The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook: All the things you need to know before bringing home your feathered friend.

It is very clear Kimberly Link LOVES ducks, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Written by the president of a waterfowl rescue who writes extremely detailed descriptions of housing options, predator-proofing, and medical care--to make sure your pet duck has the best chance of living a very long, healthy, and happy life with you. She goes into more detail about ideal pet flock sizes (small!) than some other books, as well as habitat enrichment ideas, and she discusses indoor ducks.This book has THE BEST MEDICAL SECTION, with drug options and dosages, that I have seen (short of maybe a veterinary textbook). It alone makes this book worthwhile. This book has WAY BETTER INFORMATION THAN YOU WILL FIND ON THE INTERNET, INCLUDING VERY POPULAR FORUMS. Save yourself lots of time wading through bad advice online and buy Kimberly Link's book. It walked me step-by-step through wet feather, bumble foot, broken blood feathers, and angel wing diagnosis and treatment (which I needed within the first several months of owning ducks!). Bring it with you when consulting with your vet, in case they don't see ducks every day.The drawback to Kimberly Links method of duck care is that, of course, it comes at greater financial cost than you might expect for a small farm animal. Building a large predator-proof enclosure is EXPENSIVE and time-consuming. At the sign of any problem, she, rightly, suggests a veterinary appointment.I *might* have had trouble with angel wing after following her suggestion of feeding the highest quality Mazuri pellets free choice to my ducklings . . . maybe I misunderstood, or maybe it was something else entirely. Either way, for my second batch of ducklings I leaned towards Holderread's suggestions of blending in more oats and limiting feed a little earlier. My second batch of ducklings grew slower and had fewer little health problems. Is it possible that since she deals mostly in rescued waterfowl that have been starved, she has a little blind spot that allows them to become slightly overfed?If you want a book about breeding, culling, showing, and cooking livestock ducks--look elsewhere.

I am a new duck owner and I got several books and a magazine to learn about them. I’ve learned from all of them but this one has been the most detailed and helpful to me. Written in a humorous and easy to understand way, the author even made it easy enough for people with no medical background to understand and have available a guidebook generally covering a ducks health and anatomy. One thing though was that the back of the book boasts full color photos and that would have made a big difference but they are black and white. Awesome book though 😁

There are many "ultimate" books out there about every topic you can think of, and they're nowhere near "ultimate." This one lives up to its title. If you're an owner of companion ducks, or are thinking of being one, and buy only one book, buy this one.I own just about every duck book worth owning, and some that aren't. I breed Call ducks, so I like to have a variety of good references. This book and Dave Holderread's Storey's Guide are the ones I go to most often. While I consider the Storey's Guide indispensable, it contains a lot of information a casual owner probably doesn't need, e.g., genetics, butchering, and duck recipes. (I've never read the butchering and recipe chapters.)Kim's guide is more narrative and is easy for anyone to understand. There is information on nutrition, environment, interaction, accommodations, predation, anatomy, illness, and so much more. I actually read books like this cover-to-cover, and it wasn't at all hard to do it with this one even though it's a very large book. It really is that interesting and that easily readable.I'd very much like to see this book in an electronic version so I can have it with me wherever I am. I like to keep all my "must haves" on my phone and tablets, and this one is a definite must have for me!

The book lives up to its name, it really is the ultimate pet duck guidebook! It has many pages to cover health problems, talks about different feed brands and how to adjust feeds, how to make proper housing etc. There's even information on how to make your own "duck first aid kit" with all sorts of medical supplies. I haven't had time to read the whole book yet, but it certainly is worth the money!Now, I have also read other books such as Dave Holdread's guide to raising ducks and Duck! There's a Goose in the House! by Nancy Townsend. Both are decent, especially the later which has info on house ducks. But this book is by far the most detailed and comprehensive book I've found yet.The only downsides I can think of is it lacks information on house ducks. It does have some information but not much. Then again, the author seems to feel that ducks belong in an outdoor setting and not as house pets. Nonetheless she does have some information on duck diaper resources.The first book I ordered had pages falling out shortly after I started reading it. However, I asked Amazon to replace it and I haven't had any issues since. I most likely received a bad copy which does happen from time to time.

Superbly written, wonderfully complete information on bedding and antibiotics (if needed), diagrams of the musculature of ducks, oodles of information on proper duck food, treats that are healthy for ducks, plants and other materials that should be absolutely avoided in a duck's pen, how to deal with stressed ducks, and on and on but all so worthwhile knowing. This is a reference book and the best book I have ever read on raising ducks!

Wish I had bought this book at the beginning of my pet duck keeping journey! Everything I have previously worried and fretted about is covered in this heartwarming and completely honest guidebook. Realised from all my internet searching for help and advice, that Kimberly Link's Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary was my 'go to' so made absolute sense to have her extensive reference book physically in my hands.Initially, I had searched for UK based advice, thinking the availability of appropriate feeds and medicines to be widely different, they aren't - only in brand names. Kim has even included a section on UK based brand feed options. Ducks in the USA have exactly the same needs in care as ducks here, the main difference being the predators! I absolutely love KIm's illustrations and friendly manner in which she gives her invaluable advice. If you are thinking of keeping ducks or already have ducks as pets this book is indispensable.