COMMERCIAL DUCK FARMING 



devote his time to the brooder houses, one man 

 would feed the yard ducks and the fattening pens, 

 and one man would do the killing and packing, take 

 care of the feathers, clean the yards, etc. Of course, 

 there would be periods when these men would not 

 have their entire time taken up with their particular 

 duties and this would permit them to turn in and 

 help with the miscellaneous work on the plant. 



In addition to the regular men employed, addi- 

 tional labor would be necessary to do the picking. 

 For this purpose pickers are usually brought in and 

 work by the piece. During the spring of 1920 these 

 pickers received six cents per duck and they will 

 average about 75 ducks a day, beginning work at 6 

 in the morning and finishing by noon or a little later. 

 Some pickers will average as high as 100 ducks a 

 day. In the busy season from 800 to 1200 ducks will 

 be marketed per week and the usual practice is to 

 kill and pick not over three days a week, usually 

 during the first part of the week. 



Invested Capital. Investment in the business ex- 

 clusive of working capital, that is to say, the money 

 in the land and buildings and other equipment 

 would require under present conditions about $1,000 

 for each thousand ducks marketed. In other words, 

 in a plant of this size, close to $30,000 would be in- 

 vested. The amount of invested capital depends to 

 some extent upon location and upon the elaborate- 

 ness of the buildings and other equipment but with 



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