138 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



SMALL FLOCKS ON TOWN LOTS 



Numbers. The small flock of ducks on a town lot is usually 

 a very small flock, kept more from curiosity and for a little 

 variety in poultry keeping than with any definite purpose. Most 

 of such little flocks are composed of a drake and from one to 

 five ducks. Where a larger flock is kept for the eggs they pro- 

 duce, the number rarely exceeds fifteen or twenty. Many town 

 people who want to grow only a few ducks each year prefer not 

 to keep any adult stock, but to buy a few eggs for hatching 

 when they want them. 



Houses and yards. Ducks require about the same amounts of 

 house and yard room per bird as fowls. While they will stand 

 crowding better than any other kind of poultry, they appreciate 

 an abundance of room and good conditions, and are more thrifty 

 when they are not overcrowded. Where they can be allowed to 

 remain outdoors at night, they really need no shelter but a shed 

 large enough to give them shade from the sun on hot days and 

 protection from hard, driving storms. On most town lots, how- 

 ever, it is advisable to have them indoors at night for protection 

 from dogs and thieves. Also, the amount of roughing that they 

 like, while not at all detrimental to them, is not conducive to 

 early laying. So most duck keepers prefer to have the ducks 

 housed at night and in severe weather, and give them approxi- 

 mately the same space that would be given to an equal number 

 of fowls. 



The floor of the house should be littered with straw, hay, or 

 shavings. The object of littering the floors of duck houses is not 

 to afford them exercise, but to provide them with dry bedding. 

 The droppings of ducks are very watery, and the bedding must 

 be changed often enough to keep the ducks clean. It is custom- 

 ary to provide shallow nest boxes, placing them on the floor 

 next the wall, preferably in a corner. The ducks are quite as 

 likely to leave their eggs anywhere on the floor, or out in the 



