HATCHING AND BROODING OF DUCKS 



the Messrs. Weber sold about 4,000 pounds (two tons!) last 

 year. As the feathers fetched thirty-eight to forty cents a 

 pound, here was an income of from $1,500 to $1,600 from feath- 

 ers alone. 



The steady increase in duck production has been made pos- 

 sible by the improvement in methods of hatching and brooding; 

 in no other branch of the poultry business are incubators and 

 brooders used with so generally good results, and the compar- 



ative perfection of the up-to-date incubators and brooders of 

 to-day makes possible the hatching and rearing of a very large 

 per cent. As the infant mortality is slight and ducks grow to 

 marketable size in ten or eleven weeks' time, the grower soon 

 begins to realize a profit upon his investment, and the steady 

 increase in public appreciation and consumption of so desirable 

 a table delicacy insures a sound, healthy development of the 

 business. 



"IF I WERE TO START AGAIN" 



THE MAN WHO IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS "THE FATHER OF THE PEKIN DUCK 

 INDUSTRY IN AMERICA" TELLS WHAT HE. WOULD DO IF HE WERE TO START 

 ANEW AND GIVES VALUABLE ADVICE IN REGARD TO CARE AND ATTENTION 



JAMES RANKIN 



F I WERE to start over again in the duck business, 

 I should not begin as I did. I have learned many 

 things, during the past thirty years of experience 

 in duck growing which I did not know when I 

 first began. One is, that labor is the most ex- 

 pensive item in the whole business, and a plant 

 should be systematically laid out so as to mini- 

 mize that. It is a, poor policy to erect a small group of build- 

 ings, making them a nucleus to build around as you increase 

 your plant from time to time, as so many are doing, and making 

 the whole thing about as inconvenient as can be. Select a piece 

 of ground with considerable slope to the south. Sandy land, 

 if level, will not answer the purpose, as the birds will soon pud- 

 dle it and make it water tight, and then trouble begins. We 

 make oui breeding and broodings houses fifteen feet wide with 

 a walk in the rear, and four feet in front. This necessitates an 

 uneven double pitch roof. It makes a stiffer, warmer building 

 than a shed roof and requires less lumber. For breeding birds, 

 these buildings are divided off into pens 12 by 18 feet for thirty 

 birds, each, the yards outside being of the same width and about 

 100 feet long. 



Located in warm buildings of this kind, judicious feed and 

 care will soon compel the birds to lay. But it is one thing to 

 induce egg production during the winter season, and quite 

 another to secure highly fertilized eggs, which can only be done 

 by a careful feeding and a well balanced ration. See following 

 formula for feeding laying ducks: 



Equal parts wheat bran and corn meal; twenty per cent 

 of Quaker oat feed; ten per cent of boiled turnips or potatoes; 

 ten per cent of clover-rowen, green rye or refuse cabbage chop- 

 ped fine; five per cent of grit. Feed twice a day all they will 

 eat, with a lunch of com and oats at noon. 



We never cook the food for our ducks after they are a week 

 old, but mix with cold water. The birds should be fed all they 

 will eat up clean of this ration twice a day. Never keep food by 

 them or allow it to sour. They should not be let out till they 

 are through laying in the morning. 



They should be watered at least four times each day. It 

 would be a great saving of labor if a small stream or brook 

 should run through the lower part of the yards so that the 

 birds could obtain water at will. We usually mate about one 

 drake to five ducks. 



As a rule, the first eggs laid by young birds are apt to be 

 infertile, though if the birds are well cared for and fed, the 

 fertility rapidly increases and will often reach from ninety to 

 ninety-eight per cent. Of course the hatching should be done 

 artificially. The incubators should be located where the tem- 

 perature is as nearly uniform as possible. The eggs should be 

 turned carefully twice a day, moving them from the ends to 



center of trays and vice versa. The machines should be run 

 at 102 degrees the first fifteen days and at 103 degrees the re- 

 mainder of the hatch. The eggs may be tested the third day of 

 incubation. They should be cooled a little once each day, espe- 

 cially the latter part of the hatch, though usually they are 

 cooled sufficiently while tmning. No specified time can be 

 given, as that depends upon the temperature in which the ma- 

 chines are located. 



WHAT TO FEED 



The little birds should be left in the machine for about 

 thirty-six hours after hatching. The heat in the brooders should 

 be about ninety degrees the first day or two and be gradually 

 reduced as the birds become stronger. Feed them according 

 to formula, as follows: 



The first four days, feed equal parts of rolled oats and crack- 

 er crumbs; ten per cent hard boiled egg, chopped fine; five per 

 cent coarse sand. Feed four times a day what they will eat 

 clean. 



From 'four days to three weeks old, feed equal parts of rolled 

 oats and wheat bran; ten per cent corn meal; five per cent coarse 

 sand; five per cent fine ground beef scrap, soaked. Give finely 

 cut green clover, rye or cabbage. Feed fom- times a day. 



From three to six weeks old, feed equal parts com meal, 

 wheat bran and Quaker oat feed; three per cent fine grit; five 

 per cent beef scraps. Mix in green food. T<'eed four times a day. 



From six to eight weeks old, feed three parts com meal; 

 two parts wheat bran; one part Quaker oat-feed; three per cent 

 grit. Feed three times a day. 



From eight to ten weeks old, feed two-thirds com meal; 

 one third equal parts of wheat bran and oat feed; ten per cent 

 beef scrap; three per cent grit. Give oyster shells and less green 

 food. Feed three times a day. They should now be ready 

 for market. 



Our brooding arrangement consists simply of a two inch 

 flow and return pipe running horizontally, ten inches apart the 

 whole length of the building and boxed in about two feet wide, 

 the upper boards resting upon the pipes. This brooding box 

 should be partitioned every four feet with pens of corresponding 

 width. The distance between the pipes and floor should be at 

 first about three inches, gradually increasing it as the birds 

 grow larger. The top half of these brooding boxes is hinged 

 in the center next to the walk, so they can be lifted up to facili- 

 tate cleaning. 



Water pans should be arranged so that the little birds can 

 get their bills in to drink and not their bodies. From sixty to 

 seventy-five ducklings are a full complement for each of these 

 pens and when four weeks old they should be removed to larger 

 quarters. 



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