RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



for the purpose. When removed it can be rolled up, stakes 

 and all, without disturbing the staples. 



It is then ready for resetting or stowing away for next 

 season's work. This is now the cheapest of all fencing for 

 poultry work, — much more so, even, than lath-fencing; and 

 has the great advantage of being portable and far more dur- 

 able than any other material. Two-inch mesh, No. 19 wire, 

 can be had for three-quarters cent a square foot by the single 

 roll, and proportionately cheaper by the quantity. Nerver pur- 

 chase No. 20 wire, as it will prove unsatisfactory in the end. 

 It is not self-supporting and can only be kept in position by 

 boards, both above and below. There is great difference in 

 the quality of this wire ; that made by some firms being of so 

 soft material that it will not stand alone. The squares soon 

 become ellipses, and your eighteen-inch wire settles to a foot. 



Previous to this our oldest ducklings will have reached 

 the extreme end of the brooding-house, and it will be filled 

 to its utmost capacity. In order to make room for the suc- 

 cessive hatches I drove the older hatches out and round to 

 my cold buildings, two in number. These buildings were each 

 seventy-five feet long, with continguous yards one hundred 

 feet deep. The slides in the buildings were left open, and 

 the ducklings at liberty to go out or in as they saw fit, — a 

 privilege of which they availed themselves as the state of the 

 atmosphere inclined. These yards always had a thick mat 

 of rye growing on them. The partition wires had been set 

 up and the young birds were quietly driven to their respective 

 quarters. 



After ducklings reach the age of six weeks, it is not nec- 

 essary to confine them in buildings during the night. In- 

 deed, they are far better not, unless it is extremely cold, or 

 there is danger from vermin. Even severe rainstorms will 

 not injure them. They should be watched carefully, how- 

 ever, as they are apt, during their antics, to fall over on their 

 backs, when, through suction from the wet and muddy 

 ground, they are seldom able to turn back again. Prompt 

 assistance should be rendered, or it will surely be too late, as 

 the back of a duckling is his most susceptible part. After 

 the birds are six weeks old it will not be necessary, to feed 

 more than three times per day, gradually substituting meal 

 for bran, until the birds are eight weeks old, when their food 

 should be, at least, three-quarters meal. There should also 

 be :• steady increase of animal food after the seventh week. 



Careful Watering Even More Essential Than Food. 

 Particular care should be taken at this time to give the 



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