The Majestic Retirement Plan

The time has come to plan for our future and, inevitably, our future closing. As difficult as it is to make these kind of arrangments, it must be done for the love and safety of all of our rescues--ensuring they always have a place to call home.  In light of this, the first thing we had to decide was when to physically close our doors and that answer is likely going to be at Midnight on Majestic Founding Day October 23, 2030 (which is also our sanctuary's 25th anniversary). Although this may seem like a long time off, we have to begin to preparing for it now.

The first thing we had to take into consideration... is the fact that our rescued drakes tend to live for an average of 15 years, which is over 5 years longer than our rescued females. Furthermore, it's far more difficult to find permanent new homes for these boys. Currently, Laddy, Piper, Shorty, Asaru and Winston are all over 12 years old and largely considered unadoptable because of their age, blindness, disabilities and special needs. For the most part, people are looking for young and healthy ducks to adopt--and they want females far more frequently than they want males.

Recognizing that a large number of our rescued drakes are never adopted and live out their entire lives here, we have to consider what will happen to them ten years from now. What will we do when it comes time to close our doors, but still have a number of unadoptable, aging drakes who still have five, or six, or even seven good years left to live? Where will they go? 

Unfortunately, we find ourselves in the same predicament when it comes to Muscovy ducks. While Muscovies are a true favorite breed around here, not everyone is open to the idea of adopting them because they look different from other ducks, which is a true shame since they are so packed with personality! No kidding... if you think you love having pet ducks and have never had a pet Muscovy duck, you have no idea just how much your love will grow--they are so AMAZING!

As awesome as these Muscovy ducks are, both male and female Muscovy ducks have average lifespans of 15-20 years, and being largely unadoptable, they face the same problem as drakes in ten years.

And now we move to geese. How can we rescue geese when some take seven or eight years to adopt while others have lived out the remainder of their lives here?

The second thing we had to take into consideration... is our own health and changing lifestyles. Tony works an average of 50 hours a week and then devotes all of his weekends to building and maintaining our sanctuary. He has already endured two back surgeries and has been told he cannot undergo a third.

Meanwhile, our volunteer animal caretaker, Isabel, is heading off to college next fall and we have no one actively available to take over this daily role.

And finally, Kim has been a full time volunteer at our sanctuary since it's founding in October of 2004--that's 15 years! Although our rescues have provided her with a tremendous amount of triumph and joy (which she wouldn't trade for the world), she has also endured some terrible heartbreaks along the way--more than most could ever endure. Hers is a 24/7 position loaded with hard physical labor including: shoveling snow, chipping away ice, spreading sand, building pens, pitching hay out of barns and houses, hauling heavy water buckets and feed bags in the bitter cold, followed by vet trips, involved medical treatment regimes, and dreaded after-hours emergencies--all before she even begins moving onto answering all of the emails, text messages, IMs and phone calls, which come in around the clock, and she hasn't even started maintaining our website, financials and fundraising yet. And did we mention those adoption road trips? She stepped up to the plate twice this year, traveling great lengths to help deliver our rescues to their new and loving homes when local homes could not be found for them. But is this method of adopting our rescues a good long-term plan for her, or our sanctuary?

The answer is this...

Going forward, Majestic will no longer be directly involved with rescuing waterfowl unless they are within 30 minutes of our sanctuary and  considered a "simple" rescue, not involving boats or taking place in hazardous conditions, which could lead to human injury. This change has actually already been effectively implemented for a few years now as we have relied upon volunteer rescuers to capture and bring their rescues to us (with prior approval of course). We have successfully switched our roles over from physical rescuers to rescue consultants!

Additionally, and in order to ensure that our unadoptable rescues don't ever have to worry about our future closing, we have decided upon immediate changes regarding our intake protocol. In light of the lack of homes available for male ducks, Muscovy ducks and domestic geese, and in consideration of their long lifespans, it is with tremendous sorrow that we can no longer welcome these particular birds into our sanctuary.

