About Us
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.
Guided by these principles McDonald Farm raises sheep, cattle, pastured pigs, and pastured chickens, and ducks. We also offer a large variety of meat products as well as eating eggs from chickens and ducks. Click below to learn more about McDonald Farm.
Our sheep flock…
Along with cattle, pigs, and poultry, we also keep a large flock of sheep. They are a commercial mix that are heavily influenced by the Clun Forest breed. We raise them in a pasture based system that regenerates the soil and ecosystem.
Dusky Feathers Waterfowl…
…focuses on the restoration and preservation of heritage ducks 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.
Our ducks enjoy wide-open pastures and a large dugout that they take ample advantage of. In the cold winter, they have access to a 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 June 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 on land and water until autumn freezes the dugout over and everyone congregates nearer the barn again until the cycle starts over.
And this is me…
Maria McDonald, the person whose brain 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!