Meet Pennsylvania’s Duck Dynasty

Michael Jurgielewicz (left) and his brother Joey Jurgielewicz / Photograph courtesy of Joe Jurgielewicz & Son

If you’ve ever strolled through Chinatown and marveled at the glistening roasted ducks hanging in restaurant windows, chances are you’ve seen the handiwork of Joe Jurgielewicz & Son. This family-owned farm in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, is a powerhouse in the industry, delivering roughly 20,000 ducks per week to restaurants across Philadelphia.

The crispy-skinned Peking duck at Sang Kee Peking Duck House, the duck breast with Concord grape mostarda at Barbuzzo, and the duck à l’orange with spiced jus at Jean-Georges (just to name a few) are all from Joe Jurgielewicz & Son. They specialize in Pekin duck (not to be confused with Peking duck, the famous Chinese dish), the iconic, white-feathered bird most commonly raised for commercial meat production. But don’t call the Jurgielewicz ducks common — they’ve never crossbred their stock and have spent decades developing what they define as the optimal bird.

“We like to say that our Jurgielewicz breed of Pekin duck has the perfect meat-to-fat ratio, so it’s extremely tender and flavorful,” Joey Jurgielewicz, the company’s director of business development and marketing, tells me over the phone, adding that their ducks are fed an all-natural diet of corn and soybeans. Chef Dave Conn, owner and chef of Alice, agrees. “When we’ve had duck on the menu, it came from Dr. Joe, whom I’ve always been a big fan of, and I think the quality of meat is excellent,” he says. Last winter, Conn had a gorgeous duck confit with orange and black garlic on the menu.

It all started in 1933, when Bronislaw and Katarzyna Jurgielewicz, two Polish immigrants, moved to Long Island to get in on a rising business: duck farming. Pekin ducks were introduced to the region from China in the late 1800s. The meaty, quick-growing breed, coupled with Long Island’s favorable climate, abundant waterways, and proximity to New York City markets, allowed for the rapid expansion of commercial duck farming at the time.

The Jurgielewicz family were in the right place at the right time, and quickly became one of the top producers of the famed Long Island Duck Farmers Cooperative. But over the decades, rising property values and the push toward residential development made duck farming on Long Island more difficult. So, in 1984, the family moved to a 500-acre property in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, where brothers Michael, Joey, and Jim Jurgielewicz, along with their father Joe Jurgielewicz, are carrying on their family’s legacy, 91 years in the making.

Peking duck at Sang Kee Peking Duck House / Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano

Today, they are one of the largest duck producers in the United States, delivering around six million ducks per year to restaurants nationwide as well as exporting to Mexico, French Polynesia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. They are even relaunching their business in the Middle East with halal ducks. Their services aren’t just limited to restaurants — they also ship directly to home chefs looking for restaurant-quality duck. Cooking enthusiasts in the Philadelphia region can get whole ducks, duck sausages, smoked duck, and even duck carnitas delivered straight to their door within one business day (as long as you place your order by 10 a.m.).

Because their operation is so large, the Jurgielewicz family works with 42 other family farms around the region, all of whom raise Pekin ducks to their rigorous biosecurity standards — ever-important, especially now, given the impact avian flu (H5N1) is having on the poultry industry.

Last month, Long Island’s last commercial duck farm, Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, lost their entire flock of 100,000 birds to the avian flu. They are currently rebuilding their flock with 3,700 hatchlings. Doug Corwin, president of Crescent Duck Farm, told Shelter Island Reporter that “is enough for a second generation to get going.”

Something similar, though less devastating, happened to Joe Jurgielewicz & Son back in 2022. They were hit by one of the deadliest strains of avian flu, which, according to an Eater San Francisco article, caused a sharp decline in their duck supply. Since then, the Jurgielewicz family has implemented stringent measures to protect their flocks.

Egg supply notice at Sprouts in Haddon Township / Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano

“There’s definitely a serious problem, and I mean all around the world, not just in Pennsylvania or North America,” says Joey, adding that, as a veterinary-owned farm (Joe and Jim Jurgielewicz are both veterinarians), the health of their ducks is closely monitored. To mitigate the risk, ducks are housed large, temperature-controlled barns, giving them enough room to roam freely while limiting contact with other animals. A benefit to having their production spread across 42 farms is that if one farm is affected, they won’t lose all their birds at once. To prevent cross-contamination, staff are not allowed to visit multiple barns or multiple farms, and all visitors, including feed trucks, must go through a complete wash-down and disinfection process before entering any facilities.

So far, the current avian flu outbreak hasn’t impacted poultry meat production as much as it has egg production. According to USA TODAY, experts say meat shortages are not likely. Part of that has to do with the lifecycle of the bird. Chickens raised for meat, also known as broilers, are usually ready to harvest within four to eight weeks, whereas it takes six months for a hen to mature and produce eggs. This means replacing flocks of broilers takes less time than raising hens to egg-laying age.

In the case of Joe Jurgielewicz & Son, their Pekin ducks are ready to harvest at six to seven weeks old. During the 2022 avian flu outbreak that impacted their flock, it took only six months for production levels to get back to normal. It’s a faster recovery time compared to farms raising egg-laying hens, which can take six months to a year for populations to stabilize, according to NPR.

Despite the ongoing challenges posed by avian flu, the Jurgielewicz family credits their animal welfare-first approach, the farms they partner with, and their entire team’s commitment to biosecurity as reasons why they’re still able to meet the demands of their global customers. So for now, Philadelphians can rest assured that the city’s duck supply remains steady.