DUCKS AND GEESE 435 



scraps. All the green feed in the shaj)e of cut alfalfa, c]o\'er, 

 or chopped roots that they will clean up should be ,<;i\'en. 

 Grit and water should be available at all times. Jf tliey 

 are kept confined in the pen until eight o'clock in the morning 

 nearly all eggs will be laid upon the floor of the house ratlier 

 than some in the yard, as ducks usually lay in the early 

 morning. 



Feeding Young Ducklings. — After the ducklings are hatched 

 they should be kept without food for thirty-six hours, 

 either in the incubator or under a hen. x^fter removal 

 to the brooder or after thirty-six hours under the hen without 

 fecfl, the feed for the first week may consist of equal parts of 

 bran, corn meal, and middlings, with ;'> per cent, sand in it 

 for grit, fed fi\e times dail)'. After tlie third day, .^) per cent 

 of sifted meat scrap may also be addetl, and green food in the 

 form of chopped lettuce, alfalfa, or clover should be fed freely. 



x4fter the first week a good growing ration is 2 parts wheat 

 bran, 1 part wheat middlings, 1 part corn meal, i p^irt meat 

 scrap, 5 per cent sharp sand, scalded cut clo\er, alfalfa, 

 or other green food, as much as they will eat. Feed four 

 times a day. 



At the beginning of the eighth week the young ducks sliould 

 be moved into the fattening shed or kept in a shady place 

 and fed for three weeks on a fattening ration of erjual parts 

 wheat bran, middlings, corn meal, and 10 per cent of beef 

 scrap, 5 per cent sharp sand, and green food. It must not 

 be left before them at all times, ho\ve\'er, as it is rather 

 concentrated, and they are liable to tire of it. 



Special care should be taken that young ducks are not 

 exposed to a hot sun without a chance of shade, nor allowed 

 out in a rain-storm before they are feathered out. Rain while 

 in the downy stage is oftentimes fatal. 



The geese most common on American farms are the 

 Embden and Toulouse. Both are probably descended from 

 the Gray Lag goose — until recently found all over luu'ope 

 and Northern Asia. The Toulouse owes its name to the citv 



