Personally, I think them as good as hens' eggs; but the average 

 person, in this part of the world, anyway, does not think so, and 

 I have met this prejudice when disposing of those I had for sale." 



One other says : "I do not think that ducks will replace hens 

 to any extent, on our chicken farms. It takes almost twice as 

 much to keep a duck as it does a hen." This, let it be noted 

 is a general statement, tacked on to a discussion of Runners in 

 such a way that it appears to include the Runners. As some 

 ducks weigh four pounds, others more than twice this, and as 

 there is even more difference among hens, the folly of such a 

 general statement is apparent. One of the worst points about 

 the Runners is that the mature males are often troublesome and 

 somewhat brutal. They must not be allowed where the young 

 are kept, as they may "scalp" them. Other breeds of fowls, how- 

 ever, are sometimes as bad in this respect. 



One man wrote me that the Runners were no birds for the 

 farm, simply because the average farmer would not give them 

 the care necessary to success. But, is that really against the 

 Runner ? 



Out of the many hundreds of breeders who are advertising 

 the Indian Runners as fancy stock and marvelous layers, I have 

 heard from two since the second edition was brought out, who 

 no longer favor the Runners as utility layers. Both these men 

 were originally enthusiastic; both keep White Leghorns; both 

 now put the Leghorn ahead of the Runner as a money-making- 

 egg-for-market proposition. 



In one case, I can see just where the difficulty lies. Feed 

 often costs nearly double at this breeder's place what it does even 

 in the east, the locality of general high prices for feed. He has 

 not been able to make his birds lay in winter since the first season, 

 although he reported marvelous laying for a time. He thinks he 

 gives the best of care. Yet why should birds do tremendously 

 well when first from another person's handling, and never do. 



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