Free-Range Duck Farming In KZN: Why Less Is More

Duck meat is a high-value niche product in South Africa. KwaZulu-Natal farmer Vanessa Collocott supplies this market with certified free-range ducks, and has combined shrewd business sense with compassion in her high-risk enterprise.

- Lloyd Phillips

Vanessa Collocott raises free-range Pekin ducks for meat on her 20ha smallholding, The Blue Orange Farm, in Curry’s Post, between Mooi River and Howick in KwaZulu-Natal. Her government-certified, free-range duck production enterprise started with only 60 day-old Pekin ducklings back in 2012. She now farms just over 1 200 ducks at a time, divided into four age groups.

Every fortnight, 300 of her mature ducks are sent to an abattoir, where they slaughter out at about 2,3kg each. She then personally delivers or couriers the frozen carcasses to customers in the Midlands, northern Zululand, and even as far away as Cape Town.

Collocott says she went into duck farming because she wanted a high-turnover enterprise to supplement her husband’s income as a businessman in nearby Pietermaritzburg. “My research identified that there was a niche for both pasture-raised Pekin ducks and broiler chickens, particularly among higher-end restaurants and lodges. I produce both these poultry meat types on our smallholding.”

She supports ethical and humane farming practices.

CARING FOR BABY CHICKS

Every two weeks, she collects 320 day-old Pekin ducklings from Kent Farming, where they have been spray-vaccinated against Newcastle disease. This is the last medical treatment her ducks receive before slaughter.

“I choose not to vaccinate or medicate them because I’m trying to keep my production as natural as possible. Fortunately, Pekin ducks are quite hardy, and my flocks have never had any major health problems. It’s a risk I’m aware of and am prepared to take. Any individual ducks that become sick are culled.”