POULTRY-HOUSES. 



65 



DUCK-HOUSE. 



Ducks, being in a great measure aquatic birds, 

 will not thrive unless there be a piece of water 

 of some kind for them to swim in, or at least to 

 dip in their bills and sputter, and it is useless 

 without this to attempt keeping them. They 

 should have a place separate from other poultry, 

 on account of the great difference in their hab- 

 its. When circumstances will permit the ar- 

 rangement, we recommend having the house 

 adjoining the pond, which should be inclosed. 

 The laying ducks should have plenty of room, 

 for the sake of cleanliness, and should never 

 share the habitations of geese, as the ducks are 

 liable to persecution. When accustomed to be 

 fed in the house, they readily present them- 

 selves at the proper time ; in the morning they 

 get their food apart from the geese and fowls 

 in which case they are not plundered by the 

 former, nor pilfered by the latter; and thus, 

 too, their eggs are secured with far greater cer- 

 tainty, since the birds are not released from 

 their inclosure till after the hour which usually 

 witnesses the deposit of their eggs. The duck 

 generally lays at night, or early in the morn- 

 ing, and is usually disposed to lay away from 

 her house; but by our plan many eggs are se- 

 cured which otherwise would have probably 

 been lost. 



A very cheap, pretty plan for a duck-house 



may be constructed something after the style of 



the above engraving, placed on the bank of a 



pond or small island of an ornamental sheet of 



E 



water. It may be constructed of rough boards 

 thatched with straw, and partly covered with 

 running vines and shrubbery, which would not 

 only be ornamental but make a very pretty and 

 cheap house for aquatic fowls. 



The interior arrangement of the house may 

 vary according to the means and taste of the pro- 

 prietor, only providing the ducks with nest box- 

 es, in order that they may lay and incubate un- 

 disturbed, and affording proper protection for 

 their young. 



It is not in every situation that ducks can be 

 kept with advantage. They require water much 

 more than the goose ; they are no graziers, yet 

 they are hearty feeders, and excellent "snappers- 

 up of unconsidered trifles ;" nothing comes amiss 

 to them ; and in places where tadpoles and the 

 larva} of aquatic insects abound, they can be 

 kept at trifling expense. 



A strong desire for the selection of her own 

 nest is generally found to influence the duck; 

 but this is mainly the case as the time draw? 

 near for incubation, since previously to that pe- 

 riod, if the egg has not been laid before she 

 has been let out of her house in the morn- 

 ing, it is usually dropped at random wherever, 

 in fact, the bird may chance to be when the 

 time comes. If the nest selected by the due! 

 be tolerably secure, it is better to allow her t< 

 continue there; for rarely will she sit well if 

 she be disturbed by removal from the spot of 

 her choice. 



