246 POULTRIY-CRAFT. 
Ducks designed for breeding are better if given more liberty from the time 
they are weaned; but the usual practice is to run all the ducklings together in 
close quarters until they are of an age for marketing, then sort out those 
wanted for breeding, give them more liberty, a grass, and, if possible, a water 
range. In sorting stock novices are often at a loss to know how to distinguish 
the sexes. After they are about five or six weeks old the ducks ‘* quack” 
loudly when caught; the drakes give a low sound between a quack and a hiss ; 
or sometimes make no noise at all. 
370. Selling Ducks.—The ducks produced on large farms are always 
sold dressed, and go mostly to wholesale dealers. Small growers, remote from 
the large markets, must be governed by the conditions of their markets. In 
some places it pays better to sell the ducks alive, in others to dress them; gen- 
erally the best profit is obtained by selling direct to consumers. Green ducks 
are marketed at nine to twelve weeks old, and should weigh nine to twelve 
pounds to the pair; the average weight is rather more than ten pounds per 
pair. The demand for them begins in April (a little) and May, and the 
highest prices are obtained in those months. Early in the season, when prices 
are high, with a tendency to take big drops, many ducks are marketed at nine 
weeks old; later they are held longer. If not killed before the pin-feathers of 
the adult plumage start, (at eleven to fourteen weeks, the exact time being 
determined by inspection, and, by the expert, quite accurately by the general 
appearance of the ducks), they must be held for a month or more longer, until 
the plumage has grown enough to make clean picking possible. At this time 
they weigh heavier and are really much better ducks, their flesh being firmer 
and better distributed; but, if from large stock, they will be too large for the 
general trade, and growers try to get all ducks marketed at the earlier age. 
The ducks of an age for market are sorted the day before the killing. In 
catching they are taken by the neck. If caught by the feet, there is danger of 
dislocating the legs. Those to be killed are kept without food. 
371. Killing and Dressing Ducks.—If the feathers are to be:sold, the 
ducks must be dry picked. The feathers will very nearly pay the cost of pick- 
ing. For the eastern markets only dry picked stock is wanted. As experts 
say that while it requires more experience to properly dry pick a duck, that 
method, once learned, is easier and quicker, it will pay one who is dressing 
many ducks to learn and use that method, even though his market does not 
require it. Cushman thus describes the methods of killing and dry picking : — 
They are stabbed in the back of the root of the mouth,* after which they are stunned 
by a blow with a club, or by striking the head against a post. The latter is said to be 
y 
* Notg.— As to the manner of holding the bird when making the cut, Rankin says: ~‘‘ The bird should be held 
between the knees, the bill held open with the left hand, and a cut made across the roof of the mouth just below the 
eyes.” McFetridge’s method is: —‘‘ Take the duck under the left arm with its head in your left hand, etc.” 
