?42 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 





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IxcLosL'Ki'; lOK Ducks 

 Photo J. T. Newman, Berkhampstead 



It is not possible to keep ducks in coops 

 or inclosures like fowls ; they prefer an open 

 field with running water in it, where they are in 

 their element. They do not need much food 

 because they provide in a great measure for 

 themselves. Far from being lazy, they are 

 always waddling about to satisfy their gluttony. 

 They eat anything, and are capital destroyers 



of snails and grubs. In the 

 neighborhood of Oudenarde 

 (eastern Flanders) more than 

 a hundred thousand ducklings 

 are raised annually. Breeding 

 begins in November and ends 

 in April. The land on which 

 the ducklings are raised con- 

 sists usually of fields belong- 

 ing to the village, ox covimuiie, 

 which allows pasturage for the 

 young birds from November 

 to April, after which time the 

 fields are reserved for cattle. 

 All de\'ote themselves to rais- 

 ing ducks, and as it is some- 

 times difficult for the owners 

 to distinguish their birds, a 

 brush of paint is found useful. 

 Hence ducks may be seen in the markets with 

 blue wings, green wings, etc. 



After quitting the eggs (wliich are generally 

 hatched by hens, chiefly the speckled Mecklin 

 hen) they are shut up for a few days and fed 

 on soft food — wheat, barley, and oats ground 

 \.\\> and mi.xed with hard-boiled egg. After 

 this they are let out into the field and supplied 



Wn.D Ducks 



