A SELF-SUPPORTING HOME 



Another need for care is necessitated by their 

 habit of laying all over the coop and cover- 

 ing the eggs with straw, leaves, or whatever 

 the floor litter may be. Until I became 

 used to the trick, many were crushed under- 

 foot. If you are going to let the ducks have 

 free range, keep them cooped till about nine 

 A.M., or you will lose their eggs. 



A yard fifty feet long and ten wide will be 

 sufficiently large to provide exercise for a 

 small, breeding flock; and the wire netting 

 need only be eighteen inches high, which will 

 not cost more than $1.50. Though the fence 

 need not be high, it must be very securely 

 fastened to the ground; for ducks seem to 

 possess abnormal powers when it comes to 

 creeping under anything. 



A trio of good, ordinary market stock 

 should be purchasable for about $7. Ducks 

 are not like hens they do not lay all the 

 year round; but when they start, they are 

 attentive to the business of egg production 

 daily, so that a couple of mature Pekins 



42 



