RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



upon the market when from nine to twelve weeks old as the 

 large pin feathers will grow profusely, reducing the flesh 

 without increasing the weight of the bird, while the skin be- 

 comes loose and full of holes as the pins are shaved off, pre- 

 senting an unsightly appearance. The market men will al- 

 ways cut the grower on these birds. This is sometimes un- 

 avoidable as pickers are scarce, the demand being always in 

 excess of the supply and the birds sometimes grow old on the 

 growers hands. 



I would add here a word of caution — I would not advise 

 any one to engage in the duck business unless it was con- 

 genial to him and he was physically and mentally adapted to 

 it so that he could enjoy the work, the care and forethought 

 so necessary to success. If he entered the business, disliking 

 the work, the care, and responsibility, simply to make money, 

 he would hardly make a success of it. Again, there is such 

 a thing as a man knowing too much. He has it all down fine 

 before he begins. I have a man of that description who, sev- 

 eral years ago undertook to show the rest of us just how to 

 grow ducks. He fed his breeding birds to suit himself and in 

 consequence he got no eggs in time to meet the high spring 

 prices and the eggs did not hatch well. He put his young 

 birds into cold buildings and there was a sad mortality among 

 them. The birds, naturally were small in size and he persist- 

 ed in keeping them until they were fourteen or fifteen weeks 

 old, when they presented anything but attractive appearance. 

 His pickers remonstrated with him again and again without 

 avail. The birds were cut heavily in market and this with a 

 months extra feed entailed a loss of at least twenty cents per 

 bird. That man threw up the business at the end of the year, 

 declaring that there was no money in the duck business, as 

 he had tried it. 



Method of Dressing Ducklings. 



A fair day's work for an expert is forty ducks per day, 

 though I have had men who could pick seventy-five and do 

 it well. The process is very simple. All that is necessary is 

 a chair, a box 2x3 feet and 2 feet high for the feathers, a few 

 knives, and a smart man to handle them. One knife should 

 be double-edged and sharp-pointed, for bleeding. The bird 

 should be held between the knees, the bill held open with the 

 left hand, and a cut made across the roof of the mouth just 

 below the eyes. The bird should then be stunned by striking 

 its head against a post, or some hard substance. 



The picker seats himself in the chair, with the bird in his 

 lap, its head held firmly between one knee and the box. The 



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