like really going to be my first choice of animal ever, and I had no experience with any animals whatsoever."
Despite a tendency to disregard conventional wisdom, the advice to start with poultry resonated with the speaker. "Now the conventional wisdom I have always been given is that you should always start with poultry, and even though I was always kind of thickheaded when it came to good advice, that was some advice that I took, and it made sense to me, and it's logical, and even to this day for any anybody who's watching this video, just know that my advice remains very much there too: if you ever want to start with animals on a farm or a homestead, always start with poultry." The choice between ducks and chickens leaned towards the former. "My preferences would be either ducks or chickens. I went with the unconventional choice of ducks because for me, as I was thinking about my farm business, Ducks were going to be an important part of my business strategy." The speaker's entrepreneurial vision played a key role. "When I looked around here, particularly in Northern Vermont, but also pretty much anywhere, what I always saw was the fact that that there were people who had backyard eggs to sale, and they would sell those backyard eggs for really only a couple of bucks, and so it wasn't like you could charge a premium for chicken eggs back then." Inflationary changes were acknowledged, but the past market dynamics favored a different approach. "I think our inflationary times have made things a little bit different now, but back then you couldn't charge nearly that much money. I started to think about ducks because I thought Ducks could potentially be a unique novelty that I could charge a premium price for." The speaker's early ambition was grand. "My earliest thinking was actually I dreamed of one day becoming like the duck Mogul of New England and supplying as many duck eggs as I had to various consumers in New England, particularly folks in like the Boston area or the Portland Maine area or in like the Connecticut suburbs where I grew up." The proximity to larger, more affluent markets fueled this idea. "Like those places are a couple of hours away, but there's a lot more people and a lot more money there, and so that's why the idea of ducks made sense from that standpoint." The perceived uniqueness of duck eggs in the local landscape further solidified the decision. "And when I looked out there in the landscape, there were a lot of people out there giving advice about ducks, and then on top of that, I have always been a big believer in the idea that it is better to be different than it is to be better, being kind of unique and and having a very distinct product that nobody else was really offering in the area, that also made sense for me." This led to extensive research. "And so that's what got me down the research Rabbit Hole of ducks in the spring of 2018."
The nascent internet offered fewer resources for duck enthusiasts then compared to the present day. "Now back then there wasn't as many resources for duck education as there is now, but there were two YouTubers in particular that I really focused in on." Matt, with his channel "50 ducks in a hot tub," showcased a large-scale duck operation that captivated the speaker. "One was uh a guy by the name of Matt who had a channel called 50 ducks in a hot tub, and this guy just had Ducks everywhere and was always hatching ducks and like he just had a pretty extreme duck operation like the biggest one I'd ever seen, and so I enjoyed just watching his videos and seeing how his farm worked, and so watching those videos gave me an idea of how potentially my duck farm could be." The other influential figure was podcaster Jack Spirko, who documented his duck-raising endeavors in a YouTube series called "the duck Chronicles." "The other one was a podcaster by the name of Jack spearco, and Jack had a farm down in Texas, and he raised duck for profit and even sold his duck eggs, and he made this series of videos on YouTube called the duck Chronicles where he would just have these daily Diaries of raising his Ducks, particularly when he get like a new batch of ducklings, and so watching that was also really formative for me in terms of how to think about my farm and think about raising ducks." In fact, a well-known farm catchphrase originated from Spirko. "And in fact, one of the catchphrases that my farm is most known for even still is that when I'd lock my ducks up at night, I would chant all ducks go to bed. Well, I actually stole that from Jack because he was the one who I first saw doing that: all du all duck go to bed, all ducks go to bed." A later podcast appearance allowed the speaker to acknowledge this influence. "And I even had a chance when I was on his podcast several years later to recognize that, and it was just kind of cool to see how things went full circle like that." The research continued beyond YouTube. "So I was in this researching rabbit hole, and I was constantly watching YouTube videos to like help teach me about ducks, and I bought a couple of books about ducks, but those weren't nearly as engaging or instructional for me personally as those YouTube videos were." The decision to acquire ducks was made, with spring deemed the ideal time. "And so I decided yes, I'm going to get ducks, and since I was going to get Ducks, it seemed like the spring would be the perfect time to do it." The quantity was set at 40, based on a straight-run order and the need to butcher half for meat, leaving the remainder for egg production. "And I decided to go with 40 Ducks because number one, I was going to raise my ducks as a straight run, meaning the Hatchery was going to send me pretty much half male and half female, and that meant that I was going to need to figure out a way to butcher half the Ducks when they got of age and probably either eat or sell those for meat, and then the remainder of the birds would become my laying flock, and I felt like 20 laying Birds was like the bare minimum I could do to be able to start selling duck eggs the following year."
