RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



be precisely the same both for ducks and ducklings. lhe 

 internal arrangements can be made to suit. As I sha.ll give 

 a full description with cuts of this building later, I will now 

 merely give the manner in which it should be arranged as a 

 good breeding-house for ducks. This building should be fif- 

 teen feet wide and any length required. It should have an 

 uneven double roof, five-foot posts in the rear and four foot 

 in front. About one-quarter of this front should be glass. 

 There should be a walk the entire length of the building three 

 and one-half feet wide. The main body of the building should 

 be divided into pens twenty feet long, by either lath or wire 

 two feet high. 



The walk should be separated from the pens by laths 

 three inches apart, to allow the birds to feed and water from 

 the walk. This method simplifies the labor very much, as 

 it enables the operator to load his barrow.travel the whole 

 length of a 200-foot building and feed and water 500 ducks 

 in a few minutes. This arrangement has many advantages 

 besides, as it permits the birds to feed and water readily from 

 the walk without being able to waste either, or mix the con- 

 tents of food and water-dishes with filth. It also prevents 

 the birds from slopping the straw in the bottom of their pens, 

 or of s*oiling their white plumage, both of which they are 

 bound to do if possible, and as the duck, especially the Pekin, 

 is a very timid bird, this plan familiarizes her with the appear- 

 ance of the attendant without bringing her into actual con- 

 tact with him. 



Use Half the Pens for Feeding Purposes 



One-half or ten feet of the twenty-foot pens should be 

 utilized for feeding purposes. The lower board of this slat 

 partition should not be more than three inches wide and should 

 rest upon the ground so the birds can readily feed over it. 

 As this ten-foot partition is but two feet high, the attendant 

 can readily step over it to pick up a stray egg occasionally. 

 Six feet of this partition should be portable and secured with 

 a groove or button so it can be easily removed to allow the 

 entrance of a barrow in cleaning out the pens ; this should 

 be done when the birds are out, never when they are in. 



. The remaining ten feet of the pen should be used for nest 

 boxes, which can be fifteen inches square and one foot high. 

 .V board four inches wide may be fastened in front to prevent 

 the nest material from being drawn out. This latter may be 

 composed of finely cut hay or chaff. This must be perfectly 

 dry, as the duck while laying will work it all over and cover 

 her eggs carefully, which as they are pure white, become easily 



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