118 POULTRY BREEDING 
In raising breeding ducks the object is to secure large 
size, which needs a large frame, thick muscles and great 
vitality. For this reasen less cornmeal is fed and the 
beef scrap is reduced somewhat. An excellent ration for 
reserve ducks follows: 
Equal parts by measure of cornmeal, wheat bran and 
green stuff with 5 per cent of beef scrap and 5 per cent 
coarse sand or grit. 
Ducks in laying time do well on the following mixture: 
Three parts cornmeal; 3 parts wheat bran; 2 parts green 
stuff; 1 part beef scrap; 1 part No. 2 flour; salt lightly, 
mix with water and feed twice a day. Give the birds a 
grass run if possible; if not, give them boiled turnips 
mixed with cut clover hay. 
These rations are calculated for those who keep a large 
number of ducks. While they are the best that have been 
devised, those who keep only 40 or 50 ducks on a farm 
will be able to simplify them to a considerable extent by 
allowing the ducks to run on grass and hunt bugs and 
insects about the farm. Ducks are good grasshopper- 
catchers and industrious insect-hunters, but they should 
be given beef scrap regularly, even when they have their 
liberty. Ducks thrive on the whole grains, but those who 
keep them in large numbers prefer to have most of the 
grain ground. 
Ducks are profitable on the farm, as they are good 
layers, make weight economically and are always in de- 
mand in every market. Such a thing as overstocking the 
market with ducks has not yet occurred, and many farm- 
ers might keep a small breeding flock and raise 100 or 
more ducks every year to advantage. 
Young ducks are invariably marketed dressed. They 
are killed hy running a sharp knife through the brain from 
