n8 THE HOME POULTRY BOOK 



eat it easily. When matured, a laying ration made 

 as follows may be fed: Two parts bran, one part 

 ground oats, one part corn meal, one part of beef 

 scraps, one part of alfalfa. Waste vegetables may 

 be added and corn and wheat fed at night, the 

 mash being given in the morning and at noon. Grit 

 and oyster shells should be kept where the birds can 

 have free access to them. 



This is the conventional way of feeding ducks 

 and ducklings and serves to keep them in prime con- 

 dition. Yet simpler methods will answer. Being 

 pressed for time, the writer tried feeding rolled oats 

 dry at frequent intervals and found that the duck- 

 lings both relished and thrived on them. He even 

 went so far on many occasions as to sprinkle rolled 

 oats all about the grass run where the ducklings 

 were confined and to leave them from early morn- 

 ing until late in the afternoon, a large covered 

 drinking fountain supplying the water. No bad ef- 

 fects followed, either. Coddling is no more neces- 

 sary than for chickens. And yet this hit and miss 

 method of feeding is not recommended, if more than 

 a very few birds are being raised. 



A yard made of single boards will confine the 

 ducklings at first, and the location should be shifted 



