30 PARADISE VALLEY POULTRY RANCH 



wet sponge below the egg tray. Another common method of supplying 

 moisture is- to sprinkle or soak the floor of tne incubator room or to place 

 a pail of warm water under the lamp. It is advisable to shut the machine 

 up tightly at hatching time, so that the moisture will be retained in the 

 incubator, as it takes ducks' eggs some time to hatch after the shells are 

 pipped. 



The eggs are usually turned twice daily after the second and thru the 

 twenty-sixth day and cooled once daily after the seventh and thru the 

 twenty-sixth day. After turning the eggs, reverse the egg trays end for 

 end and from one side of the machine to the other. The length of time to 

 cool eggs depends upon the temperature of the incubator room and the day 

 of incubation, but a good general rule is to leave the eggs out of the in- 

 cubator until they feel slightly cool to the hand, face, or eyelid. When the 

 ducklings are all hatched, remove the egg tray and open the ventilators, but 

 keep the ducklings in the incubator from twenty-four to thirty-six hours 

 after the hatch is over before removing them to the brooder. 



TESTING EGGS 



All eggs should be tested at least twice during incubation, preferably 

 on the seventh and fourteenth days, and the infertile eggs and those with 

 dead germs removed. Dead germs in duck eggf decompose very rapidly 

 and are often detected by their odor. Duck eggs having pure white 

 shells are often tested as early as the fourth or fifth day and the infertile 

 eggs sold to bakers. Infertile eggs make good feed for ducklings, and are 

 often used for culinary purposes. The eggs are tested with the large end 

 up, so that the size of the air cell may be seen, as well as the condition of 

 the embryo. Testing should be done in a dark room. The infertile egg when 

 held before the tester will look perfectly clear, much the same as a fresh 

 egg, while a fertile egg will show a small dark spot known as the embryo, 

 with a mass of little blood veins extending in all directions, if the embryo 

 is living, but if dead the blood settles away from the embryo toward the 

 edge of the yolk, forming in most cases an irregular circle of blood known 

 as a blood ring. The eggs containing strong, living embryos are dark 

 and partly filled up after the fourteenth day, and show a clear, distinct line 

 of demarcation between the air cell and the growing embryo, while dead 

 germs show only partial development and lack this clear, distinct outline. 



BROODING 



Ducks are much easier to brood artificially than chickens, but they may 

 also be raised under hens successfully. If raised by the latter method, it 

 is advisable to confine the hens and allow the ducklings free range, as the 

 hens are apt to wander too far away with their broods. Ducklings which 

 are to be sold as green ducks are not usually allowed much range, but are 

 fed heavily and forced for rapid growth. The ducklings which are to be 

 kept for breeding should have the web of their feet punched, using a dif- 

 ferent number of punch marks for each year so that their age can be 

 readily determined. 



After the ducklings have been confined to the incubator for twenty- 

 four to thirty-six hours after hatching, remove them to the brooder and 

 give them their first feed. The brooder should be operated at a temper- 

 ature of about 95 F. at first and gradually reduced to 80 or 85 within a 

 week or ten days. The temperature may be reduced quite rapidly, de- 

 pending on the season of the year. Aim to keep the ducklings comfortable. 

 When uncomfortable they will crowd together and try to get nearer the 

 heat, but if comfortable they will spread out under the hover. The ducks 

 should be confined around the hover at first until they have learned to 

 return to the source of the heat. In the winter green ducks usually re- 

 quire heat until they are marketed, but later in the season artificial heat 

 may be removed after two to four weeks. Cool brooder houses are used 

 early in the spring for the ducklings after they are four to six weeks old. 



