RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



work and makes the conditions against him. I simply men- 

 tion these facts, assuming that where a man has his choice- 

 of locations, these hints may have their proper weight in 

 the matter. 



Advantages with Ducks 



The same rule holds good in a measure with breeding 

 ducks, though not in so great a degree. For instance, your 

 hen when closely confined seems to lose her ambition, and 

 spends a large part of her time on the perches, apparently 

 indifferent to all sublunary things. Not so your duck. She 

 is in constant motion, no matter how small her quarters. 

 No meditation for her. Indeed, the days seem too short for 

 her to exercise in, and so she keeps it up through a great 

 part of the night. Her greatest ambition seems to be to> 

 distribute the few quarts of water you have given her for 

 drink, evenly all over the pen you have just covered with 

 dry, finely chopped straw, and make it as sloppy as possible, 

 and it is astonishing in how short a space of time she will- 

 succeed in doing it. Again, snow and ice are the aversion 

 of the hen. 



She cannot be induced to step in either except under 

 pressure of circumstances. Not so your duck. She likes 

 nothing better than to be out in a snow bank during a thaw, 

 and if she can only work it up into the color and consistency 

 of mud it suits her exactly. She does not mind the cold if 

 she can only keep her feet warm. She is clothed with an 

 impenetrable coat of feathers and an equally thick coat of 

 down. She does not take kindly to confinement in a building 

 and will utter her constant protest, and like the average 

 school boy of ten, prefers to suffer from the cold outside to 

 being comfortable in. Therefore, the main point in breeding 

 early ducks and erecting buildings for the same, next to 

 supplying them with the right kind of food, is to keep their 

 feet warm. Cold feet affect the winter laying of the duck 

 the same as a frozen comb affects the hen. It stops the egg 

 production at once. 



Locate Near a Railroad. 



Your plant should be located on a line of railroad, in 

 direct communication with one or more of our great city 

 markets, and not too far from the station, as you will neces- 

 sarily be in frequent and close communication with that. 



Arrange the Buildings 



to secure good room in front, also good drainage, and espe- 

 cially with a view to reducing the labor to a minimum, both 



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