The Blog Spot
Welcome to Clusterduck Farms
Hello, fellow animal lovers. Welcome to Clusterduck Farms and Rescue. I’m Kerri — proud boy mom, transplant survivor, cancer survivor, and unapologetic animal mom.
I grew up on a farm in Iowa. My earliest memories are of my cats. They were my best friends on the farm. My childhood was definitely different than other children’s. I was born with a genetic liver disease and it was isolating. I was sick a lot, which was difficult.
I am now one of the world’s longest-living liver transplant recipients, transplanted on February 7, 1993, at the age of 16 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Being a long-time transplant warrior has shaped me in ways I’m still unpacking. I had to learn early how to move with life rather than fight it. I was incredibly lucky — my new liver was a near-perfect match. I thrived for more than 25 years; only much later did transplant-related complications begin to shape my daily life. Including chronic infection in my liver, a blood clot, biliary stents, and renal failure. I’m slowly progressing towards being retransplanted for a liver and I will need a kidney.
After graduating high school, nursing beckoned to me — a way to give back to the nurses who had carried me through so many fragile years with such steadiness and skill. During my very first year of college, I got married and began our family. I moved through school with babies on my hip, studying between feedings and nap times, and graduated at the top of my class.
I went on to graduate as an LPN, then RN, and finally earned my BSN in 2010. In 2014, I was accepted into a Master’s Program to become a Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. I was thrilled. Then further transplant complications forced me to leave, and that loss shattered me. I went on disability and retreated for a year. Slowly, with the steady presence of my dog Lucy and my family, I found my footing again.
In 2018, I adopted two rescue guinea pigs, Lily and Lola. I fell hard and fast for piggies. My love for them led me into rescue, where I met my best friend through a guinea pig forum. She became my compass when I was unsure, and I learned more than I ever imagined. More piggies came, more friendships formed, and I began writing everything down — helping others, answering questions, and eventually becoming a sanctuary for guinea pigs. I am now very proudly writing a book on guinea pig care because they are far more complex than most people realize.
In 2021, I decided I wanted “a few chickens.” Just seven pullets — that was the plan. Seven pullets turned into… all of this.
At first, it really was just chickens. Then I read that geese could be excellent guardians — if they were bonded to the flock. But you couldn’t buy just one goose, so I bought an African goose and two ducks. The idea was simple: the goose would protect the chickens, and the ducks would have each other.
That did not go as planned. And using geese as guardians isn’t a great idea.
When they arrived, one duck had already passed, and the remaining duck and goose had imprinted on each other. They were inseparable. When I tried introducing them to the chicks, the goose attacked instead of protecting. The goose and duck became one unit — and that was the beginning of Gabby and Daphne, and the true beginning of Clusterduck.
I had never known an animal like Gabby. I’d admired waterfowl on nearby lakes — Canada geese, mallards, swans, pelicans — but I had never touched a duck or held a goose. Before bringing them home, I did what I always do: I read. I started with Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens (highly recommend), then Storey’s Guide to Waterfowl. The duck section was excellent. The goose section… less so. So, I joined Facebook groups and learned from real keepers in real time.
From the moment Gabby and I locked eyes, I knew she was my spirit animal. She was supposed to guard chickens, but instead, we bonded. Gabby and Daphne lived in the house with me at first, at my feet every day, until they were big enough to go outside. By then, I had already ordered more ducks, but geese were sold out for the season. Gabby was not amused by the newcomers and killed one of the ducklings at just two weeks old.
Eventually, when the ducklings were bigger, they joined Gabby and Daphne outside. We had Gabby, eight ducks, and seven chickens. Life felt simple then.
That year, I found Metzer Farms. When their 2022 season opened, I was ready for more geese. We added ten more geese and more ducks. And from there… well, you can see how it unfolded.
I didn’t know I was a goose person. Now I know I will never live without them.
In 2023, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Surgeries and radiation followed, and I began a five-year course of preventive chemo medication — with two more years to go. It makes me slow and very tired, but I am currently cancer-free. That same year, the farm exploded with life. We doubled our goose and duck population, and I began hatching my own eggs. In 2024, my flock doubled again — unintentionally. I meant to sell goslings, but bonding with them made that far harder than I expected.
Geese led me to Sebastopol’s. The first time I saw them in a book, I remember thinking they looked like exploded feather pillows — soft, curly, and unreal. I searched for them and ended up in Kentucky, where a breeder’s farm looked like it was floating with white clouds. Then I discovered colored Sebastopol’s, which felt like magic layered on top of magic. Fiona, Fluffy, Feathers, Fuzzy, Blizzard, and Cotton came home with me.
Then came Wasabi.
Wasabi was one of my first hatched Sebastopol’s — a perfect little white puff with stunning feathers growing in. At the same time, we had turkey poults that became aggressive toward my geese. One day, the unthinkable happened. A turkey attacked Wasabi and left her gravely injured — scalped, with broken bones in her feet and wings, one eye destroyed, the top of her skull exposed, and her bill badly damaged. I did not expect her to live.
Social media “experts” told me to euthanize her. But Wasabi was not an ordinary goose. She had something fierce inside her. I brought her indoors and treated her wounds the way I had been trained as a nurse. Healing was slow and terrifying. Every morning, I braced myself for loss — and every morning, she was still here.
Wasabi relearned how to walk. She learned to see with one eye. She found Waffles, her true love, who became her seeing-eye mate. She did not just survive — she lived, fully.
In October 2024, Wasabi passed away from an unknown cause. But she had lived a full, loved life, and her story changed how people think about injured birds. She proved that “different” does not mean “undeserving.” She showed that sometimes, against all odds, life is worth fighting for.
That is why this website exists.
Clusterduck Farms is not just a farm — it is a place of learning, care, and second chances. This site is meant to guide you through emergency waterfowl care, support you in hard moments, and give you the tools to save lives when you can.
This website is dedicated to Lily, Lola, Buttercup, Daphne, Wasabi — and to all the animals who have taught me, healed me, and trusted me along the way.
Welcome to Clusterduck. 🪶