COMMERCIAL DUCK FARMING 



gfren as to the amount of equipment and capital re- 

 quired are based on the assumption that a plant is 

 to be operated of sufficient size to have a yearly out- 

 put of about 30,000 ducklings. It must be under- 

 stood in this connection that location and various 

 other conditions or circumstances will influence the 

 cost of different items of equipment and for this rea- 

 son these estimates must not be considered as abso- 

 lute but should rather serve as a guide or basis on 

 which to figure. The figures here given contemplate 

 the building up of an establishment which is efficient 

 but which is in no particular elaborate, the build- 

 ings and other equipment being as simple and inex- 

 pensive as possible. 



Lay-out or Arrangement of the Plant. The plant 

 must be carefully planned so as to make the best 

 possible use of the land and particularly of the 

 water frontage. It is particularly important to ar- 

 range the buildings in such a manner as to cut down 

 labor as much as possible. If there is any expecta- 

 tion of enlarging the capacity at some future time, 

 this must also be borne in mind in the arrangement 

 of the various buildings and yards. The incubator 

 cellar should be convenient to the No. 1 brooder 

 house and the various brooder houses to one an- 

 other. The brooder house must likewise be conven- 

 ient to the growing and fattening houses and yards 

 and these in turn to the killing house. The feed 

 room should be centrally located so as to save labor 

 as much as possible in feeding the ducks. 



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