268 THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER. 



couples in January even yet sometimes realise a sovereign, 

 gradually decreasing to June. And yet it is curious that 

 early ones are easier and more quickly prepared than for the 

 latter month. Eggs, however, are scarce, which limits early 

 production. 



Round Aylesbury the rearers collect eggs as soon after 

 Michaelmas as possible. These are still largely set under 

 hens, though incubators are also used ; in the latter a little 

 lower temperature is necessary than for chickens, and 

 generally rather more moisture. The eggs hatch in twenty- 

 eight days, and the ducklings are left for twenty-four hours. 

 After that, some rearers put about fifty with one hen, to 

 brood them a little in turn ; others put them in warm boxes 

 by the fire. For a few days they are fed chiefly on a 

 mixture of hard-boiled egg, boiled rice, and bread-crumb ; 

 later on chiefly on barley-meal mixed with boiled greaves 

 chopped up, and mixed with the liquor the greaves were 

 boiled in, grit being freely supplied, the feeds coming 

 down from five or six per day to four. Chopped green 

 food is also given. As to accommodation, all rearers do 

 not manage alike, except that while very young they are 

 crowded pretty thickly, all indoors ; later on they have a 

 little more room. Some will put, say, 150 ducklings in a 

 room twelve feet square, with an outer yard, and allow them 

 to dabble for an hour in a small tank of water. Others 

 keep them always under cover, in a warm place. They are 

 always kept in with little light after meals, and fresh straw 

 or peat-moss should be given daily. By eight or ten weeks 

 they should be ready for market, weighing about 4 to 5 Ib. 

 each, and if kept beyond that begin to moult and lose in 

 flesh and value. The general breed is the Aylesbury. 



Of late years the vale of Aylesbury has been losing much 

 of its pre-eminence as a duck-raising centre, large numbers 

 being bred and fattened in Norfolk, Surrey, and other 



