Shana R. (LynniePennie) reviewed Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks: Breeds, Care, Health on + 169 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
When I ordered this book I was looking for a really detailed book for the novice on rearing young ducklings for pets/eggs. This book covered a VERY basic bit (one small chapter on rearing ducklings) & after reading it I still felt like I didn't know enough about the actual rearing of baby ducklings. I also wanted photo's and info on the different types of waterers for baby ducklings and photo's of homemade brooders for small scale duck rearing. Which this book didn't have. I also wish this book had more information and more photo's of equipment needed for rearing mail-order ducklings.
This book is more for those wanting to breed ducks on a bit larger scale. It has lots of information on duck genetic phenotypes, duck colors and basic duck genetics. Being someone who just wants a few ducks for pets, I felt this was a bit over my head and more for someone who wants to raise, show & sell ducks professionally.
In my opinion the best area of this book is the information on the different duck breeds. Though, not all breeds are covered here. The information on the breeds included a description, varieties of the breed, selecting breeders, selecting & preparing each breed for show and some author comments. This section would've been perfect if the author would've added more on the disposition/personality of each breed and some color photo's were included.
Among the other wonderful information included in this book were butchering, duck health, showing, mixing rations and signs of vitamin and mineral deficiencies in ducks. There's also a short, but through chapter on predators of ducks. This book has a nice Duck Breeder and Hatchery Guide source index which was very helpful.
Overall, this is a book I would buy again, but not still quite what I was looking for. Still an excellent reference book for anyone interested in ducks.
This book is more for those wanting to breed ducks on a bit larger scale. It has lots of information on duck genetic phenotypes, duck colors and basic duck genetics. Being someone who just wants a few ducks for pets, I felt this was a bit over my head and more for someone who wants to raise, show & sell ducks professionally.
In my opinion the best area of this book is the information on the different duck breeds. Though, not all breeds are covered here. The information on the breeds included a description, varieties of the breed, selecting breeders, selecting & preparing each breed for show and some author comments. This section would've been perfect if the author would've added more on the disposition/personality of each breed and some color photo's were included.
Among the other wonderful information included in this book were butchering, duck health, showing, mixing rations and signs of vitamin and mineral deficiencies in ducks. There's also a short, but through chapter on predators of ducks. This book has a nice Duck Breeder and Hatchery Guide source index which was very helpful.
Overall, this is a book I would buy again, but not still quite what I was looking for. Still an excellent reference book for anyone interested in ducks.
