IX 



YOUNG DUCKS ON THE POND 



VVTHEN the young ducks are taken to the water, after 

 '' they are eight weeks old, the danger of losses due 

 to disease and to certain kinds of vermin may be said to 

 have passed. All animals thrive best when given much 

 liberty, and the young ducks should grow rapidly in 

 their new surroundings. They should, of course, be 

 properly looked after and protected from vermin, and 

 they should be fed at first two or three times daily with 

 wheat or cracked corn, to which may be added a little of 

 the prepared duck meal, the amount depending upon the 

 amount of natural food they may be able to procure 

 about the pond. 



The place where they are turned down should be a 

 grassy field, sloping to the pond, with some willows or 

 other trees at a little distance from the water. 



The field may be wired to keep out stray dogs, cats, 

 and rats and other vermin, and the wire may be ex- 

 tended to include some water in the pond. By feed- 

 ing, the ducks can be taught to use this safe field, al- 

 though they will fly out and explore the pond and often 

 the country in the vicinity. Ducks are great wanderers, 

 unless they be kept too tame for sport, and they may 



65 



