220 PROFITS IN POULTRY. 
nest is a small door through which the eggs may v6 
taken. It is necessary to keep the ducks shut up In the 
morning until they have laid their eggs, and a strip of 
wire netting will be required to inclose a narrow yard 
in front of the house. Twine netting should not be 
used, as the ducks put their heads through the meshes 
and twist the twine about their necks, often so effectively 
Fig. 86,—DUCK HOUSE. 
as to strangle themselves. To avoid all danger, the 
wire fence should have a three or four-inch mesh. 
Among the most profitable varieties as layers are the 
Pekins. <A fair yearly product for a duck in its second 
year is a hundred and twenty eggs, and sixty to eightw 
for a yearling. Their feathers are of the best quality, 
white, with a creamy shade; and five ducks weighing 
five pounds each have yielded, killed in the winter-time 
when fully feathered, more than one pound inall. It 
will be right to pick the ducks when moulting is begin- 
