RANKIN'S DUCK BOOK 



the extremes of heat and cold to which the eggs have been 

 subjected during the process of incubation ; or from the same 

 cause after the little ducklings has been placed in the brood- 

 er. I am convinced that with a careful selection of the proper 

 ingredients in feeding the old bird, and a reasonable control 

 of the heat in the incubator and brooder (if they are good 

 ones), there need be but little apprehension from this disease. 



QUESTION 5. — My breeding birds have the gapes. 

 They stretch their necks and gape, eat nothing, and die in a 

 few days. Can you diagnose the case and help me? 



ANSWER. — This is undoubtedly a lung trouble, for on 

 dissecting the birds, I have always found the lungs not only 

 highly inflamed but nearly gone. For years I had supposed 

 this disease incurable, and incidental to bird and clime, but 

 later experience has convinced me that it is not only largely 

 under control but easily anticipated. First, I never knew a 

 case in summer or early spring, when the birds were not con- 

 fined to buildings but had free and open range, and only when 

 confined during inclement weather, so that it is more or less 

 a denizen of foul air and filthy quarters. 



I would much rather have my breeding houses freeze a 

 little than to have them filled with foetid air, and the birds 

 breathe over and over again the ammonia arising from their 

 own excrements. It is one thing for the birds to be confined 

 over their own ordure, their nostrils but a few inches from it, 

 but quite another with the attendant in the walk with his 

 nose six feet away. He may think his buildings quite clean 

 and free from noxious gases, but could his ducks speak they 

 would tell him a different story. This disease, if taken in the 

 early stages, can usually be cured. Isolate the bird with the 

 first appearance of trouble, in a warm, dry place. Feed on 

 food formula for little ducklings. Mix a little cayenne pep- 

 per in the food, a little Douglas Mixture in the drinking wat- 

 er, and a large proportion of the affected birds may be saved. 

 Keep your breeding birds dry and clean when confined. 



QUESTION 6. — I turned my ducklings out in a grass 

 plot today and have lost nearly one-third of them. What is 

 the cause? 



ANSWER. — This may result from two causes. Duck- 

 lings from two to four weeks old are ravenous birds and will 

 devour all manner of insects within their reach, which they 

 do not stop to kill. Bees, wasps, hornets and beetles of all de- 

 scriptions are acceptable, and the little birds, themselves, of- 

 ten pay the penalty with their lives. Again, at the age, they 

 are extremely sensitive to the heat of the sun, and they must 



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