RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



sailed and stained; this will necessitate washing unless things 

 are kept dry and clean. This was a vital point with us, as it 

 never did seem as if a filthy egg would hatch as well as a 

 clean one. I always abominated a machine filled with filthy 

 eggs ; it actually hurt my feelings to handle them. These nests 

 should be covered closely and the partition above them be 

 correspondingly high, as the birds will often mount upon the 

 boxes. The back of the nest boxes next the walk should be 

 closed with a board hinged below so that the attendant can 

 let it down readily and secure the eggs from the walk. 



The Room for Mixing Feed. 



Some twelve feet of this breeding-house may be utilized 

 :as a cook and mixing room, and must necessarily be a little 

 higher posted than the rest of the building, — say, two feet 

 higher. This cook room, with boiler, is an essential thing in a 

 duck-house. Unlike hens, they do not take kindly to hard food 

 and whole grain. Their digestive organs, in many points, are 

 different from the hens, and they do not assimilate hard food 

 readily. They require more vegetable food, 'and those vege- 

 tables must be cooked, — but more about this hereafter. 



Of course, this building should be sweet and clean, and 

 must be well deodorized; for, though ducks do not generate 

 vermin like other fowl, and are not subject to as many diseases, 

 or as readily affected by thermal changes, — in fact, a good 

 driving rainstorm is their delight, — yet they will not thrive 

 when confined in filthy quarters. It engenders a morbid 

 appetite, impairs digestion, and your bird is poor before you 

 know it. This, of course, arrests the egg production at once. 



I wish here to impress upon the breeder the absolute 

 necessity of the careful handling and feeding of his birds; 

 and, when necessary, handle very gently, always taking the, 

 bird by the neck. This is very essential, because the bones 

 ■of a well-bred, well-fatted duck seem wholly disproportioned 

 to the size and weight of his body, and we have often seen 

 a wing broken or a leg disjointed by the convulsive efforts 

 of the bird to escape when caught by those members through 

 the carelessness of the attendant. 



The timidity of the Pekin is proverbial. You should move 

 •quietly among your layers if you would have them thrive, as 

 ■ constant agitation and disquietude will surely debilitate them 

 and reduce their flesh. I have known a pair of heavy exhi- 

 bition birds to lose a pound per day during their confinement 

 the first four days of exhibition, and to be eight pounds lighter 

 than they were ten days before when started for the show. 

 Their recuperative powers are equally wonderful. I have 



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