MARKETING 



Weights at the Time of Marketing. Well grown 

 ducklings should average in weight from 5 to 6 

 pounds at 10 to 12 weeks of age when they are 

 ready to be marketed. A majority of the ducks will 

 weigh closer to 5 pounds than they will to 6. The 

 vast majority of ducklings are marketed at this age 

 as it does not pay to keep them past the time they 

 reach prime market condition. On commercial duck 

 farms practically the only ducks which are mar- 

 keted at an older age than this are the breeders 

 which are turned off at the end of the laying season 

 and the ducklings which by reason of their being 

 crippled or less thrifty are not in suitable market 

 condition at this time and are held longer until they 

 are in good condition. The ducklings are marketed 

 from early spring until late fall. The time at which 

 ducklings are first available for market in any quan- 

 tity depends upon the earliness with which the 

 breeders begin to lay and the end of the season de- 

 pends upon how late the breeders continue to lay at 

 a profitable rate. 



The Last Feed for Market Ducks. It is important 

 in order to have the dressed ducklings appear to the 

 best advantage and also in order to insure their 

 keeping qualities as much as possible that they 

 should have no feed in their crops when they are 

 killed. This means that if they are to be killed in 

 the morning, which is the usual practice, they should 

 be fed for the last time the previous night. If, how- 



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