RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



birds all they need to drink, or your food will be thrown 

 away, as they require more water during the warm weather. 

 They will consume and waste vast quantities, and the water 

 supply should be made as convenient as possible, to facilitate 

 the business. Our water was forced by a windmill into a two 

 hundred-barrel tank, and led from there through pipes into 

 brooding and breeding houses, into the yards and mixing 

 room, — all with a view to saving labor and time. The water- 

 pans in the buildings were raised six or eight inches from the 

 ground to prevent the birds getting in or wasting the water. 



At this stage, during warm, dry spells, the dried excre- 

 ment of the birds will accumulate on the surface of_ the 

 graund. This, as a matter of economy, as well as a sanitary 

 necessity, should be carefully swept up before a rain, as the 

 birds will sometimes drink water from the puddles standing 

 around, and it will often seriously affect their appetites, as 

 both yards and droppings are very offensive when wet. Shade 

 is absolutely necessary at this age during warm weather, as 

 ducklings can never be made in good condition when exposed 

 to the sun during the extreme heat of summer. It affects 

 their appetites at once, reducing the consumption of food by 

 one-half. It is always well, if possible, to locate your yards 

 so that the birds can have access to shade. If not, artificial 

 shade must be constructed to meet the ends. 



My plan was to set up four stakes, about 6x10 feet, form- 

 ing a parallelogram. Sideboards should be nailed on these 

 stakes about two feet high. These can be covered with old 

 boards, pine boughs, bushes, or thatched over with meadow 

 hay, — whatever is most convenient to the grower. Great care 

 should be taken in feeding by giving all the concentrated food 

 the birds can be made to eat, and no more, as the largest of 

 them will be ready for market when nine weeks old. Frighten 

 and excite the birds as little as possible while sorting them. 

 The best way to do this is to use a wide board some ten feet 

 long, with two holes cut in the upper side near the middle. 

 These holes should be two feet apart, and large enough to ad- 

 mit the hands for convenient handling. Fifteen or twenty 

 of the birds should be driven in a corner and confined with 

 this board. The birds should now be taken by the neck, one 

 at a time, the largest and choicest selected for market, the 

 rejected ones put in a temporary yard by themselves. 



This process should be repeated until the whole hatch is 

 sorted, when the culls can be returned to their old quarters. 

 They will have a better chance than before, and in a few days 

 will be good as the others. The oldest hatches, which usually 



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