206 



always come to it, and as they are great foragers, they do not wander 

 off and get lost. 



Their first feed consists of oatmeal flakes, and we also use bread 

 crumbs and have a nice little grass plot for them to pick over. At the 

 end of the first week, we begin to change their feed to a ration com- 

 posed of equal parts of bran, shorts and corn meal, mixed with twenty 

 per cent beef meal. This is gradually increased until they are three 

 weeks old, when they are given a full feed. The beef meal is in- 

 creased gradually to about eighteen per cent. It is important that 

 they be given all they want two or three times daily until they are 

 ten weeks old, if you want them for breeders or for early market. 

 To make large, fine specimens, they must be compelled to forage for 

 all of their feed. This article is written from the standpoint of pro- 

 ducing first-class breeding stock of both Pekin ducks and Embden 

 geese, but believe it will appty to all varieties of ducks and geese. 



A flock of Indian Runner Ducks. 



All our early goose eggs are placed under hens, as we prefer to 

 keep the geese laying. The later eggs are left for the geese to hatch. 

 They make excellent mothers and the gander helps protect and feed 

 them. The young do not require a great deal of water and subsist 

 largely at first on grass. As they grow older, they like more grain. 

 "We use same ration as for ducks. We hear it said, "Turn the geese 

 on pasture and let them go." They may do for market breeding, but 

 for breeders they should have some grain twice a day, aside from 

 good pasture. We prefer in the fall to turn them in a cornfield with 

 hogs, and by Thanksgiving they are in fine shape. By this method 

 we raise Embden geese which weigh from twenty to twenty-three 

 pounds and Pekin ducks which weigh from seven to ten pounds by 

 Thanksgiving. 



