MAY ir.. 1912 



hens have been better supplied with crush- 

 ed shell and grit than ever before. Soft- 

 shell eggs are to be avoided as far as pos- 

 sible, because it is almost sure to get the 

 hens into the habit of eating their eggs. 



DUCK-HOUSES, DUCK-BROODEBS, ETC. 



Heretofore when my growing ducks got 

 so large as to crowd their brooder, we have 

 been in the habit of changing them to a 

 larger-sized house or coop. Now, changing 

 chickens or ducks from the home that they 

 are accustomed to, to a different one, is al- 

 ways a bad plan. This has been frequently 

 talked about in the poultry journals. In a 

 recent Ainerican Poultry Advocate a lady 

 advised giving ducks more room when the 

 weather becomes warm, by attaching a door- 

 yard made of poultry netting. This cover- 

 ed dooryard would permit them to go out- 

 doors or inside according to the weather to 

 suit themselves. Just now (April 10) w-e 

 are having warm weather down here in Flor- 

 ida; and 1 notice that, when I try to get my 

 ducks to go in at night, they greatly prefer 

 sitting around in front of the door. I have 

 learned by sad experience, however, there 

 is no safety for ducks here until half grown 

 or more unless they are securely fenced in by 

 wire cloth or otherwise during the night 

 time; and, in fact, I lost one duck during a 

 moonlight night when it was fully eight 

 weeks old. I don't know what became of 

 it unless it was taken by the midnight owls. 

 Since then I have had them securely " fenc- 

 ed in" by wire cloth every night, and no 

 more have been lost. The same is true of 

 our chickens, both little and big. At dark 

 I shut them all in their enclosure, and let 

 them out again by daylight next morning. 



A SCREENED " PIAZZA " FOR THE GROWING 

 DUCKS AND CHICKENS. 



This afternoon I have just added a covered 

 wire-cloth dooryard, just like a front porch 

 or piazza for people. Since I have seen how 

 nice it works I am sorry that I did not have 

 this dooryard enclosure for my little ducks 

 whenever the weather was so warm that 

 they prefer- to be outdoors instead of insidf. 

 When first taken out of the incubator I 

 have several times given them to a sitting 

 hen, giving a hen as many as twenty or 

 thirty. Now, I notice that very soon the 

 little ducks begin to prefer to sit down beside 

 the hen instead of getting under her wing, 

 especially when the weather is very warm. 

 I feel sure that the best and proper way is 

 to let the ducklings have their choice. 

 Whenever they want to be outdoors, right 

 under the stars, give them the privilege. 

 This wire-cloth enclosure is made right over 

 the front door where they are accustomed 

 to go in. There is no difficulty at all in get- 

 ting them to go in at night; whereas if you 

 try to drive them in, especially when it is 

 warm, and they are crowded inside, you 

 will hear them uttering strong protests about 

 being cooped up when they want to be out- 

 doors. I tell you a flock of twenty-five In- 

 dian Runner ducks can make a protest if 

 things are not to their liking. 



321 



The clipping below tells where J got my 

 idea of " front porch " all of poultry netting: 



We had coops In which to keep the hens and 

 ducklings, but the babies soon grew too indepen- 

 dent for their mothers. They flock together In a 

 very few days, and for this reason ducklings of dif- 

 ferent ages should be penned separately. They 

 dislike roosting In coops, but will readily go into a 

 pen and roost on the dry litter which should always 

 be kept for them to rest upon, at least until settled 

 warm weather comes. As damp roosting quarters 

 are very bad for them, keep a part of their sleeping 

 quarters roofed over. 



DANDELrONS AS A GREEN FOOD FOR POUL- 

 TRY. 



On page 637, Oct. 15, 1911, I spoke about 

 a flock of Wyandottes picking out every 

 bit of dandelion leaf in the orchard where it 

 was grown. Well, just now dandelions are 

 starting up in wonderful profusion almost 

 everywhere. Our orchard of about a hun- 

 dred trees is divided into three poultry- 

 yards — a fence down through the middle, 

 and then a fence dividing one of the halves 

 of the orchard. A flock of about 25 Rhode 

 Island Reds, and three-fourths or perhaps 

 half as many White Wyandottes, have a 

 fourth of the orchard. While the Rhode 

 Island Reds do not seem to be able to pas- 

 ture down the dandelions they have access 

 to, the White Wyandottes snatch up every 

 leaf about as soon as it comes in sight. 

 Now the Wyandottes may have a special 

 liking for dandelions, or perhaps they have 

 an "acquired appetite." At any rate, it 

 seems to be the very cheapest way of giving 

 them green food, and they certainly are a 

 healthy lot, and are giving a fine yield of 

 eggs. By the way, I notice in the Inland 

 Poultry Journai among their short items 

 the following: 



Best poultry tonic on earth is God's tonic— the 

 common dandelion fed freely. 



Just now I clip from the Cleveland Plain 

 Dealer the following: 



In the feeding of ducklings, dry grain is unsuit- 

 able. They will not eat enough sharp grit to digest 

 it. Whole wheat and cracked corn, boiled together 

 and let stand until cold, will give good results. 

 But they should not be confined to this alone. 

 They should not be fed upon highly concentrated 

 food, because they will not thrive upon it. Some 

 people will feed their ducklings a regular cornmeal 

 ration, with beefmeal or something similar added, 

 and then wonder why they can not raise ducks. 

 Meat nor ground bone should not be given to duck- 

 lings while they are small, Cornmeal should al- 

 ways be mixed with something lighter, such as 

 bran or vegetables, either cooked or raw. 



Ducks are very fond of dandelions chopped and 

 mixed with ground grain. Raw cabbage, green rye, 

 and clover are also liked. When potatoes are used, 

 they should be boiled, then mashed, and mixed 

 with equal parts of bran and cornmeal. If the bran 

 and cornmeal are well moistened before being 

 mixed with the potatoes, the mixture will be less 

 gummy than it would be if dry meal were used. A 

 duck can not eat sticky feed. 



Never let feed become soured or fermented. It 

 should be fresh and wholesome. Fermented food 

 will cause convulsions in young ducks. Therefore 

 in warm weather feed mixtures should not be al- 

 lowed to stand even from one meal to another. 



Now, if you are inclined to call dande- 

 lions a pest on your premises, just try feed- 

 ing them to the cow, as I have spoken of 

 several times before. If you have no cow, 

 you certainly can afford a few chickens; 



