242 PO UL TR T- CRAFT. 



all will have laid by eight o'clock. (Ducks generally lay at night or very 

 early in the morning). In cold weather eggs should be gathered as early as 

 possible to prevent their becoming chilled. Soiled eggs should be washed at 

 once, and in cold weather should be wiped dry after being washed. The 

 eggs should be kept in a cool place. (See <|[ 229). 



363. Feeding Breeding Ducks. Ducks are fed mostly on mixtures of 

 mill stuffs wet with cold water. Very few large duck growers cook the food, 

 though some scald it in winter. Cooked food can be used if convenient, but 

 unless the food must be cooked for other stock, there is no object in cooking 

 it for the ducks. The common experience of breeders is that they do just as 

 well on raw food. Many feed the ducks no whole grain at all. Their 

 digestive apparatus is not suited to a diet composed largely of whole grain ; 

 still they appreciate a little of it occasionally. There must always be water 

 near the feeding troughs at feeding times, and except in freezing weather, 

 the ducks should have drinking water always accessible. Ducks are greedy, 

 dirty feeders. They will consume a larger proportion of coarse bulky food 

 than hens will ; yet they are not as heavy feeders as is commonly supposed. * 

 In general it is both economy and good feeding to give ducks fed a pretty 

 good meal of grain stuffs morning and evening ; all the green food they 

 will eat during the day. Where ducks are kept in rather close confine- 

 ment, the most common error in feeding is giving grain food too often, 

 and not providing green stuff in abundance. Ducks need grit, shell, and 

 charcoal. 



Ducks ranging as many small flocks do, often find food which imparts a 

 strong flavor to eggs and flesh. If the eggs are used only for hatching this is 

 immaterial ; if some of them are wanted for cooking, the ducks must be kept 

 from the objectionable food. The rations given below are from well known 

 duck growers. They present less variety than the rations given for hens 

 and chickens (^146), but the ingredients used are mostly such as may be 

 obtained anywhere. 



(1). Ration for Breeding Ducks. (HALLOCK). Four pails corn meal, 2 pails 

 bran, i of middlings, i of oats, i of wheat, mixed with 2 bu. chopped grass or greens or 

 chopped clover used when greens cannot be had. 



(2). Rations for Breeding Ducks. (RANKIN). Z>-/>&<? fall feed to both old 

 and young stock 3 parts wheat bran, i part Quaker oat feed, i part corn meal, 5 per 



*NoTE. It is often said, even by those who should know better, that it is impossible 

 to satisfy the appetite of a duck. Such statements lead people to think it much more 

 expensive to feed ducks than to feed other fowls. A flock of grown ducks will not eat 

 more than an equal number of average chickens ; nor does it require more food to grow 

 a duck than to grow a chicken of the same weight. 



