About Us
Welcome, Quinn!
Welcome, Quinn!
Quinn with ducklings!
What started years ago as a special bond—when Maria was a young mom and Quinn was a daycare teacher—has officially grown into a full-fledged partnership!
Quinn and Maria; BESTIES!
Over the years, Quinn has been quietly chipping in and helping out behind the scenes, pitching in with everything from childcare to sheep, lambs, and eventually, our ducks. Today, we are thrilled to officially welcome Quinn as co-owner and partner in Dusky Feathers Waterfowl!
Quinn, very excited about an extra fuzzy lamb!
-Quinn has developed a deep passion for heavy ducks. Over the last few years, she has taken on increasing responsibility for their care and now co-owns the majority of our heavy-breed flock.
-Maria, the person where this duck dream first started, manages the website, looks after the light ducks (including her favorite Indian Runners), and leads the team’s color genetic explorations and breeding strategies.
“What will change for me…?”
Nothing! We’re practically neighbors and generally go to each other’s yard to do duck work together. All management stays the same and we get together once a week for egg packaging and shipping. Our goal is to keep this little thing we built running smoothly while sharing our passion for ducks with our fellow waterfowl enthusiasts!
Thank you so much for supporting Dusky Feathers Waterfowl as we grow into this exciting new chapter!
Dusky Feathers Waterfowl…
…is a branch of McDonald Farm, our family livestock farm. We are located just west of Cartwright in southwest Manitoba.
Our farm applies the principles of regenerative agriculture, which is a system of farming practices that seeks to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of the farm by placing a heavy premium on soil health with considerable attention also paid to water management.
We are also pleased to be working closely with Ducks Unlimited Canada contributing even further to the conservation of local wildlife and habitat.
Our animals…
McDonald farm manages a large flock of pasture based sheep and cattle. Lambing and calving both happen from May to July, which is why we make sure to be finished our duck business by then. The sheep and the ducks share buildings so when the sheep move in, the ducks move out! Quinn, co-owner of Dusky Feathers Waterfowl, is also employed on the McDonald sheep farm so she has the same limitations regarding ducks as does Maria! Duck season is duck season and sheep season is sheep season on this farm!!
Our duckie dreams…
We focus on the restoration and preservation of heritage ducks, as well as the creation of new lines with a unique interest in exploring and studying duck color genetics. With carefully thought out breeding plans, we strive to improve or maintain various aspects such as weight, conformation, and color year after year.
Our ducks enjoy wide-open pastures and fresh pools of water cleaned daily. Duckouts and ponds accessed by wild waterfowl are strictly off limits due to biosecurity concerns. In the cold winter, they have access to a well bedded barn that they share with some sheep for added warmth.
For the most part of the winter, the drakes and the ducks are kept in separate pens to ensure no unwanted crossings at breeding time. When spring arrives, many of our birds are paired for individual matings, while others are put together for flock breeding. By May we start to prepare for our annual lambing season (an all-consuming time devoted entirely to sheep) and our duck breeding pens are dissolved. The birds can then enjoy the rest of the summer foraging (protected from foxes and stray dogs by very electric poultry net) until autumn begins the cycle over again.
“Why ducks?” by Maria….
Because I have a brain that is like a dog with a bone…so I gave it something inconsequential to chew on when the insanities of the world become too overwhelming…duck genetics! (there’s always good meat on that bone!)
I love record keeping and data and thousands of pictures. I love Punnett squares and predicting outcomes and calculating the path to a new color (or the path to clean up an old color!) AND I love ducks…their funny quirky manners, their love of routine and predictable behavior, their incredibly cute babies, and the amazing magic that happens every time you put an egg into an incubator!
