WILD DUCKS 171 



Various Receipts. As most kinds of ducklings are hardy 

 and free from disease, they will thrive on quite a variety of 

 feeding. The following methods of- different successful 

 raisers of ducks will be of interest for comparison. 



Evans. Wallace Evans starts ducklings on egg-and-milk 

 custard, cooked hard, and grated through a sieve. After a 

 few days he mixes in his own prepared foods, such as he sells, 

 finally substituting these entirely for egg. That green 

 food, grit, and water are supphed, in all these methods, is, 

 of course, understood. 



Clark. Neil Clark uses the following for mallards: At 

 first he beats up raw egg and mixes this with Spratt's wild- 

 duck meal, scalded. When the ducklings are one week old 

 he adds a Uttle bran and middlings. The egg is left out 

 after ten days. At two weeks a Uttle cornmeal is added, 

 but sparingly, for too much is liable to cause convulsions. 

 At three weeks a little crissel is begun, and increased from 

 time to time. For green food he has used rape leaves a 

 good deal, ground up in a hay-cutter, and given in a trough 

 of water. After three weeks he adds wheat and cracked 

 com, increasing these cereals and cutting out the duck meal. 

 He gets them on to grain when full grown, but gives some 

 mash until along in the fall. Occasionally he puts grit in 

 the food, to make sure they are getting enough to aid 

 digestion. 



Rogers. Harry T. Rogers, as with pheasants, starts 

 duckhngs on ground hard-boiled egg mixed with crumbs of 

 cracker or parched bread. After a few days he begins, be- 

 sides this, using a mash of middlings, a httle bran, a little 

 cornmeal, corn and oats ground together, and a little cris- 

 sel, about one sixteenth. This mash he gives twice a day 

 at first, alternating with the egg, and after a while gives it 

 entirely, probably at about three weeks. 