Proceeding forward, Majestic will only be accepting highly-adoptable, abandoned or unwanted female domestic ducks who are in good health, or who can be vetted and restored to good health. Female ducks are almost always in high demand and in all of our years, none have ever been brought back to us (unless it was to pick a different girl instead who made for a better fit in their flock).  As we reach the latter years of this retirement plan our intake numbers will decline to match our interested adopters, matching rescues with new homes, so that every new duck has a new home and that no duck is ever left behind.

Rest assured...

We will provide for all of our current residents who include geese, drakes, Muscovy ducks and special needs ducks, in addition to continuing forward with newly rescued female ducks coming into our care.

Understand also, that since our inception, a large portion of what we have been doing here at Majestic is never witnessed by most. For as many ducks and geese as we physically rescue and care for here, there are hundreds more who find their answers directly through networking. That's right! Kim spends unbelievable, countless hours finding solutions for homeless (or soon-to-be homeless) ducks and geese, connecting them with their forever new families--and she will continue in this endeavor for the next ten years! So while you may see a change in the future faces residing at our sanctuary, we will still help find plenty of viable options for countless others who you won't see. This means that Muscovy ducks, male ducks and geese will still get the help they need through direct placements!

Did you know? Since our inception, our online adoption form gives potential adopters the option to select:  "I'm interested in a duck or goose not at Majestic."   Often times, people contact us in search of a particular duck or goose (gender/age/breed) for their flock, who they can then go on to describe in the comments field. We will continue to utilize this highly effective tactic to match abandoned waterfowl with their perfect families!

Doors closing isn't really closed doors...

Although we will physically close our doors, we will still keep our website up as an informational resource to families with pet ducks and geese.

Could Kim ever say "no" to one of our adopted ducks or geese? No way! She will still be available for post-adoption support even after we close our physical doors.  

Time to order your Majestic 2020 Calendars!

Make a $30.00 donation* to Majestic and get your 2019 calendar as our way of saying thank you! *Sorry... Offer valid in the continental USA only.

We can package up to 3 calendars in the same envelope, so for each additional $28.00 donation you give, we'll send up to 2 more calendars to the same address. That's $30.00 donation for one calendar, a $58.00 donation for two calendars, or an $86.00 donation for three calendars all going to the same address.

Calendars measure 8.5 " x 11" rectangle and are of very high quality--nothing flimsy about them.

For those of you who don't know, Kim has drawn over 130 special little holiday ducks and geese to fill the day squares of our calendar, so you'll never miss another Donald Duck Day, Bathtub Party Day, or National Pekin Duck Day ever again--and YES these special occasions are absolutely REAL! We didn't make them up!

Calendars feature major Christian and Jewish holidays along with a whole slew of important pet holidays as well. We even included some extra fun days like: Paranormal Day, Star Wars Day, Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day, and International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Deadline to donate is:

Midnight, EST on Black Friday, November 29, 2019

In order for everyone's calendars to arrive in time for the holidays, we must place our entire order immediately following this deadline. This means if you procrastinate and wait for the deadline to pass you by, you'll be out of luck!

Click here to Donate!

REMEMBER to include your complete USA shipping address, phone number, email address along with the number of calendars you'd like to recieve when making your donation.

Helpful Books for Momma & Poppa Ducks and Geese

For more thorough information on pet ducks and geese, check out The Ultimate Pet Duck Guidebook and The Ultimate Pet Goose Guidebook, which are both available in b&w and color versions on AmazonSmile. Each is over 400 pages and contains hundreds of helpful (and fun!) photos and diagrams.

Links to all of Kim's waterfowl books can be found here: Happy Duck Publications.

Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary makes no representation, warranty, or guarantee in connection with any guidance provided on this website. Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary expressly disclaims any liability or responsibility for loss or damage resulting from its use or for the violation of any federal, state or municipal law or regulation with which such guidance may conflict. Any guidance is general in nature. In addition, the assistance of a qualified professional should be enlisted to address any specific circumstances.

© Majestic Waterfowl Sanctuary 2019