358 



FARMERS' REGISTER— ON RAISING DUCKS. 



in our poultry-yards. It was formerly, by most 

 writers, consitlercd as coming from tlie Eastern con- 

 tinent, but is now well ascertained to be a native 

 of South America. This duck, in our southern 

 climate is, perha})S, more hardy than the other — 

 sets more steady on its eggs, and lays in the Spring 

 and Fall. A mongrel breed between this species 

 and the English duck is easily produced, and has 

 become very common; but these, though they are 

 good layers, are unable to propagate their species. 

 There are other species of ducks, which the cu- 

 rious in these matters have partially succeeded in 

 domesticating. I once saw a fine flock of the Gad- 

 wall duck, (Anas strcpera,) which an individual, 

 in the upper part of the State of New York, had 

 succeeded in raising from ducks which he had cap- 

 tured, and which hv&A freely in his yard, and made 

 no attempts at flying away. Our beautilul sum- 

 mer duck ( jlnas sponsa) breeds freely in some 

 parts of France and in the Zoological Garden in 

 England. But it is very probable that the two 

 species above mentioned are as well adapted to our 

 purposes as any other, and that, for many years, 

 they will be the only ones which will be generally 

 kept in our poultry -yards. One drake will answer 

 lor five or six ducks. Where mongrels are to be 

 bred, place in a separate yard, one Muscovy drake 

 to four English ducks. 



2. The best viode of procuring an abundance of 

 Eggs. — When ducks are raised in the country and 

 have access to rice fields, ditches, ponds, and the 

 borders of rivers, they find food best suited to them 

 and generally lay early and freely. But where 

 they are necessarily kept in yards, and do not pos- 

 sess the above advantages, it will be necessary to 

 adapt their food to their situation. A mixture of 

 any kind of animal food with their rice flour, corn 

 meal or grist, given them regularly and plentifully 

 three times a day, will enable you to procure a 

 great aViundance of eggs ; where this is neglected, 

 your English ducks will lay but sparingly. I have 

 observed that animal food is not sonecessarj' to the 

 Muscovy duck, but that they will lay pretty free- 

 ly on being fed on grain alone. 



3. Setting and hatching the Eggs. — The Eng- 

 lish duck, although a good layer, is very careless 

 About hatching its eggs until late in the season. 

 J have invariably used the common hen for that 

 purpose ; and when the young ducks are removed 

 as soon as they are dry, their foster parent will set 

 again on other eggs ; and I have thus known 

 a single fowl to bring out three, and even four 

 broods of young ducks in succession. In that case, 

 she should be repaid for her faithfulness by being 

 richly fed. The young ducklings, in this climate, 

 leave the shell on the twenty-sixth day. The 

 Muscovy set a few days longer. A fowl of a tole- 

 rable size will cover from thirteen to fifteen eggs. 

 After the eggs have been four or five days under 

 the hen, you may, in the evening, examine the 

 eggs by the light of a candle or lamp. Place the 

 eggs longitudinally lietween the fore finger and 

 thumb. If the egg be likely to hatch, it will be 

 of a dark color, with streaks of red frequently 

 perceptible; and the cavity on the thick end will 

 be somewhat enlarged and transparent. If it be 

 a clear egg, it will be wholly transparent, and it 

 ought to be removed at once ; and if it have not 

 been kept too long in the nest, it is still fit for use. 

 In this way, when several hens have been set near- 

 ly at the same time, it will frequently be practica- 



ble to remove a sufficient number of clear eggs, so 

 as to place a fresh setting of eggs, under one or 

 more of them. The Muscovy duck sets faithfully 

 and may as well be permitted to hatch her own 

 young. 



4. 3/ethod of destroying Fowl Lice. — The in- 

 sects which infest the setting hens may be easily 

 destroyed by thoroughly sprinkling the nest, and 

 wetting the fowl, even to the skin, with a strong 

 decoction, made by pouring hot water on a hand- 

 ful of common leaf tobacco, mixed when cold with a 

 table spoonful of spirits of turpentine, and double 

 the quantity of gunpowder. It will be well, also, 

 occasionally to take away their old nest and make 

 a new one of fresh hay or straw. 



5. Duck Coops, Food, and manner of rearing 

 the young. — Let your coop be made pretty large ; 

 say three or four feet in length and three in depth. 

 Let it be well shingled, so as to exclude all water, 

 and have a good pitch towards the front. Let it be 

 tight on three sides and bared in front, with a slide 

 l)elow the lower bar, so as to retain the ducks in un- 

 til vorable weather. A space of ten or twelve feet 

 square, formed of common boards set up edgewise, 

 will, when you have not much room in your yard, 

 suflice for fifty ducks. Keep making coops in pro- 

 portion as your ducks increase in numbers, and 

 endeavor to keep the different sizes separated. 

 The first brood, early in the spring, requires, for a 

 few days, the warmth of the hen's body; and she 

 should not be made to take care of more than 

 twenty or thirty. A little later in the season, the 

 young that are then hatched do not require the ser- 

 vices of their foster mother, and may from the be- 

 ginning be placed in a coop by themselves, to the 

 number of fifty. Young Muscovy ducks may be 

 treated in the same way ; and they and the mon- 

 grels, and English ducks, may all be indiscrimi- 

 nately reared together. 



As soon as your young ducks are hatched, let 

 them be placed together, for a few hours, in a basket 

 containing some warm inside lining; and when 

 they have sufficient strength, place them with the 

 lien in the coop. Feed them with meat, or animal 

 food of any kind, chopped .fine with a chopping 

 knife. For convenience, I have usually had it 

 boiled. A little rice flour or corn meal may be 

 mixed with it, and the latter may be increased, if 

 you have but little meat. Let this be continued 

 for three weeks, and they are out of danger and 

 can be raised on any kind of food. Still it is to be 

 observed that ducks in all cases thrive better on 

 animal food, and where this can be conveniently 

 obtained, it may as well be given them. Those 

 planters who live near our sea coast, by running a 

 tight board fence across any small branch of salt wa- 

 ter, and placing in the eentre a fish-trap made of 

 laths, can easily procure a sufficient quantity of fish- 

 es and crabs to feed all tlieir young poultry. A man 

 with a cast-net could in half an hour do the same. 

 I have known persons in the interior of the coun- 

 try, substitute squirrels, rabbits, and even venison ; 

 and one gentleman fed his young ducks on the 

 flesh of alligators, tlius rendering that which was 

 a nuisance, subservient to his profit. When your 

 young ducks begin to be tolerably feathered on 

 the sides, which will be in five or six weeks, they 

 may then be turned into tlie common poultry 

 yard — alwaj's bearing in mind, tliat those which 

 ore best fed and obtain most animal food thiive the 

 fastest. 



