VIII 



YOUNG DUCKS ON REARING FIELD 



WHEN the young ducks are hatched they should be 

 removed, with their foster-mother, to a grassy 

 field, wired against vermin, the hen being confined in a 

 coop such as is used when young chickens are reared. 

 The young ducks are allowed to run about by day, and 

 the coop is closed, by a sliding door made of wire, at 

 night. The coop should be placed facing the sun, and 

 it is wise to have a windbreak behind it to keep cold 

 winds from the little ducks early in the season. The 

 birds should not be moved to the field until they are 

 quite dry and lively when they are about one day old. 



The ducklings require hardly anything to eat or drink 

 during the first twenty-four hours after they are hatched. 

 They, no doubt, will spend their time under the hen. 

 They should be fed at first on a little duck meal scalded 

 and placed on a plate or pan outside the coop. A little 

 of the food can be scattered in the grass and within the 

 coop to attract their attention, but it is not wise to con- 

 tinue feeding them anything inside the coop for sani- 

 tary reasons. The hen, of course, should be fed and 

 watered at least twice daily. 



The young ducks should be fed very early in the 



