THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



335 



raising a bird which in its wild state is very hardy, 

 which although exposed to all the vicissitudes of 

 the weather, raises large broods of young, I pro- 

 cured several ducks, determined to pursue my 

 experiments in various ways till I should either be 

 successful, or be satisfied that in a state of domes- 

 tication there existed obstacles to their successful 

 rearing which no foresight or care could prevent. 

 At first I adopted the usual mode of giving them 

 access to as great a body of water as I could pro- 

 vide for them in the yard. I therefore had an 

 artificial pond made near their coops, to which 

 they could resort as often as they chose : where 

 they amused themselves at all hours of the day, in 

 dabbling around the edges of the pool, and in 

 swimming and diving in the water. But they did 

 not grow ; they were subject to cramps and fits ; 

 and one after another died, until I began to think 

 that water was not their proper element. I varied 

 their food ; gave them rice flour, corn grist, boiled 

 potatoes, hominy, bran, and many kinds of vege- 

 table food, but with the same results ; and of a 

 hundred young that were hatched, I scarcely raised 

 a dozen. I then began to mix with their food 

 various medicinal herbs, believing that this might 

 correct some deleterious properties of their food ; 

 but it was to no avail. I next procured the differ- 

 ent varieties of ducks for breed, thinking that per- 

 haps one kind might be better suited to the climate 

 and to the confinement of the poultry-yard than 

 another ; but I was soon convinced that my want 

 of success was not owing to my breed of ducks. 

 Several years passed away, and left me pretty much 

 where I began, and I was almost ready to abandon 

 any further attempts at raising the ducks. 



The thought at last occurred to me that in the 

 food with which we usually fed this species of 

 poultry we departed widely from nature, and that 

 although the old ducks in their wild state fed on 

 rice and the seeds of various grasses that are found 

 along the edges of the rivers, brooks and ponds, 

 yet that at the spring of the year, when the young 

 wild ducks are hatched, there are few seeds ripe; 

 and it is questionable whether at that early age 

 they feed at all upon grain or seeds. There appears 

 in the digestive organs of these young birds some- 

 thing unsuited to this kind of food ; it passes 

 through them without affording much nourishment. 

 I had ascertained by dissection that their gizzards 

 v.'ere filled not with vegetable food, but with the 

 fragments of small craw-fish, worms, and various 

 aquatic insects, as well as the spawn of fishes ; and 

 I determined in the following year to try the effects 

 of animal food. In due time my young ducks 

 were hatched ; beef was given them at first, after 

 having been chopped very fine ; this they devoured 

 greedily, and ate it in preference to all kinds of 

 vegetable food. The effect upon their health and 

 growth was immediate and surprising. They ap- 

 ])eared to grow faster than any other poultry ; in a 

 few weeks they were out of danger, and in a few 

 months fit for the table. As beef was expensive, 

 I tried cheaper kinds of foods, such as the haslets 

 of animals, crabs, fishes, &c. The result was 

 equally favourable. I was now satisfied that in the 

 article of food the end is attained by simply follow- 

 ing Nature and giving the young ducks animal food. 



Rut although my experiment was thus far favour- 

 al)le, I found that many of my young ducks died 

 after having been suffered to go in the dews and 

 water; and that after many showers of rain they 

 became thoroughly wet, and that when showers 

 were succeeded by hot suns they were subject to a 

 disease of some apoplectic character, or a coup de 

 soleil, which killed numbers. Here I was much 

 puzzled. I had succeeded in one instance by follow- 

 ing Nature; but I found that I could not carry my 

 theory through, and that water affected the domes- 

 ticated duck very differently from what it did the 

 same bird in its wild state. The fact was not 

 unknown to me that the down of young wild ducks 

 is almost impervious to water ; they are exposed to 

 dews and rains, they dive to the bottom of pools 

 and streams, and live in the water; yet they always 

 keep dry. An oleaginous substance is spread over 

 their feathers, from which the water glides off 

 instantaneously, and leaves the birds dry during all 

 weathers. Not so with the young of the domesti- 

 cated duck. Owing either to the confinement of 

 numbers in a small space, where their down be- 

 comes ruffled and displaced, or to their not being 

 able to procure that kind of food which in the 

 wild state is favorable to the secretion of that 

 peculiar oil which is found contained in the glands 

 of birds, and which serves to lubricate their fea- 

 thers and protect them from the wet, the down of 

 the young tame ducks soon becomes thoroughly 

 wet; and when this is once the case, it is subject to 

 various diseases, and is difficult to raise. To 

 accommodate the young duck to that artificial 

 state into which it has been thrown by domestica- 

 tion, I found it necessary to adopt some mode by 

 which during the first few weeks of its life (the 

 only time in which it requires much care) it mijght 

 be preserved from the effects of that element which 

 in its native state is almost its only residence and 

 furnishes its subsistence. 



A little reflection enabled me to guard against 

 the inconveniences and dangers which result from 

 this state of domestication. I had my coops built 

 pretty large and tightly shingled, so as to be im- 

 pervious to water. The young ducks were not let 

 out in the morning dews till the sun had dried the 

 grass ; and the vessels in which their water was 

 placed were railed over so that they could drink by 

 inserting their bills between those little railings, 

 but were prevented from getting into the water. 

 After following these simple directions with regard 

 to their food and shelter, I found that, by a little 

 attention of a servant, I could supply my table with 

 ducks the whole year round, that I seldom lost 

 one in twenty, and that they were free from all 

 diseases. I raised from 1 00 to 300 ducks per year, 

 and now found that they were the easiest of all 

 poidtry to raise. I communicated the result of my 

 experiments to my friends. Those of them who 

 had the disposition, the patience, and industry, 

 followed my directions, and in every instance met 

 with the same success. I have their assurance 

 that they can raise ducks in any numbers, and some 

 of them have for the last two or three years sup- 

 plied our markets with from three to five hundred 

 ducks of the largest size and fienst flavour. 



After having carried my readers through this, 



