SHOOTING THE DUCK 



correct proportion of animal matter. The highest 

 possible results are attained if Gilbertson and Page's 

 food be used according to the makers' directions. 

 Till they are about fourteen days of age, the young 

 birds should be fed at intervals of from two and a 

 half to three hours throughout the day, the first feed 

 being given as soon after daybreak as possible. From 

 this age till they are a month old the intervals 

 between feeding times should be about four hours. 

 A fortnight later three meals a day are sufficient. 



The young of wild duck are as subject, or almost 

 as subject, to cramp as are those of their domestic 

 relatives, and the same care in keeping them from 

 water must be exercised. Whatever kind of vessel 

 be used, it should give the birds easy access to the 

 water for drinking purposes, while at the same time 

 preventing them from wetting their down. I have 

 found a framework made in the shape of a gardener's 

 hand-light and covered with galvanised netting the 

 cover being placed over a shallow earthenware baking- 

 dish a most satisfactory contrivance. Let the 

 ducklings drink their fill after each meal, and then 

 put the water out of their reach and sight. Care is 

 necessary in guarding the young birds against rain, 

 and also against running on wet grass that is not 

 closely fed, for the first few weeks of their life. On 



