38 NATURE AND ITS- 



of straw. You can not raise ducks unless you keep them 

 dry, when they are at rest at night. Don't close them up 

 in an air tight house. Ducks can stand a good deal of cold 

 weather as long as they can keep their feet warm, so you 

 must provide straw for them to lay on. 



About January 1st feed them cooked beets and turnips,, 

 or a head of cabbage to each pen. and mix in their mash 

 food ten per cent of beet scraps at each meal. At noon feed 

 them five quarts of corn to 100 ducks. Never feed them on 

 grain except at noon, especially when they are laying. If 

 corn is fed at noon the eggs will be a rich yellow in yolk 

 and strong. Beef cracklings are very good for ducks. This. 

 is the leavings after the fat is tried out and may be bought 

 from any butcher or dealer in poultry supplies. There is a 

 good deal of fat left on it and also the meat. It is a great 

 egg food for ducks, and it is also a good fattening food for 

 young ducks, if soaked in hot water for a few hours. Cut 

 clover is good for them. In about fourteen days your ducks 

 will commence to lay. They will commence to lay about 

 February 1st if fed on beef scraps cooked and beef cra.ck- 

 lings. Beef scraps can be purchased of Darling & Co., Chi- 

 cago. As soon as they commence to lay see that they have 

 egg boxes low down on the ground. They will cover up 

 their eggs, and if you have clean straw all over the house, 

 your eggs will not get dirty and will not need washing be- 

 fore putting them in the incubator. If they are dirty you 

 cannot test them in the incubator. Washing eggs is no 

 small job. It is not good to wash duck eggs, as nature has 

 provided an oily coating on the shell and if this is washed 

 off you will not get good hatches. While ducks are com- 

 mencing to lay you must provide a pond for them or a long 

 water through eight inches deep, two foot wide and four 

 foot long, and so arranged that they can get in and out 

 easily. Now the reason for this is to get fertile eggs. If 

 ducks don't have water to mate in you will not get 

 many fertile eggs, as it is natural for them to mate in this- 

 way. They enjoy it and do much better. 



