RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



green rye in turn and then just before a snow storm we cut 

 a large quantity of the frozen rye and piled it up in the shade, 

 where, of course, it would neither heat or thaw. When we 

 got out of this before the snow was gone, we always had sur- 

 plus of clover-rowen cured for the purpose. 



This, together with refuse cabbage and boiled turnips, 

 small potatoes, etc., makes a fine winter diet on which breed- 

 ing ducks will always thrive if the other ingredients are pro- 

 perly mixed, — a diet upon which, combined with housing and 

 plenty of exercise, the birds are bound to contribute a good 

 quota of strong fertile eggs. I mention this particularly here, 

 because the mortality among young birds will depend largely 

 upon the strength and vitality of the eggs from which they 

 come. 



Natural Duck-Culture. 



Doubtless some of my readers are getting impatient and 

 saying to themselves, "Why do you not give us some ideas 

 how to do this business in the natural way? Many of us wish 

 to begin small. Every one has not the conveniences to use 

 or the means to command incubators." I am coming to that. 

 I have a vivid recollection of using hens to incubate with some 

 thirty years ago; and the persistent obstinacy of the perverse 

 birds, the large proportion of valuable eggs spoiled and brok- 

 en, as well as the time consumed in caring for them, are still 

 fresh in my memory. It was wholesome discipline for me. 

 It will be the same to the reader, and enable him to appreciate 

 a good incubator later on. 



A good, quiet hen, who attends closely to her business, 

 will always hatch as large a proportion of her eggs as a good 

 incubator; but there are so many with dispositions quite the 

 opposite of this that it leaves the odds largely in favor of the 

 machine. Success with hens depends quite as much with the 

 operator as with the machines. He must begin right and hold 

 out to the end. As ducks seldom make good incubators, he 

 will have to rely upon hens to do that business for him. The 

 best breeds for that purpose I found to be the Brahma or 

 Plymouth Rock. A cross of these birds makes a good quiet 

 sitter. 



The birds must be got out early so that they will begin 

 laying in the fall and be ready to incubate by the time you 

 want them. It is well to have a room for the purpose and 

 have the sitters by themselves. The nests should be in rows 

 around the room, the feeding and water-troughs in the cen- 

 tre, with the dust-bath at one end. The nest boxes should 

 be some fourteen inches square and about a foot high. Each 

 one should be furnished with a slide so that the bird can be 



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