CHAPTER X 

 Waterfowl 



Duck keeping as a business has assumed very 

 large proportions within the past twenty years, some 

 breeders raising as many as 20,000 ducks a year. 

 They are marketed when ten to twelve weeks old, at 

 which time they are very tender and much prized by 

 epicures. On the farm where only a small flock is kept 

 and raised the care of them is very simple. Damp, 

 marshy land, not suitable for fowls, is well adapted to 

 ducks and geese, particularly the latter. 



COMMERCIAL DUCK BREEDING 



Let us begin with the location of the plant, and 

 that may be almost anything that you can get. While 

 water is one of the almost necessary points, there are 

 many leading breeders who do not have water running 

 through their yards and do not consider it necessary. 

 In establishing a plant, if you could select just what 

 you wanted, I should advise choosing a place with a 

 good, sizable pond or running stream of water, for in 

 that way you would gain in the fertility of the eggs. 



The Pekin duck we advocate altogether because of 

 the deep keel. In the improved type the breast hne 

 should be nearly parallel with the back and the breast 

 should be nearly the same length as the back. The old 

 line bird is something the shape of a Bartlett pear. Of 

 course it is possible with the old t3'pe of bird to get a 

 heavy weight, but the weight does not come in the 

 right place; it is mostly back of the legs, which is 

 where most of the waste comes, and there is no frame 



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