RANKING DUCK BOOK 



Yon turn in the proper variety of food arid they cannot help 

 turning out a generous supply of eggs. 



The fertility however, cannot, at this season of the year 

 be so perfectly controlled, as the standard of fertility in 

 the first eggs is apt ; to be very low, but soon comes to a 

 high point. The fecundity of these birds is wonderful. As 

 a general thing each bird can be depended upon for 140 eggs 

 each season, and as the eggs always command from 5 to 10 

 cents per dozen more than those from hens it makes the 

 Pekin ducks more profitable for eggs alone than any other 

 fowl. 



Incubators 



With the necessary buildings constructed and the stock 

 selected, the next thing required is the incubator, for I do 

 not suppose the modern poultry grower is going to do his 

 incubating with hens, for the simple reason that he cannot 

 afford to. Hens show no desire to incubate when you want 

 them to the most, or in time to command the high prices for 

 ducks and chicks in the early spring, and this is attended with 

 a loss of at least one-half of the season's profits. 



I often had letters filled with questions concerning incu- 

 bators. Which is the best incubator? Can a person of ordi- 

 nary intelligence run one successfully? Do they . require 

 watching during the night? Is there an incubator in the 

 market today that will hatch as well as the average hen? and 

 many more of like import. To the first I would say that 

 modesty forbade a candid answer. There are objections to 

 many machines, though the same do not apply to all. It 

 does not become me to mention their failings. But first of 

 all do not buy a cheap incubator, as the conditions to which 

 the. material of an incubator is exposed are of the severest 

 kind. It must be .exposed constantly to a temperature of 103 

 degrees, and that in an atmosphere surcharged with moisture ; . 

 and unless the material, of which the machine is constructed 

 is of the choicest kind r well kiln-dried and put together, the 

 chances are that it will warp out of shape, admit drafts of 

 air and injure, if not destroy, the regulation. 



I do not think an incubator can ever be complete unless 

 it is a double-cased machine. It requires that to effectually 

 resist thermal changes. Years of careful experiment, and of 

 experience in the competitive show room, convinced me of 

 the truth of this. Extreme cold will affect the uniformity of 

 heat in the egg-chamber of single-cased machines. Imagine 

 if you can a single-cased machine constructed of five-eighth 

 inch stuff, with a temperature of 103 degrees inside, and that 



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