242 MAKING POULTRY PAY 



grit, and all the green food they will eat, in the shape 

 of corn fodder cut fine, clover or oat fodder. Feed 

 this mixture twice a day, all they will eat. For laying 

 birds, equal parts of wheat bran and corn meal, twenty 

 per cent of Quaker oat feed, ten per cent of boiled 

 potatoes or turnips fifteen per cent of clover rowen, 

 green rye, or refuse cabbage, chopped fine, five per cent 

 of grit. Feed twice a day all they will eat, with a 

 lunch of corn and oats at noon. Keep grit and ground 

 oyster shells constantly by them. We never cook the 

 food for our ducks, after they are a week old, but mix 

 it up with cold water. — [James Rankin, Bristol 

 County, Mass. 



WINTER QUARTERS FOR DUCKS AND GEESE 



Ducks and geese need dry winter quarters. This 

 is absolutely essential. Scarcity of bedding or a low, 

 damp floor will soon put a whole flock out of business. 

 Rheumatism or leg weakness, accompanied by a gen- 

 eral falling off in flesh, is the inevitable result of damp 

 quarters. As breeding birds in off condition during 

 the winter cannot possibly be early spring producers, 

 the far-reaching results of a little neglect practiced 

 now, probably in ignorance, are often visibly felt in 

 the receipts at the end of a season. 



Any shed that bids defiance to winds and rain 

 and that has a floor at least six inches higher than the 

 surrounding ground, is a fit place for quartering 

 waterfowl during the inclement season. Feed the 

 ducks near this shed at night and as soon as they have 

 done justice to their meal drive them slowly without 

 undue excitement into their quarters. The best door 

 for this purpose is even with the ground, two feet high 

 by three or four feet wide, fastened on hinges at the 

 top and hooked, when open, with an iron hook on its 



