The Harty Duck Farm off Highway 51 is an impressive operation. The approximately 200 ducks and chickens are housed in well-maintained houses at night. Some of the hatchlings are sold, as are many eggs through the Harty Duck Farm Facebook page. The birds are cared for meticulously — and most importantly they are loved.
Making this operation even more impressive is the fact that the girl who runs it is only 9 years old. She is Kruz Harty, the daughter of Aaron and Toni Harty. So impressive is the operation run by the Risco/Twin Rivers student, that Congressman Jason Smith made the farm the first stop on his 2022 farm tour. He was joined by Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and his wife Claudia, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, State Sen. Jason Bean and State Rep. Herman Morse.
“She was about six or so and it started a little earlier, her interest in poultry,” said Kruz’s mother Toni. “Anytime we would go to an auction or when we would go to anywhere, there would be animals — zoos, parks, or those little pop-ups around pumpkin patches. She would just be drawn to poultry the whole time.”
Toni, being into landscaping, said Kruz wanted to be outside with her and wanted animals out there as well. She first asked for chickens, which her mother refused. Kruz then asked about ducks. Her mother agreed to the ducks, feeling that ducks would not be to destructive.
Kruz soon graduated past ducks and included chickens, geese and guineas.
“It got to the point that hey we need to stop collecting or they (birds) need to earn some rent money,” laughed Toni. “She (Kruz) was like ‘how do we do that?’ So we started selling the eggs and that is how it started.”
Toni said when they started opening up their home and their farm, people started saying they loved a particular chicken. Toni said people then started asking where they could get such a chicken or if they could buy a chicken from Kruz. This was not an option. Kruz has named everyone of her chickens and ducks and they are not for sale.
However, Kruz obtained an incubator and started selling the hatchlings along with eggs. These sales allowed Kruz to cover feed expenses and meet people. She now has three incubators, a hatchery and brooder rooms, in addition to the building where her ducks and chickens stay at night. Kruz breeds the Polish, Silkies and Satins in breeding pens each spring. The rest of the chickens are pets. The money made goes back into the farm for feed, repairs to buildings, additions, etc. The money also goes toward trips Kruz would like to take. Toni, who said she sort of serves as the farm's accountant, said they had taken several trips on Kruz's “duck dollars” wherever Kruz wants to go.
Kruz's business is run through the Harty Duck Farm Facebook page. Toni said Kruz also has a Facebook group where it is like a community. She said people can post what poultry or items they have or what they are looking for. Toni said she runs the page for Kruz, but it is all Kruz approved.
Kruz's farther Aaron is a farmer and harvests crops of rice and corn. Aaron puts back some rice and corn for Kruz. Kruz and her mother then grind it into homemade feed to save the cost of purchasing feed.
Kruz handles all the cleaning of the buildings and the feeding of her birds. Toni does help her with the five-gallon buckets used to provide water to the birds. Toni said Kruz will clean and line up the buckets. Toni will then fill the buckets and put them back.
The birds move about the farm during the day. The ducks and geese splash into creeks a few steps from the houses
Though Kruz couldn't say how many different breeds of chickens she had off the top of her head, she could tell Congressman Smith the breed of any chicken he asked about without hesitation.
She led Smith, Ashcroft, Kehoe and the others around her operation. She showed them where her birds stayed at night, the brood rooms and incubators. She answered any questions they had. She later said she was nervous during the visit, but it didn't show.
“It is impressive,” Smith said of Kruz's operation. “It is the story of so many families in Southeast and South Central Missouri. They raise impressive young men and women who have an entrepreneur spirit and love animals and who love our area. I just met an expert on ducks and chickens and I encourage anyone who wants some ducks and chickens — this is the place to come.”
While showing Smith one of the chicken houses, Kruz picked up a basket and gathered some fresh eggs while answering questions from the congressman.
Smith spoke of the importance of young people like Kruz to the future of agriculture in both Missouri and the country.
“It is extremely important, you can't measure how important it is,” said Smith. “Because the lessons that they learn with the joys and discomforts with raising animals and agriculture teaches a way of life that you cannot learn in a textbook.
“So these real world personnel experiences are amazing. Hearing her talk about raising them up, when they die and pass on and she has names for every one of the ducks and chickens and knowing how to care for them and take care of them and the responsibility (is impressive). She is the one that has to put them up at night — and if not she will lose them (to) predators. Knowing that there is a consequences for her actions and not following through — you can't teach that in a textbook.
Kruz is still deciding what to do when she grows up. She has narrowed to an artist or a paleontologist. Kruz's mother feels the two could go hand in hand as Kruz could draw out her discoveries as a paleontologist. Toni said Kruz has wanted to be a paleontologist since before she could say the word. She said Kruz loves watching excavations. She said they purchased kits for Kruz that allow her to chisel out items. Kruz has already found some fossils on family trips and collected gemstones. She has yet to identify the fossils she has found, but perhaps one day she will as a paleontologist
“We didn't know this (the farm) would turn into what it did,” said Toni. “It started as a hobby, it's still a hobby, but it is a hobby that she enjoys and it pays its own way.”