In 1983, now “Dr. Joe” graduated from Cornell Veterinary College earning his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Joe re-ignited his passion for ducks and convinced his father, Joe Sr., to come out of retirement to help him begin a duck business.
Dr. Joe and Joe Sr. traveled the East Coast searching for the ideal location to start a new duck farm. After much research with state governments, they discovered a beautiful 500 acre lot of farmland and woodlands, formerly destined to be the site of a nuclear power plant. The cancellation of nuclear reactor construction, due to the 1979 Three Mile Island accident, provided Dr. Joe and his father the opportunity to purchase this property in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, between the towns of Shartlesville and Hamburg, Pennsylvania.