HATCHING AND BROODING OF DUCKS 



Ten per cent of beef scraps; 



Five per cent of sand. 



They remain here until they are between nine and ten 

 •weeks old, when they are ready for market. They of course 

 must have shade and a constant supply of water in these sheds. 

 As the weather grows warmer they will eat much le§s at noon 

 than at morning or night, but here as well as in the brooding 

 house be careful and do not overfeed. 



It is better to leave them a little hungry than to overdo 

 it. Twenty minutes is time enough for them to eat all they 

 should and whatever is left must be removed. Ducklings fed 

 in this way should weigh from ten to twelve pounds per pair 

 at this time. 



Do not keep them longer than ten weeks. Let this be the 

 limit, for they then begin growing their adult plumage and the 

 pin feathers that now start will make them very difficult to 

 pick properly or rapidly; and as all their strength will be em- 

 ployed in growing this crop of feathers they will gain nothing 

 in weight during the next six weeks. The feed they consume 

 would be practically wasted, adding so much to their cost that 

 instead of making a profit, they would show a loss. 



FEEDING STOCK DUCKS 



The birds that are selected to be raised for stock ducks for 

 the next season should be turned into a pasture where there 

 is water and shade. If marshy and swampy so much the bet- 

 ter, they will find most of the food they require, but they should 

 he fed morning and night as follows: 



Three measures of cracked corn (maize); 



Seven measures of fine bran; 



Five measures of cut green clover. 



If there is no marsh or water in the pasture in which they 

 ■can find bugs and worms there must be five per cent of beef 

 .scraps added to this feed. 



They remain in this pasture until late in the fall and the 

 quantity of food given them must be governed by the quantity 

 they are able to pick up on the range. 



This feed does not encourage egg production in the fall, 

 -which we try to avoid. Should a few begin laying, cut down 

 the feed. It is not desirable to have laying begin until Christ- 

 mas, but April hatched ducklings will if encouraged lay a few 

 •eggs in October and November. They will be largely infertile 

 :and too far out of season to serve our best purpose. 



THE BREEDING STOCK 



Latitude and markets will vary considerably the time when 

 it is desirable to make up the breeding pens, but generally the 

 first of November is early enough for any locality. The birds 

 are then divided up in pens with twenty-five females to five 

 males in each. Feeding for eggs should be started three weeks 

 /before we wish them to begin laying and we have them so well 

 Mnder control that this will result on the following feed: 



Five measm-es of cracked corn; 



Five measures of fine bran; 



Two measures of white middlings; 



One and one-half measures beef scraps; 



Three measures of boiled potatoes or turnips; 



Three measures of cut green clover or rye. 



If the winter should be very severe and there is an exces- 

 sive demand upon the birds for fuel to keep up their internal 

 fires, the quantity of corn meal must be slightly increased to 

 provide it. They will not fatten unless they are fed an excess 

 above the demands made for fuel and energy. The feeder must 

 use judgment in this and increase the quantity when conditions 

 demand it. Avoid fattening, but put all the fiesh on them 

 possible. No fowl can or will produce eggs if in poor flesh, 

 but flesh and fat are two entirely different products. Carbo- 

 naceous food produces fat and supplies heat and energy; it is 

 fuel, and any surplus is stored as fat for future use. Protein 

 produces flesh, bone and feathers and has other important uses 

 in the vital processes going on within. To supply the neces- 

 sary amount of both is what we attempt and the above formula 

 will answer as a basis, to be varied only in extreme weather 

 as directed. 



The formulas I give above are those I have used in my own 

 work and the result of a wide experience. They are correct 

 both in theory and practice. 



In addition to above I wish to add that it is advisable to 

 keep a box of ground oyster shells in each pen of stock ducks, 

 and also to feed a lunch of about a quart of whole corn at noon 

 to each pen during the laying season. When this is done the 

 corn in the mash may be meal instead of coarse cracked. The 

 idea is to give the gizzard some work to perform to' keep the 

 digestive organs in perfect health. 



Watch the birds closely and see that they come up raven- 

 ously hungry at each feeding. The more they can eat and digest 

 properly the more profitable they become. 



In mixing mashes for poultry of all kinds there should be 

 added at the rate of one pound of salt to every hundred pounds 

 of grain except for the newly hatched birds in the nursery. 



Should there be any indications of bowel trouble at any 

 time, use a little powdered charcoal in the mash for a few feeds 

 and it will correct it. Keep the yard clean and free from pud- 

 dles of filth and feed only the best material and at regular hours 

 and no such trouble need be anticipated. 



TESTING DUCK EGGS 



Duck eggs should be tested more frequently than hen eggs. 

 Three or four tests during the hatch being necessary, the first 

 test may be on the fourth or fifth day, when the embryo duck can 

 be readily seen through the clear shell of the egg, if a good tester 

 is used. After the first test a few eggs should be examined 

 every day or two, to see how the hatch is progressing, and if 

 any foul odor is noticed on opening the machine, the rotten 

 eggs should be tested out and removed. For the beginher it 

 will be necessary to examine the eggs with a tester or else "smell 

 them out" in order to find the eggs which give rise to the foul 

 odor. An expert operator can tell the putrid eggs by the chang- 

 ed appearance of the shell almost at sight; for, as a, rule, the 

 putrid egg shows a slightly bluish or discolored, marbled ap- 

 pearance on some portion of the shell, which is not found in the 

 eggs containing live, healthy germs. Duck eggs become putrid 

 very quickly after the germ dies, and give off foul gases which 

 endanger the lives of the little birds in remaining eggs. 



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