Today, Waddesdon’s breeding program focuses on threatened or endangered species and has been carefully designed so that, combined with education and research, it helps to conserve the rarest species.

Aztec ducks — you may have heard of them, but most have not. I certainly had no idea they existed when the opportunity to raise them fell in my lap by happenstance.

In the 1920s, mechanization of farms led to the poultry industry narrowing their interest to a few specialized hybrids which could produce a lot of meat and eggs with the biggest ROI. This regrettably led to the demise of various rare duck breeds and other niche historical livestock.

In July of 2019, the employees at that Tractor Supply called Lisa to come to pick up Topper. At the time no one realized how special Topper would become.

Use this handy calculator to determine the incubation period: chicken eggs vs duck eggs, goose eggs, turkey, quail, peafowl, guinea fowl, pheasant, and emu. Then set your eggs and watch them develop!