Ducks return to a Long Island farm that lost its entire flock to the bird flu

AQUEBOGUE, N.Y. (AP) — Doug Corwin knew there was a problem at his family’s commercial duck farm in Long Island when he spotted scores of dead or lethargic birds during a barn inspection in January.

Within days, Crescent Duck Farm became a casualty of the global avian flu outbreak, one of many farms around the U.S. that had to cull their entire flock, sending the prices of eggs and other agricultural commodities soaring.

Now the more than century-old farm — the last duck farm remaining in a New York region once synonymous with the culinary delicacy — is cautiously rebuilding.

But for Corwin, a 66-year-old fourth-generation farmer, it's not enough to bring the farm back to its 100,000-bird capacity.

With ducks hatched from eggs spared from slaughter, he's working to preserve the unique lineage of fowl that's allowed his family's farm to thrive even as others on Long Island fell by the wayside — all while worrying that another flu outbreak would finally wipe him out.

“All I know is I don’t want to be hit again,” Corwin said. “If I go through this twice, I’m done as a duck farmer.”

For months, Corwin and his reduced staff have been thoroughly sanitizing the farm’s dozens of barns, clearing out hay and debris, and replacing feeders, ventilation systems, wooden and metal structures and more.

At the end of May, the first wave of roughly 900 young ducks arrived from a nearby farm where they had been carefully raised in quarantine these last few months.

Another batch of 900 arrived last week and some 900 more will soon make their way to the roughly 140-acre (55-hectare) farm in Aquebogue, which is tucked among the vineyards and agricultural lands of Long Island’s North Fork, about 80 miles (129 km) east of Manhattan.

By the end of next summer, Corwin hopes the first ducks will be ready to be processed and brought to market.

But he says he won't rush the reopening. It will be many more months — if ever — before the operation, which processed about 1 million ducks for consumption annually, returns to full capacity, he said.

“I keep telling people I’m running a high hurdle race,” Corwin said. “I’ve got a lot a lot of steps to get back to where we were.”

Since 2022, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in all 50 states, leading to more than 1,700 recorded outbreaks affecting nearly 175 million birds, according to the most recent tally from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The outbreak at Corwin’s farm shows how this strain has inflicted more damage on a wider range of species than past variants, said Dr. Gavin Hitchener, director of Cornell University’s Duck Research Laboratory, located a short drive away in Eastport.

Ducks have generally been less prone to serious illness and death than chickens and turkeys, he said. H5N1 is also vexing American cattle farmers after the virus jumped from fowl to cattle last year.

“Something has changed in the virus’ makeup that has made it more virulent,” Hitchener said.

With no end to the bird flu pandemic in sight, Corwin worries he won't be able to weather another outbreak.

The farm received federal compensation for its euthanized ducks, but it wasn’t nearly close to the market value of the birds — never mind the expense of rebuilding in a high cost region that also includes the Hamptons, he said.

Corwin hopes the federal government will, at long last, require poultry operators to vaccinate their livestock against bird flu. It’s an uphill climb, given the Trump administration’s deep skepticism of vaccines and the long-standing opposition of far larger, industrial poultry operations, he acknowledged.

“I would sleep an awful lot better at night. But right now I’m very nervous,” Corwin said. “We’re just playing with deck chairs on the Titanic.”

The ducks newly arrived to the farm are crucial to its revival.

Fully grown and approaching breeding age, the cohort of white Pekin ducks were all that survived from the more than 15,000 eggs state officials allowed the farm to spare from the winter culling after they tested negative for bird flu.

That means they and their progeny carry on the unique genetic makeup the farm has honed over generations of selective breeding to build its reputation.

Established in 1908 by Corwin’s great-grandfather, Crescent Duck Farms has been the island’s lone commercial duck operation for the better part of a decade. But in the early 1960s, Long Island boasted more than 100 farms producing about two-thirds of the nation’s duck output.

“I feel I owe it to the ancestors of farmers who’ve been here all these years and have come this far to just make a go of it,” Corwin said. “I want to make Long Island proud.”

Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

Ducks walk around their barn at the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, N.Y., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Ducks walk around their barn at the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, N.Y., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Doug Corwin, president of Crescent Duck, picks up one of his ducks at the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, N.Y., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Ducks walk around their barn at the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, N.Y., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Doug Corwin, president of Crescent Duck, picks up one of his ducks at the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, N.Y., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

German-American winger Montrell Culbreath scored on his senior debut to cap Bayer Leverkusen's 3-1 win over Leipzig on Saturday, putting Leverkusen back among the Bundesliga title contenders.

The 18-year-old Culbreath, who has represented Germany and the United States at youth level, came off the bench in the 77th. With Leipzig searching for an equalizer, Culbreath surged up the field on a stoppage-time breakaway and scored into the top-left corner, wheeling away with arms wide in celebration.

Culbreath then had to wait to learn if his goal would count as VAR checked Leipzig's claim of handball in an earlier incident at the other end.

Leverkusen enters the winter break third in a season which began in chaos when Erik ten Hag was fired as coach after three games. Kasper Hjulmand has overseen nine wins in 13 Bundesliga games since.

Leverkusen dominated early on but Leipzig opened the scoring through Xaver Schlager's low shot fromthe edge of the box after the defense was slow to react at a throw-in.

Martin Terrier leveled five minutes later with a header from Arthur's cross, and Patrik Schick scored Leverkusen's second near halftime, leaving a defender sprawling and lofting the ball over the goalkeeper.

Leverkusen held on to inflict Leipzig's first home loss of the season despite missing left back Alejandro Grimaldo, center back Edmond Tapsoba and attacking midfielder Ibrahim Maza due to injury or the Africa Cup of Nations.

Leverkusen climbed to third, dropping Leipzig to fourth. Bayern Munich leads by six points from Borussia Dortmund and plays Heidenheim on Sunday.

Dzenan Pejcinovic scored a hat trick and was still on the losing team as Wolfsburg succumbed to Freiburg's late surge 4-3.

Pejcinovic hadn't scored in the Bundesliga before but the 20-year-old forward, starting because Mohamed Amoura was away at the Africa Cup, made his mark with three goals as Wolfsburg exploited defensive errors by Freiburg.

Wolfsburg's own blunders also proved costly as defender Jenson Seelt, on loan from Sunderland, gave away a penalty and diverted a save from goalkeeper Kamil Grabara into his own net.

That allowed Freiburg to level the score twice before substitute Derry Scherhart scored a 78th-minute winner.

Freiburg stayed ninth and Wolfsburg dropped to 14th with a loss after Daniel Bauer was confirmed as coach on a permanent basis earlier Saturday. Bauer had been interim coach since Paul Simonis was fired last month.

Eintracht Frankfurt ended 2025 in seventh place with one win from its last six games in all competitions, after drawing with Hamburger SV 1-1.

A poor pass across Frankfurt's defense was picked off by Albert Sambi Lokonga to give Hamburg the lead before Hugo Larsson leveled for Frankfurt off Nathaniel Brown's cross.

An offside header from Stuttgart's Deniz Undav in stoppage time was as close as his team and Hoffenheim got in their 0-0 draw, a result which didn't help either team's push for the Champions League places. Hoffenheim ended the day fifth, Stuttgart sixth.

András Schäfer scored a dramatic winner from a corner in stoppage time as eighth-placed Union Berlin finally broke down 10-man Cologne for a 1-0 win following Rav van den Berg's earlier red card for handball.

Augsburg and Werder Bremen drew 0-0.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Leverkusen's Martin Terrier celebrates after scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday Dec. 20, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Hamburger's Albert Lokonga celebrates after scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Bundesliga soccer match between Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt, in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday Dec. 20, 2025. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)

Freiburg's Philipp Treu celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and SC Freiburg in Wolfsburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Darius Simka/dpa via AP)

Wolfsburg's Dzenan Pejcinovic, left, celebrates with Yannick Gerhardt after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and SC Freiburg in Wolfsburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Darius Simka/dpa via AP)