Riemerella anatipestifer (RA) is the significant pathogen of septicemia and duck infectious serositis, diseases which can result in high mortality for ducklings. However, these diseases are difficult to treat because of the bacteria’s broad resistance to multiple drugs. The purpose of this study was to produce a specific egg yolk immunoglobulin Y (IgY) targeted to RA, and to evaluate the protective efficacy of this IgY against RA infection. An RA-inactivated vaccine was produced via centrifugation and formalin treatment, using the most predominant serotype 2 wild-type strains in terms of worldwide prevalence. Anti-RA IgY was produced by immunizing Beijing Red No.1 hens with the inactivated vaccine. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays showed that the titer levels of anti-RA IgY antibodies increased significantly after exposure. Specific IgY isolated and purified from yolks effectively inhibited the growth of RA in the antibacterial activity assay, which revealed an 80 % reduction of bacteria populations. Animal experiments showed that duckling survival rates were able to reach up to 100 % after the ducklings were treated with 10 mg intramuscular injections of anti-RA IgY from 1 to 12 h after infection. However, the survival rates of ducklings treated with 30 mg of nonspecific IgY at 1 h after infection were 0%. Additionally, ducklings injected once with anti-RA IgY received complete protection in the first week, but the efficacy of this protection almost entirely disappeared after two weeks. The results suggested that specific anti-RA IgY has the potential to improve the degree of protection and responsiveness of ducklings to RA infections and provide them with passive immunity to RA. With further study, this is expected to become a new method for controlling RA infections.