RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



ter, unless extreme care is taken, a sad mortality is sure to 

 follow. 



There is a great tendency at this stage of growth, when 

 the birds are confined, to overfeed as well as to overheat in 

 the brooders. This, coupled with too little exercise, is sure 

 to cripple the birds, weaken their legs and render them help- 

 less. Even experienced growers sometimes get a little care- 

 less and lose whole hatches. We had numerous letters from 

 all parts of the country in which people wrote: "My duck- 

 lings are all crippled, cannot walk and are dying off fast. 

 What shall I do?" There is only one thing; feed sparingly, 

 and give all the exercise possible. Often, the want of grit 

 will cause the same trouble. 



(Our yards were prepared for this the previous autumn, 

 and were covered with a thick coat of green rye five or six 

 inches high). To accomplish this, make pens outside the 

 building in front, ten feet long, and of a width to correspond 

 with the pens inside. Simply use old boards a foot wide, tack- 

 ing them together with wire nails, as it is only a temporary ar- 

 rangement. When snow falls it must be shoveled out at once. 

 Just as soon as the weather and the condition of the ground 

 will allow, set up the partition wire outside to correspond 

 with the width of pens inside. This wire partition runs the 

 whole length of the yard; and as the yards are 100 feet deep, 

 it gives the ducklings a yard 6x100 feet. Always feed outside 

 whenever the weather will permit. It is needless to say that 

 the sanitary arrangements in this building are of the utmost 

 importance. Indee, it will require constant watchfulness and 

 care on the part of the attendant. 



The Sanitary Arrangements. 



With several thousand ducklings confined in one build- 

 ing, the tendency is decidedly filthy. The capacity of the .duck- 

 ling for filth is wonderful, and he comes honestly by it. It is 

 simply astonishing how soon he will manage to mix the con- 

 tents of his water-tank with that of his yard and make both 

 stoppy and offensive. The chick is nowhere in comparison. It 

 is true, the duck is not so easily affected by it as the chick, but 

 it will not do to presume too much upon that. At this stage 

 the attendant will be kept busy every moment from daylight 

 to dark. 



Not only the regular feeding four times a day requires 

 his attention, but the simple mixing of seventy-five to one hun- 

 dred bushels of feed each day is quite a little job of itself, es- 

 pecially when the different ingredients should be exact. The 

 water tanks also must be regularly cleaned and filled. The 



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