Q&A with Duck and Geese Farmer Dave Holderread
March through June is a busy time for any farmer. However, this farmer in particular, Dave Holderread, has almost no time to have a day off from the ducks and geese he raises.
Naturally getting an interview at this point in time… Looked a bit bleak …
But, I finally got a phone call back on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Millie Holderread, Dave’s wife, said that the only time available to chat was while they were going to be hauling hay the next day.
As anyone looking for that one window-opening opportunity, I gladly took it.
How did the idea of creating a goose/duck farm come alive?
Oh my… Well according to my parents, as soon as I could walk. When they would go to the zoo or a public park. And I would disappear and they knew that I went to go find a pond where there were ducks and geese, and I would be there watching them. My oldest memory was that I was fascinated by these animals that could be walking along and just go in the water and swim off.
Especially the feet of geese. I just thought, they are so big and it would be so cool to have feet like that so you could just paddle across water.
Millie Holderread jumped in and said, “and the bonus of being able to fly!”
When did you formulate/plan your farm?
My parents liked to have us kids to have our own little business. So we did a variety of things, but I started raising mostly ducks and some geese. There was a hatchery in Hubbard, Oregon that found out that I was interested and said, “Oh! We need someone to produce hatching eggs for us.” I was at the time in fourth/fifth grade. It was great! I needed more ducks and geese, and they would pick up the eggs every week.
Then I started hatching some of my own and selling them. Put up a sign on the side of the road, people would stop by and pick them up! I started showing them at shows as well and that was fun.
Gerding’s Market was this little grocery store in Corvallis, and they told me any extras you got we’ll buy from you and re-sell them. It took off from there.
Would you say the early influence for your passion for geese and ducks is because of your parents?
You know, that’s a question I have for any child, any human being, why some kids have these real interests right off. I assumed that it was genetic … Fortunately my parents just went with it. They personally had no interest. They would have never raised geese and ducks on their own. If dad were going to raise animals, cattle were his thing, and mom was a nurse. They liked seeing me being interested, and they helped and made it possible, and I am forever grateful for that.
What do you wish people knew?
Well, ducks and geese are some of the most versatile domestic animals there are. They’re suitable to an incredibly wide range of climates and situations. Much hardier than chickens, they have fewer parasite and disease issues.
(Holderread included in answering this question that when he was a freshman in college he got asked to go to Puerto Rico and start a vocational poultry training program. It was a title five by the federal government. This was all happening when he was in school in Kansas and he got a phone call saying that they have the funding and asked him to consider coming down and starting this program. Once he got two years of college to be certified by the federal government, he went down to Puerto Rico at the age of 20.)
What do you enjoy most?
Finding out how all the different physical characteristics were inherited was a lot of fun. Different researchers and universities have done a lot here and there, but they didn’t really KNOW ducks and geese. They would just do a little bit, and someone else would do a little bit, and there was no continuity. There were actually a fair number of mistakes made, because they didn’t do it long enough.
When you do it for 60 years you figure out your mistakes. At least a lot of them. I was the first person that's been known to study so many different breeds and be able to compare them and figure out how these characteristics fit together to make these breeds. I really enjoy the history of the breeds. Some of these breeds, it took hundreds and hundreds of years to develop them. While others develop really fast. I also created a few of my own.
Where did you grow up and go to school?
I was born in Twin Falls, Idaho. Then when I was three we moved to Puerto Rico for almost four years, went back to Idaho for about a year where I went to second grade. And got kicked out of second grade, because the teacher said I didn't understand or speak English. But where I went to school in Puerto Rico for first grade, if you spoke English, you got spanked. This was a grouchy, old ready-to-retire teacher in Little Flyer, Idaho. She had me so intimidated I convinced her I couldn't speak English. Then they sent me to a little Lutheran school where a first-year teacher was there. She wasn't intimidating so I spoke English to her. We then moved to Corvallis, Oregon and I went to school here until my senior year of high school, when I went to Western Menonite. I then went to Hesston College in Kansas for a year, took a lot of basic science courses. I also thought I wanted to be a pilot at that point, so I took aviation. I then came back to Oregon State for a year, went to Puerto Rico for four years to teach and met my wife Millie. After coming back I finished school at Oregon State and ended up getting a degree in Poultry Science.
What do you enjoy doing outside of the geese and duck farm?
I really enjoy working on our collaborative farm with the other people that live on it. I am also passionate about the Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses.
Are you involved in any of the farmers markets?
We’re not. Almost all of our business is out of state. We ship throughout the U.S. and Canada. We also minimize how many people come to see the birds due to bio securities and to prevent disease as well.
What does everyday life look like for you?
A lot of chores! Taking care of the birds, gathering eggs, Millie washes the eggs, incubating the eggs, candling the eggs, turning the eggs. At hatching time, shipping the babies out within usually 24 hours after they are hatched. Interacting with the customers. Feeding, watering, cleaning, all the chore stuff. It is a lot of routine, which, for the most part, is fine with me. Also a fair amount of writing, I have written about a couple books, and about 25-28 informative pamphlets.
Holderread and his wife are now in the process of retiring and handing off the baton for someone else to continue the geese and duck farm. Though the time of retirement approaches, it’s likely that Holderread will continue working with his horses and be still a part of the farm he had built to what it is now.
At a Glance:
Dave Holderread
Occupation: Geese/Duck Farmer
Age: 69
Hometown: Corvallis
Family: Two older sisters and one younger sister, married but no kids
Education: Hesston College and OSU for a degree in Poultry Science
Years in Geese/Duck Farming: Cumulatively 61 years
Other Interests: Horses! Specifically Puerto Rican Paso Finos