16 POULTKY PEEDING AND FATTENING 



For Feeding Duels, rules vary. One large eastern 

 grower allows 400 quarts of mixed feed per day at two 

 feeds per day for 600 breeding and laying ducks. This 

 is at the rate of about two-thirds of a quart per day for 

 each duck. Comparing this with the ration for hen^, 

 it will be seen that tlie appetite of the duck is much 

 larger than that of the hen. 



Experiments in Feeding DucTcs — The feeding and 

 management of poultry has been studied by a number 

 of the stations. In most cases the work has been con- 

 fined to chickens. Two of the stations have reported 

 experiments with ducks, summarized as follows by 

 C. F. Langworthy: 



The Michigan station studied the comparative 

 growth made by thirty-nine young ducks and the same 

 number of chickens on similar rations. The ducks were 

 two weeks old at the beginning of the test and were fed 

 middlings, corn and bran, together with the necessary 

 grit and green food (lettuce), and were given the run 

 of a small yard with a grass patch. The chickens were 

 fed bran and relatively more corn meal than the ducks, 

 but had no middlings. They were also given lettuce 

 and allowed the run of a grass plat. Both chickens 

 and ducks were given skimmilk in addition to the other 

 food. At the beginning of the test the ducks weighed 

 13.25 pounds and the chickens 7.5 pounds. In five 

 weeks the ducks were nearly ready for the early market 

 and had gained 108.75 pounds. They had eaten 41.3 

 pounds of corn, 93.1 pounds of middlings, 43.4 pounds 

 of bran, fifty-nine pounds of lettuce and eighty-eight 

 pounds of skimmilk. The total cost of a pound of 

 gain was 1.9 cents. In the same period the chickens 

 had gained thirty pounds and had consumed 52.:3 

 pounds of corn, 25.9 pounds of bran, forty-six pounds 

 of lettuce and 44.3 pounds of skimmilk. Tlie total cost 

 of a pound of gain was 4.84 cents. In discussing the 



