26 



LESSONS IN POULTRY KEEPING SECOND 5ER1LS. 



House for Breeding Ducks. 



more than 2 to 2 ft. high, and openings through them are necessary only when the feed troughs 

 are placed along the walk, when a slatted opening in the partition enables the ducks to get at 

 the food in the troughs. When this arrangement is made the trough occupies about half the 

 length of each pen. It is easy to step over these low partitions, and many handle litter and 

 manure to and from the pens over the partitions, but if desired a part of the partition in e;ich 

 pen may be made movable, to admit running a wheelbarrow into the pens. If these partition* 

 are of boards there will be less draft through a long house. 



'i he fences between the yards should be of wire. A fence two feet high will keep the ducks 

 in. Duck growers usually make temporary fences, driving short stakes into the ground and 

 attaching the wire fencing to these with staples, using only two or three at each stake, and not 

 driving them in tight. The fence built in this way is easily taken down and moved, a matter 

 of considerable importance, for ducks foul the ground badly, making it .necessary to turn it 

 over and plant on it often, and this can be much better done with the fences up and out of the 

 way. 



Number of Ducks in a Flock. 



As drakes are not combative as cocks are, flocks large enough to require a number of drakes 

 are kept. The usual plan is to have twenty-five or thirty ducks in a flock. For this number 

 of ducks five or six mules are needed, (one to every five females), during the early part of the 

 winter. Toward the first of March the number of males in the pen' may be reduced to one to 

 every seven ducks, and in May some breeders still further reduce the males, leaving only about 

 one to every eight or ten ducks. A drake will successfully serve more ducks when the flock 

 has a water run than when only drinking water is provided. All water fowls copulate more 

 freely in water than on the ground. 



Ducks kept for breeding should be given good sized yards. They will do fairly well in close 

 quarters, but have not the strength and vitality when so kept that they have if given room to 

 take more exercise. A duck that forages about much is quite strong on its legs, while one that 

 is confined to a small yard and eats only at the trough is verv weak on the legs, and will give 

 out after quite a short walk or run. In such condition duck; may Jay well, but the eggs will 

 not hatch as well nor as strong ducklings as if the old stock had more strength. 



A flock of twenty-five to thirty-five ducks may be kept in a house pen containing about one 

 hundred and fifty square feet of floor space. A little more room will do no harm, especially if 

 the ducks are very large. For the outside yard I would not give specific, or minimum or 

 maximum areas. Give the breeding ducks as much yard room as you can, and if possible let 