The variety of duck breeds and their characteristics were considered. "Now when it comes time to order ducks, you're going to find that there's a whole wide variety of ducks, and they have different characteristics." Muscovy ducks were noted for their hardiness and free-ranging abilities. "Release the quacken! There's the Muscovy duck, which is kind of rugged, and if there's any duck that's like super free range capable, I would argue that the Muscovy is the best in class for that." Runner ducks were described as comical and excellent foragers. "There are the hysterical and upright runner ducks who look like little bowling pins on webbed feet and are just adorable and funny and outstanding at free ranging and catching insects and eating weeds." Pekin ducks, primarily raised for meat, were highlighted for their docility but also their overeating tendencies. "There is the big gigantic Peak and duck, which is a breed that's primarily raised for meat, and they are exceptionally docile and slow and friendly, but they also have a propensity to eat themselves to death." Ultimately, the Khaki Campbell breed, known for its prolific laying, was chosen to align with the speaker's business goals. "And then there's also the Khaki Campbell duck, the Khaki Campbell duck traditionally being one of the most prolific layers, and particularly given my goal of wanting to have a duck egg business, it seemed to make the most sense that I should go with the best layer, and so I ended up ordering 40 khaki Campbell ducks online back in April." The delivery date was set for early June. "And I set the date for early June because that felt like just about the earliest possible time I'd want to get duck LS on the farm." The order was placed, and anticipation grew. "I put in my order and I waited, and I was all excited, and I kept doing all the research, and I kept having plans, and I even moved up to the farm, and I even started making YouTube videos." The nascent YouTube channel served a dual purpose. "The reason I made YouTube videos also factored into my thinking around the farm business. You know, as I learned about other duck Farmers through YouTube, I thought wow, YouTube could be a great platform for people to find me and could potentially become customers for my duck eggs." The early videos documented the move to the farm and introduced viewers to the unfolding story. "And so I decided to just start documenting ing my experiences of moving up to the farm and getting people introduced to the farm and everything we've got going on so that when I had duck eggs ready to sell, I'd have customers interested in buying them." A slight delay in the duckling delivery added to the anticipation. "I was hoping to get the ducklings delivered to the farm uh last week, but at the last minute, I got a note from the Hatchery saying that they were going to be delayed, and I wouldn't get them till this week. They said that they were going to be shipping out on a Tuesday. I just got this email though from the Hatchery saying that they're going to going to show up sometime between Tuesday and Thursday. Um, that is a wider delivery window than I had hoped."
While awaiting their arrival, preparations were made. "Now as I waited for those ducks to arrive, I started with the basics. I took an old milk cooler room in our old three-story dairy barn, and I lined the corners with hardware cloth so rats or weasels couldn't sneak in, and I built a little Bruder where I would be able to house all of my little ducklings, and I figured out where to get heating lamps from and little waterer, and I watched all these videos to learn the tips and tricks of how I should be feeding and watering them and doing all of the research that way." The notification of their impending arrival sparked nervousness. "And so I got the notification that they were going to come, and I got all nervous because they didn't come immediately, and it was seemed like it was taking longer than it should, and it was like a two days of transit for the ducklings, and I was terrified that they wouldn't be okay." Wednesday morning brought continued waiting and video updates. "So now it is Wednesday morning, and I'm still waiting on the ducklings, and I was like recording little video updates cuz I wanted to Vlog the whole thing, and I didn't want to like Miss a moment, I wanted to capture everything." The motivation behind this extensive documentation was a mix of excitement and a desire to share the experience. "And looking back on it all, when I asked why was I like that, I think it was just because I was so excited about this new first step in our farm, and I wanted to just share with everybody what was happening. I wanted to share with friends and family back in cities that I had long since left, I wanted to share with my new friends here in Vermont, I just wanted everybody to know about my experience with the Ducks." The small early audience didn't diminish the speaker's enthusiasm. "I think I had like 12 subscribers at the time, and so even though I was posting videos on YouTube, people on YouTube were not watching those videos. In fact, you can kind of go back to my video library if you're ever curious, and you can sort your videos to like oldest first, and you'll find some of those earliest awkward uncomfortable YouTube videos which were essentially me practicing and learning how to make videos as well as practicing and learning how to farm." Finally, the long-awaited call came. "But then finally, 3 days after they shipped, I got a nice call from the folks at my local Peach and post office. Guess what guys? I just got a phone call from the post post office here in Peachum, the ducklings are arrived! I'm going to pick them up right now!" The drive to the post office was swift. "And so I drove 5 minutes down the road from the farm to the post office, and I was greeted with two cardboard boxes that were peeping and squeaking and had all sorts of activity and liveliness to them, but I didn't dare open them up because I was terrified of getting them cold." Back at the farm, the unveiling began. "I rushed back to the farm and brought the boxes of birds into my Bruder, and I opened them up slowly and began to one by one take each little duckling out and dunk its head in water so it would learn how to drink, which I've since learned is completely unnecessary an Overkill, and I would set it in the Bruder and I would add another one and another one and another one, and eventually I had unveiled 42 ducklings into this little Bruder." A bonus bird or two was typical for larger hatchery orders. "Now typically when you order from a hatchery, especially if you have a larger order, they're going to throw in a bonus bird or two for you, that's usually just to compensate in case like one of them dies in shipping, and so I ended up with 42 ducklings." The initial success was remarkable. "They were all alive, and I think 41 of those 42 looked healthy, and even that first week I didn't lose a single duckling, and I was so excited, and everybody was just doing great, and I was making daily video updates, and it was amazing to just watch the Ducks progress, to watch them grow, to watch them go from these tiny little things that were so helpless to these little brown balls of energy who are just sprinting all over the place in the Bruder and were making messes with water and just seem to have so much life in Jah deiv like it was incredible." The experience ignited a newfound passion. "And the more time I spent with the Ducks, the more excited I was with the farm. I had actually a secret underlying fear that I would actually get bored with things pretty quickly, but the reality is the experience of being a nurturer and a caretaker unlocked something in my personality that until that point in my life, I don't think I ever had really experienced." This nurturing role brought unexpected fulfillment. "But nurturing and taking taking care of creatures, that action and those those experiences and doing that work like spoke to this part of my soul that I had never really accessed before, and to this day being able to take care of animals is like one of my greatest Joys, and it was not something I even recognized in full until that first morning that I was opening up that cardboard box of ducklings."
The initial weeks were idyllic. "Now the first few weeks of having the ducklings went well without a single hitch. They grew up, they were starting to almost outgrow their Bruder." The transition to a chicken tractor, designed by regenerative farmer John Suskovic, marked the next stage. "And pretty much when they were at the point of almost outgrowing