30 



LL550NS IN POULTRY KEEPING SECOND 5LRIL5. 



old. This is easily moved as often as desired. For a more permanent fence it is better to use 

 wire netting. When the ducks are very small the finest mesh may be required to keep them 

 in, but they grow within a few days to such :i size that the two inch mesh will answer. Which 

 to use must depend on the amount used, and on the convenience or inconvenience of changing 

 the quarters of the ducklings, or changing fences. 



Temperature of Brooder. 



The brooder into which the ducklings first go should be at a temperature of about 90 before 

 the ducklings are put into it. The heat of the ducklings will raise the temperature several 

 degrees. This temperature, approaching 95, is about what the ducklings should have for the 



<Pekin Ducklings Sx Weeks Old. Boy Six Years Old. 



first day or two, it being a reduction of about 8 from the temperature of the incubator. The 

 temperature should be gradually reduced until at the end of a week it is 80 to 85. Duck- 

 lings grown in the winter need artificial heat until ready for market. For those hatched in the 

 latter part of winter, and in the spring, the period of brooding is shorter. When settled warm 

 weather comes the ducklings need artificial heat only for two or three weeks. Ducklings that 

 are five or six weeks old about April 1st can go into "cold" brooder houses at that time. These 

 houses are tightly built, so that the ducks in them are well protected, but have either no heat 

 at nil or merely a row of pipes along the rear wall, perhaps a couple of feet from the floor to 

 take the chill off the house should the weather at any time be unusually cold. 



Feeding the Ducklings. 



The very first thing the novice in duck culture should fix in his mind about feeding duck- 

 lings is that the duckling must have "grit" in its food from the very start. I am not pre- 

 pared to say whether it would be possible to have thrifty ducklings without grit, but I have 

 tried a good many ways of preparing their food, and found that they always needed some grit 

 in the beginning, and that they did best when it was mixed with the food. Any fine grit or 

 lean coarse sand will do, and not a great deal is required. When mixing a pailful of mash 



