19/12/2025
๐ฆโจ How about ROAST DUCK for this yearโs Christmas feast!! โจ๐ฆ
An Innovation in the Goldfields in 1904
In the early 1900s, Western Australia offered a splendid market for table ducks, yet few farmers pursued it. Paradoxically, the first largeโscale duck operation wasnโt in fertile farmland but in the goldfields of Kalgoorlie.
Just two miles from the Kalgoorlie Post Office at Somerville stood the Carisbrook Duck Ranch and Poultry Farm, owned by Messrs. Fuller, Naughton & Co. What began as a few pens of pureโbred chickens grew into a thriving enterprise. By 1904, the ranch produced 3,300 ducks in a single year, with plans to raise 8,000โ10,000 in the coming season.
The secret lay in modern incubator technology. Carisbrook used Americanโmade Cyphers incubatorsโ14 large machines and 6 smaller onesโcapable of handling over 6,000 eggs at a time.
Feeding was meticulous: oyster shell for strength, boiled eggs and bread for starters, then bran, pollard, and oil cake. By 11 weeks, ducks weighed about 3.5 pounds and fetched premium pricesโup to 14 shillings a pair at Christmas๐๐ฐ
So this Christmas, raise a toast to the pioneers who made roast duck a holiday delicacy in the most unlikely of placesโฆ and maybe add a little extra gravy on the side! ๐ฅ๐ฆโจ
Fig1. Trove. (n.d.). CHRISTMAS! - Kalgoorlie Western Argus (WA : 1896 - 1916) - 19 Nov 1912. [online]
Fig 2. Cropped cover of 1910 Price List and Supplementary Catalogue (Catalog) of Incubators, Brooders, Poultry Appliances, Foods, and Standard Supplies Manufactured by Cyphers Incubator Company of Buffalo, New York USA. Internet Archive. (n.d.). [online]
Fig 3. Internet Archive. (n.d.). 1910 Cyphers Incubator Buffalo NY : Cyphers Incubator Company of Buffalo NY USA [online]
