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Cover Graphic Above: Courtesy of Alana A. from Warroad, MN. Alana was one of our many photo contest entrants in our recent Metzer Farms 2025 Photo Contest. Shown here are her Welsh Harlequin and White Call Duck purchased earlier this year.
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That's right. You heard it correct. Our DUCK & GEESE AVAILABILITY for the 2025 spring season will open up at 10am PST on Monday, November 4th. Our website will be live starting at that time for taking online orders for next year. You can pre-order, pay, and reserve ducks & geese for next spring at that time. Don't miss out. Order your geese for next year!
On Monday, the below button will link you to our Geese Availability page for easy online ordering.
Please Note: We will have low availability and we will only be offering males of the following Geese:
* Sebastopol
* Large Dewlap Toulouse
* Super African
* Buff Toulouse
In 2025 we are saving all females of these breeds for the purpose of increasing our flocks to have more goslings for you in future seasons. We recognize this may be disappointing and thank you for your patience in this regard. We appreciate it.
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OUR CONTEST WINNERS ARE IN!
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#METZERFARMS2025
We'd like to announce our winners for this year's Metzer Farms Photo Contest! Thank you everyone who submitted photos in our recent photo contest. It was so fun viewing everyone's submissions and seeing all your fine feathered friends. What a great waterfowl community we have!
After much deliberation and debate, we have come up with our 2 overall winners. Our votes have been tallied and here are our overall winners:
1ST PRIZE: COURTNEY PATTON from Dacono, CO with her photo submission of "Boy Hugging Duck"
2ND PRIZE: ANDREA MARTIN from southern West Virgina with the photo submission of what we like to call "Girl and Duck in Rain"
First Place will receive a $100 Metzer Farms Gift Certificate (or $100 donated to a charity of choice) and Second Place will receive a $50 Metzer Farms Gift Certificate (or $50 donated to a charity of choice).
The winning photos are displayed below. We'd also like to recognize other top finalists in our photo contest. Their submissions are also posted below. Congrats to all and thank you again everyone for entering! Look for photo submissions to also be included in our upcoming 2025 Metzer Farms Catalog and finalist photos to be displayed on our website.
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First Place Winner by Courtney Patton
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Second Place Winner by Andrea Martin
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From top to bottom & left to right, photos from: @Poethegoldie (our overall 3rd Place Winner), Rob Grote, Emily Hanson, Lindsey Jantz, and Tristan Della Bitta,
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Speaking of photos, although our photo contest is done for this year, we still want to continue to see pictures of your waterfowl. We have a new website portal feature which allows you to upload photos for us to see year-round. Here is access to our photo portal. Click on the button below:
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You must be signed onto your Metzer Farms Account to upload a photo. Uploaded photos which show birds that are good representations of the breed will be accepted and then posted on our website so that other customers may view them too. By submitting your photo, you agree that the photos can be used for any communication related to the mission of Metzer Farms.
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Ever wonder about the different color of duck eggs? We do! The difference between different shades of eggs really comes down to genetics.
This article linked below is a couple of years old, but it really delves into the scientific discussion of how duck egg color is determined by genetics. The article even quotes our very own John Metzer!
Check out:
by Marissa Ames at Backyard Poultry from April 11,2022
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We had a couple of really great customer questions in response to our recent blog post about washing dirty duck eggs by Brigid McCrea, Ph.D. from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. We want to help clarify so we are including the questions here with responses from Brigid as well:
Does the bacteria on the outside of a duck egg actually penetrate the eggshell and enter the egg?
Absolutely, they can! Most pores are partially covered by the bloom or cuticle, but that does not mean that bacteria are unable to pass through the pores and access the nutrients inside an egg. As the egg ages, the bloom dries and flakes off so that after several days there is less and less bloom remaining. Washing eggs before storing them in the refrigerator does two things, preserves the egg harvest and deters foodborne pathogen growth.
How long do unwashed eggs last outside the refrigerator verses inside the refrigerator?
For every day that an egg sits on the counter at room temperature, they age as much as if you had left them in the refrigerator for a week. Therefore, eggs will not remain as fresh as long on the counter, versus if they were refrigerated. The egg proteins degrade, release carbon dioxide, and lose moisture. This results in an egg that cannot perform as well in egg dishes compared to a fresh egg or an egg stored in the refrigerator.
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Just a friendly reminder that if you are in the area, please join us at the 2025 Pacific Poultry Association's Pacific Poultry Show. We will be attending, and we are looking for a good turn out this year. The 2025 show will be held on January 24th and 25th at the Grape Festival in Lodi, CA. Mark your calendar!
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