664 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



which they will stand a lower tempera- 

 ture than chicks. 



Ducks differ from chickens in that 

 they have no crop and the food goes 

 directly to the stomach. On this account 

 ducks require a much larger proportion 

 of soft food than chickens. In fact, 

 dry, hard grain should be reserved al- 

 most entirely for mature ducks. 



Feeding ducklings— Relative to the 

 feeding of ducklings, Rankin states that 

 the first food should consist of bread or 

 cracker crumbs, slightly moistened 

 mixed with about 10 per cent of hard 

 boiled eggs chopped fine, shell and all. 

 With this food should be mixed about 5 

 per cent of very fine gravel or coarse 

 sand. "Do not place grit by them and 

 expect them to eat it, but mix it in their 

 food and compel them to eat it, as it is 

 the most essential part of the whole 

 thing. Scatter this food on the board 

 and place your ducklings on it and they 

 will be busily eating within 10 minutes. 

 One hundred to 150 little birds can be 

 put in one brooder 6 feet long. When 

 two to three weeks old 75 to 100 is a 

 plenty for one brooder." 



At first the floor of the brooder may 

 be covered with hay, chaff, or finely cut 

 straw. After ten days sawdust may be 

 used. After about the second day, rolled 

 oats and bran may be given in the form 

 of a mash. When about 10 days old, 

 finely chopped rye, cabbage or other 

 green materials can be safely given. 

 When 10 days old, the mash may con- 

 sist^ of a fourth corn meal and the re- 

 mainder wheat bran, mixed with a small 

 amount of rolled oats, grit and about 

 10 per cent of ground beef scraps or 

 other animal food, and all of the finely 

 chopped green food they will eat. 



Animal food for ducklings The use 



of animal food of some kind, either in 

 the form of ground bone, meat meal, 

 dried blood, milk, or fish, is absolutely 

 essential to. the successful growth of 

 ducklings. In experiments at the New 

 York state station, ducklings fed a ration 

 made up wholly of vegetable origin, 

 failed to thrive and nearly one-half the 

 flock died before they were four weeks 

 old, and the gains were very small. Sim- 

 ilar ducklings getting meat meal in the 

 ration all lived and thrived. When 

 meat meal was added to the grain ration 

 in the first instance, death in the flock 

 ceased and good gains were made 

 Other extended experiments at the sta 



tion showed 60 per cent of the protein 

 in the ration for the first three weeks 

 might profitably be derived from animal 

 sources. As the birds grow older a larger 

 amount of grain can be used. 



Other experiments at the station, in 

 which the relative value of dried blood, 

 bone meal, and milk albumen were in- 

 vestigated as foods for ducklings, showed 

 that while the same gain was secured 

 with each food, the most rapid gain was 

 made on milk albumen and animal meal, 

 due probably to the greater palatability 

 of these two rations. 



Ducks vs chickens — The much more 

 rapid gains of ducks than chickens is 

 well brought out in experiments reported 

 from the Michigan station, in which 39 

 ducklings two weeks old, and weighing a 

 total of 13^4 pounds, were fed for five 

 weeks in comparison with 39 chickens 

 weighing a total of 7% pounds. At the 

 end of the feeding period, the ducks had 

 made a total gain of 108.75 pounds, 

 while the chickens weighed but 22^2 

 pounds. With the ducks it cost 1.9 

 cents to produce a pound of gain, while 

 with the chicks it cost 4.84 cents for a 

 pound of gain. 



Amount and method of feeding — The 

 amount of feed to give daily varies ac- 

 cording to the age and appetite. For 

 the first few days they should be fed 

 four or five times daily. Later, three 

 times will be sufficient. They should be 

 given each meal all they will eat up 

 clean. Some feeders make a practice 

 of giving them an abundance of mash 

 on the feeding board, allowing them to 

 eat 20 or 25 minutes, and then remov- 

 ing what remains. By this method the 

 weaker birds get their full share. In 

 any case, all the food left over should 

 be removed from the troughs or feed- 

 ing board after each meal and the feed- 

 ing utensils and feeds kept scrupulously 

 clean. Ducks are infinitely more filthy 

 than chickens and much more care is 

 required to keep their quarters clean. 



When the eggs are set under hens, it 

 is advisable to set a number of hens at 

 the same time if possible, and, when the 

 ducklings hatch, to give the brood of 

 three or four hens to one hen. Under 

 farm conditions, they may be kept in 

 small yards, well housed at night for 

 five or six days and then turned loose 

 with the mother to forage. 



Feeding older ducklings — When the 

 ducklings are from three to six weeks 



