86 



SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 



This being the <;ase, we • give the breeders a large grass 

 range, with plenty of shade ' and running water — ^believing 

 nature webbed tbeir feet for a' purpose — though they can be 

 successfully r;aised without the water. To each five ducks 

 allow one drake and mate about thirty in a pen. Later in 

 the season, about itJjs middle of /May, remove one drake from 

 each pen. Peed night; and morning what they will eat of a 

 mixture of three pa,r^S' ©ach of Indian meal and wheat bran, 

 one part each low gr^^e flour and, beef scraps, making- sure 

 it is beef scraps a?dc not a poor-quality of fertilizer, the 

 whole salted slightly: and thoroughly mixed, not too wet, 

 with cold water. Never cook tlje food, except in winter, 

 when it may be mixed wiih hot water. -Do not feed at noon, 

 as ducks on good gras^-yange do:- not need it. If without 

 grass range, feed-all tbt^,green food they will eat each day- 

 fodder corn,, rye,- grass^j-.^jlover, ■ or anything they will eat. 

 Have water in pails or^tj^ajghs convenient to feeding places 

 at all times of t)i^,daya^4 night, also oyster shell and grit, 

 and do not forgetr.the s^g,,^ei;,they must have it. 



In winter vary the^f^gabiy a liberal allowance of boiled 

 turnips, mashed in with .gija^ft,, say one-third turnips, every 

 other morning, and iwth ^cabbage chopped fine or other green 

 food that can be -obtained, fed at noon. 



After hatching which we do altogether with incubators, 

 leave the ducklings quiet from twenty-four to thirty-six 

 hours, according to the season when hatched, after, which 

 they maf be put in a' brooder heated from ninety to ninety- 

 five degrees in the center of the hover — ninety-five degrees 

 in winter — ^placing each carefully under the hover. 



The food is prepared of- two-thirds wheat bran and one- 

 third Indian meal, wet to a crumbly mass with milk, either 

 skimmed -or w;holp, but not cooked. Cover floor under hover 

 with chaff, or fine shavings, and in front of the hover^ for 

 two or three feet, with -fine gravel or sand." Six or eight in- 

 ches from front of hover place small troughs or- dishes con- 

 taining food — Slightly sprinkled with sand the' first time^- ■ 

 and a fountain of lukewarm water. The fountains are gal- 



vauized iron cans, eight inches in diameter and twelve in- 

 ches deep inverted in tin pans ten inches in diameter and 

 two inches deep, and the water is kept near the top of the 

 pan; After all this, simply keep the ducklings warm and 

 let nature work. If they are worth raising they will gradu- 

 ally get out from under the hover, and it is astonishing how 

 quickly, they will begin to stow away the food and water. 

 Beyond watching for the first few hours that none get away 

 from the hover and become chilled, do not fuss *ith them 

 and do not try to fill them up with boiled eggs and bread 

 crumbs. 



Keep food and water before them all the time for i^e 

 first three days — and water all night ( sure — after which they 

 may be fed every three -hours till seven or eight days old, 

 when four or five feeds a day will be enough. After the fifth 

 day they are generally alive to stay, or are -dead, and they 

 Aaybe fed five per cent beef scraps instead of milk, or both 

 At two weeks old make their feed of one-half meal, one-half 

 bran and ten per cent beef scraps, which may be increased 

 to fifteen per cent scraps, with three parts each of bran and 

 meal and one part flour at three weeks. 



Carry them on tiis food until killing time^ten to eleven 

 weeks — not changing for any. heavier or more fattening food, 

 as advised by many. After the fifth week feed only three 

 times a day. Feed green food or not, as is most convenient. 

 If intended for breeding, it will be good-for them, but is un- 

 necessary for market ducks. , 



For best results, yard in flocks of from fifty to seventy- 

 five, and give plenty of yard room, never less than thirty by 

 fifty feet, for fifty birds five weeks old or over. In short, 

 k-eep only healthy, vigorous breeding stock. Have shade 

 and an unfailing supply of water and grit. Feed all they, 

 can be 'made to eat, at regular intervals, and do not skimp 

 the meat scraps. Kill at ten or eleven weeks old and receive 

 the . reward promised for work well done. 



GEORGE H. POLLARD. 



STARTING WITH STANDAR D BRED POULTRY 



opinions of Well-known and Experienced Specialty Breeders on How Best to Start to Establish 



Oneself in the Standard-bred Poultry Business — "Buy Stock and Save Time" 



is the General Ajlyice — Follow One Line of Breeding and Place 



no Reliance on Haphazard Matings. 



(The following is our symposium on "Starting With Standard-bred Poultry." The advice here given is In response to the question, 

 "If you did not own a fowl, but knew what j-oii did to-da.y, how would you proceed to again establish yourself in the standard-bred 

 poultry business?" This Inquiry was sent to about twenty-flve prominent poultrymen who year after year produce birds that are winners 

 at the foremost shows o-f the country, both in their own hands and In the hands of t'heir customers. This subject was taken up with a 

 view of helping the beginner, for it is by noting the experience of others, and thfiir success along certain lines, that the men and women 

 about to enter on this work may get a right start and "go right" until they too achieve success Editor.) 



[From, the Seliable 



Buy Eggs or Stock from an Expert Breeder. 



If the variety I wish to breed were not difficult to mate 

 I should start with eggs from the best breeder I knew of, 

 buying his best eggs and not quibbling about the price. I 

 should buy enough to be sure of a goodly number of chicks, 

 and one year after I would stand side by side with him 

 in quality of -stock. Then each year for a time I should 

 buy ^ggs or birds as occasion demanded and never go out- 

 side of his breeding for new blood. Then I should line breed 

 my own stock, "inbreeding" if you please to call it that. 



If the variety I selected were difficult to mate and breed 

 and it were new to me, I should be governed by the amount 

 of money I could invest, having in view the time I could af- 



Poultry Jourrwil.] 

 ford to wait and devote to personal experiments. If I could 

 afford it I should go to the best breeder of my chosen variety 

 and buy a pair, a pen, or a yard of his best breeding birds, 

 mated by him, as he would mate for his own breeding pur- 

 poses. If he were honest I would thus get his ideas of how 

 the variety should be mated; I would get the results of his 

 years of experience at a great saving of time. I should not 

 rush after his most expensive show birds unless I wanted to 

 exhibit at once. If I wanted to exhibit I would buy exhibi- 

 tion birds for that purpose and choice breeding stock to 

 breed. There rs no time for, nor is it pertinent to your 

 inquiry, to go into the whys or wherefores of this. 



Having the few birds I could afford to buy as an object 



