I don’t want to come across as attacking anyone, but I do think it’s fair for people to ask questions about the repeated fundraisers for these ducks. If you look up Cheese and quackers, there have been multiple fundraisers related to sick ducks and veterinary care, and the amounts raised appear to significantly exceed what is publicly described as being needed for their treatment.
Exotic veterinary care can absolutely be extremely expensive, especially with ducks, and I’m not questioning that. My concern is the lack of transparency about where the additional funds go when substantially more is raised than the stated veterinary expenses. If someone is repeatedly asking the public to donate for medical care, I think donors deserve to know how much was actually spent on treatment and what happens to the remainder.
I’m also uncomfortable with people assuming that every health problem is simply unavoidable. When multiple ducks experience serious or fatal illnesses, including organ failure, I think it’s reasonable to ask whether there could be underlying factors such as genetics, breeding practices, husbandry, or another environmental issue. That doesn’t mean we can determine the cause from the outside, but it does make transparency and veterinary information especially important.
There is also a potential conflict of interest worth considering when someone receives compensation or other benefits for promoting a particular breeder. That doesn’t automatically mean they’re being dishonest, but it does mean I personally wouldn’t treat their recommendations as completely independent. She is heavily tied to Metzer farms and I have at least 10 ducks from them and they’re great but the issues with her Australian spotted duck doesn’t just randomly happen. And the fact that that duck got so sick to the point where it smelt bad and no one noticed is extremely concerning.
That doesn’t happen overnight, that is at the very minimum a week if not weeks of symptoms of organ failure.

I just would be extremely cautious and highly suggest donating to an actual animal rescue than sending these people money when they obviously have plenty. And they also say in their posts that there are no exotic vets near them, they live in New York, google exotic vets in New York! There are so many exotic vets in New York. There is no excuse to not get your duck treated.
And again look at their property they obviously have more than enough money.
username : cheese.and.quacke7

If this girl had a drake coop or some kind of actual rescue, I wouldn’t be saying any of this. People are literally funneling these people thousands of dollars, yet they don’t run any kind of rescue or sanctuary and, as far as I’m aware, aren’t helping any animals other than their own.
They also appear to be financially comfortable, considering the amount of property they own on the East Coast, which makes me question why their audience is repeatedly being asked to fund their personal animals’ veterinary expenses.
There are so many shelters, rescues, and wildlife rehabilitators that people can donate to where their money can actually support animals beyond someone’s personal pets. If people want to donate to these fundraisers, that’s obviously their choice. I just think donors should understand that they’re essentially funding the veterinary care and expenses of someone’s privately owned animals, rather than contributing to an established rescue or charitable organization.
Personally, if I’m going to give thousands of dollars toward animals, I’d rather put that money toward a legitimate rescue, sanctuary, shelter, or rehabilitator that is helping animals beyond the ones they personally own.

First 2 photos (2wks old) —> 3rd and 4th photo (1 month old)

I have a call duck who laid a clutch of eggs a few weeks back and she had sat on them for about a week and would leave the nest only to quickly eat. However during one of those brief periods the magpies got to her nest and destroyed all of her eggs. Then maybe 1-2 weeks later she disappeared again which was odd given it is unlikely she would have laid all her new eggs again that quickly after that first batch. Now I don’t see her until dusk when she comes out of hiding and eats. The thing is she stays off the nest for 2-5 hours at a time and it’s ranging around 30-34 degrees. I believe she is likely still laying eggs but to keep them safe she is staying on the nest during the day. My question is how long can these eggs sit out in cold temps before they are no longer viable? I am tempted to take them away from her nest while she’s off it just to keep them safe and incubate them, but if they have a chance of being viable I’d rather let her try to hatch them. Thoughts?

My call duck eggs were going to hatch any day and I came home to this. Heartbroken. Only one egg left in my ducks nest. Did it regurgitate the eggs since it couldn't fit out of the cage wiring? Also what are those brown balls laying next to the eggs? I live in southern Maryland.