CHAPTER V 

 Commercial Duck Farming — Incubation 



The Pekin duck is essentially a non-broody breed. 

 It, therefore, becomes necessary to resort to incuba- 

 tors for the purpose of hatching the eggs. Occa- 

 sional ducks will sit if allowed to do so but it is not 

 the practice on commercial duck farms to allow them 

 to sit and hatch their young. No special means are 

 taken to break them of broodiness other than not to 

 allow them eggs to sit on. 



Kinds of Incubators Used. Both the smaller kero- 

 sene lamp heated incubators and the large or mam- 

 moth hot water heated incubators are used for hatch- 

 ing duck eggs. At the present time the mammoth hot 

 water machines are those which are in principal use 

 due largely to the lessened labor required to operate 

 them. 



Incubator Cellar. It is necessary to provide some 

 room in which the incubators can be installed and 

 operated. This may take the form of a cellar, or the 

 incubators may be operated in rooms above the 

 ground. Many of the incubator cellars on duck 

 farms are only partially under ground and not a few 

 of them are built entirely out of ground. The par- 

 ticular size and shape of the cellar or incubator 



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