The owner of Long Island’s last remaining duck farm, forced to cull its entire flock of nearly 100,000 Pekin ducks last month in response to an outbreak of avian flu, says he is “truly scared” to start over and risk the same fate.
And with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza continuing to spread rapidly across the United States, that risk looms large for Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue.
Avian influenza, a highly contagious and particularly lethal disease in poultry, has affected more than 156 million domestic birds in commercial and backyard flocks since the current U.S. outbreak began three years ago.
Doug Corwin, fourth-generation duck farmer and president of Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s policy of euthanizing flocks when avian flu is detected is not working.
Effective vaccines are available and are being used in Europe to stop the spread of avian influenza. It’s time to allow their use in the U.S., Corwin said.
“Corporate agriculture is mostly against vaccines. They are hugely worried about losing exports. This has led to the prolonging AND spreading of this outbreak,” Corwin wrote in a letter to Rep. Nick LaLota yesterday. LaLota represents New York’s First Congressional District, which includes eastern Suffolk County
Corwin is asking federal officials like LaLota to push for change in USDA policy to allow farmers the protection of vaccines for their flocks.
Without that protection, Corwin questions the wisdom of working to rebuild his flock in the hope of resuming production.
“Something needs to change. We cannot go on like this,” Corwin wrote to LaLota. “I am heartbroken over laying off 48 workers to date, with more to be laid off soon, along with the gut-wrenching sadness of having to terminate our ducks.”
Crescent Duck Farm ceased operations Jan. 16 after Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza was confirmed on his farm. The farm laid off roughly half its work force, with the rest staying on to work on cleaning and sanitizing every part of the farm. The entire site remains under quarantine.
MORE COVERAGE: ‘Bird flu’ outbreak shutters Long Island’s last duck farm, as culling of 99,000 birds is underway
Despite the continuing looming threat of avian flu, and the trepidation he feels about the risk of another outbreak, Corwin has already taken steps to rebuild Crescent’s flock. With the state’s authorization, he has sent sanitized eggs to a hatchery in Eastport. Corwin hopes the ducklings that emerge from those eggs will be the start of a new flock that, by the fall of 2026, will produce Crescent ducks for the marketplace.
The road to recovery will be long and arduous for the duck farm, founded in 1908 by Doug Corwin’s great-grandfather, Henry. Being able to raise a new flock from Crescent’s own eggs is essential, Corwin told RiverheadLOCAL last month.
Crescent Duck Farm, over the past 70 or 80 years, has “developed a meatier bird that has enough skin fat to make it really, really succulent when you cook it, without making it overly fatty.” For that reason, it’s the duck of choice among the “white-tablecloth trade” to which his business caters. That selective breeding is “what’s kept us in business,” Corwin said.
A vaccine, he believes, is now necessary to keep the farm in business going forward.
“We had a very bio-secure farm. We felt that we took the precautions necessary to prevent this virus that has ravaged poultry flocks in the United States since 2022,” he wrote to LaLota.
But with avian flu spreading rapidly across the country, carried by wild birds, there may be no level of biosecurity that can prevent an infection.
MORE COVERAGE: Avian flu strikes close to home in Riverhead, as its spread devastates poultry flocks, reduces egg production across U.S.
“We need a vaccine!” Corwin wrote, asking LaLota to help him voice this need to USDA and President Donald Trump.
Effective vaccines against HPAI in poultry do exist and have been in use in Europe since the fall of 2022. France began vaccinating poultry in the fall of 2023.
In response, USDA announced that it was restricting imports of poultry from France and its EU trading partners effective Oct. 1, 2023.
“Vaccination of poultry against HPAI virus may mask HPAI virus circulating in poultry. Vaccinated birds may not show signs of HPAI infection, which could lead to the export of infected live animals or virus-contaminated products to the United States,” the USDA release said.
On Jan. 3, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the outgoing Biden administration announced it would award $306 million dollars to continue its H5N1 Avian Flu response, including vaccination capabilities. The fate of those funds is uncertain under the Trump administration. The page on the HHS website announcing the award and detailing the breakdown of distribution of funds has since been removed.
Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona is urging federal officials to pursue vaccinations to protect poultry and other animals against avian influenza.
Gallego said the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s indemnity program was included in the list of programs that were threatened to be frozen by the Trump administration.
“Without this funding, farmers will not be compensated for birds that have to be destroyed due to avian flu infection,” Gallego said.
Brooke Rollins, secretary-designate of the Department of Agriculture, said during her confirmation hearing fighting animal disease such as avian influenza will be one of her biggest priorities should she be confirmed to lead the USDA, but did not commit to pursuing a change in USDA policy regarding vaccinations to protect poultry and other animals against avian influenza.
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