248 Farm Poultry 



a specialty of producing young ducks for the 

 market make a practice of sowing the yards and 

 runs to some quick -growing crop as soon as the 

 yards are vacant. Rye is often used for this 

 purpose. During the rearing season, gypsum, 

 sawdust, sifted coal ashes, and other absorbents 

 are freely used in those parts of the yards that 

 are most frequented by the ducks. 



Young ducks should be fed from a shallow 

 trough, which should be kept as clean as possible. 

 See Fig. 81. Pure water and clean yards are 

 prominent essentials in successful duck -rearing. 



It is true that ducks 

 will make small ponds 

 and stream s muddy 

 and more or less filthy 



Fig. 81. A shallow feeding trough. 



when they have access 



to them, yet those that are confined in yards 

 without a running stream should be supplied with 

 pure drinking water. 



If the young ducks do not have opportunity 

 to obtain for themselves green and animal food, 

 it should be supplied to them. Specialists fre- 

 quently feed young, rapidly-growing ducks a 

 ration that consists of 10 or 20 per cent animal 

 meal. Eations which contain considerable ani- 

 mal meal have proved superior to a purely vege- 

 table diet. "Rations containing animal food 

 proved very much superior for ducklings to ra- 



