284 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



depends on the weather and strength of the 

 ducklings. Two weeks seems the longest time 

 necessary; and they may sometimes be per- 

 mitted to enjoy the pond at the end of the 

 week, but not for too great a length of time at 

 once, least of all in cold weather, which will 

 affect and cause them to scour and appear rough 

 and draggled. In such case, they must be kept 

 within a while, and have an allowance of strong 

 food. The straw beneath the ducks should be 

 often renewed, that the brood may have a dry 

 and comfortable bed; and the mother should 

 be plentifully fed with solid corn, without an 

 ample allowance of which ducks are not to be 

 reared or kept in perfection, although they 

 gather so much abroad. 



A writer in the Southern Agriculturist, in 

 speaking on the subject of rearing ducks, says, 

 "These birds being aquatic in their habits, 

 most persons suppose they ought to give the 

 young ones a great deal of water. The conse- 

 quence is, they soon take colds, become droopy, 

 and die. This should be avoided. Ducks, 

 when first hatched, are always inclined to fever, 

 from their pinion wings coming out so soon. 

 This acts upon them as teething does on chil- 

 dren. The young ducks should, consequently, 

 be kept from every thing which may have a 

 tendency to create cold in them. To prevent 

 this, therefore, I always give my young ducks 

 as little water as possible. In fact they should 

 only have enough to allay their thirst, and 

 should on no account be permitted to play in 

 the water. If the person lives near the city, 

 liver and lights should be procured, and these 

 should be boiled and chopped up fine, and given 

 to the young ducks. Or, if fish, crabs, oysters, 

 or clams can be procured, these should be given. 

 In case none of these can be obtained, all the 

 victuals should be boiled before feeding. Boiled 

 potatoes mixed with hominy are also excellent. 

 Half of the ducks which are lost is because raw 

 food is given them. To sum up in a word, if 

 you wish to raise almost every duck that is 

 hatched, give them little water, and feed them 

 on no food which is not boiled. By observing 

 this plan I raise for market, and for my own 

 table, between two and three hundred ducks 

 every year." 



Ducks when young, are exposed to many 

 dangers and mishaps. Their waddling gait 

 quite unfits them for running from a foe on 

 land, and they are but too apt to be trodden on 

 by horses, cattle, and even by the foot of man. 

 They should never be let out of their pens be- 

 fore half past eight o'clock in the morning, as 

 if by any chance a pen may have been let out 

 earlier, the probability is that they soon suffer 

 from cramp; and it is a great gain for any 

 young bird never to receive any check ; and 

 though the cramp may wear off, the bird never 

 thrives so well afterward, if this malady has 

 once attacked it. 



It is the general idea that the down about 

 the tail in the young of both geese and dncks 

 should be cut close, especially if the weather be 

 what is termed " draggling" L e., wet or drizzly. 

 Nature certainly does not provide a pair of 

 scissors for this purpose ; and among our own 

 broods, where some have undergone this opera- 

 tion, while others have been left unshorn for 

 the sake of testing the effect, we have hitherto 

 been unable to ascertain any difference in their 

 subsequent progress. 



Enemies of the Duck. Care must be taken 

 that the water where the ducks are at liberty to 

 go contain no leeches, which occasion the loss 

 of the ducklings by sticking to their feet. We 

 have also suffered some loss from the mud-tur- 

 tle, which infests some streams. We were once 

 passing near a small stream, and hearing the 

 cries of a gosling, we hurried to the bank, and 

 found its feet apparently entangled; on grasp- 

 ing it, we found something hanging to the foot, 

 and on raising it from the water, behold a snap- 

 ping-turtle had fastened to one of the legs, to 

 which he adhered with the tenacity of a bull- 

 dog. We cast him on the bank ; he weighed 

 ten pounds, and furnished us a repast which 

 would make an alderman's mouth water. But 

 the most dreaded enemy is the fox, to whose 

 stealthy incursions the ducks are most liable, 

 because they most commonly stray from home, 

 and it can not be hunted too much to get the 

 country rid of it. The ducks should, therefore, 

 be driven to the water in the morning and 

 brought back inthe evening. 



Skunks, weasels, and minks will also destroy 



