DUCKS AND THEIR VARIETIES 147 



to experience the keen stoppage of eggs that follows the running 

 out of the grit Supply to realize its vital importance. 



A feeding trough, a good sized water vessel, and a box of grit 

 are about all the furniture necessary for the duck pen. 



Breeding Ducks 



In mating your breeding pens, special attention should be paid 

 to the male. He is in theory and in fact half the pen. Every young 

 duck reared will be half his blood and will to a great extent take 

 after him. Where there is a faulty female, only her own progeny 

 will be affected, with the male it is entirely different, consequently 

 the male should be the best in health and vitality that you can get. 

 You can afford to pay a good price for him if he makes every duck- 

 ling worth only a few cents more than the ordinary ducks- You 

 will find that it will pay to use young drakes (from eight to ten 

 months of age), whilst the age of the ducks (especially Indian 

 Runners) does not so much matter. The fertility is always better 

 with a young male, especially early in the season. 



One great cause of infertility is overfatness of the breeding 

 stock. A bird to lay well must be in good condition but not overfat. 

 There may be said to be two kinds of fatness, one we might call soft 

 and the other hard fat. When a duck has been fed a too carbon- 

 aceous ration it is either passed away as waste or is stored up in 

 the body as hard yellow fat, which may largely interfere with the 

 sexual organs which become displaced or obstructed, with the re- 

 sult of infertile eggs. The birds are too fat, that is they have had 

 too much fattening food whilst they may be almost starving for ni- 

 trogenous food, which will if used in conjunction with the fat be 

 manufactured into eggs. Improper feeding, not overfeeding, which 

 is practically impossible if the food is of the right quality, or as we 

 call it "properly balanced," means not only a loss of eggs but a 

 loss of fertility. 



When the ration is too fattening it will often be noticed that 

 the eggs are misshapen or are too small or too large. 



Lack of exercise is also a cause of infertility, and the best way 

 of rectifying this is either to give the ducks a good grass run, or a 

 pond in which to disport themselves for at least a portion of the 

 day. 



The proper number of ducks to be mated to one drake vanes 

 according to the season and the breed. From three to six ducks for 

 the Pekins and from eight to ten or twelve Indian Runners has 

 been found the best number. Several drakes can be kept in the 

 same flock, as they do not quarrel and fight as do the chickens. It 

 pays best to sell off the males at the end of the breeding season, 

 except in the case of special show specimens. 



In hatching duck eggs we have to rely either upon a good incu- 

 bator or upon hens or Muscovy ducks, for the domesticated duck 

 does not go broody, and the rare specimens that do want to sit 

 cannot be relied upon. A good incubator, operated without varia- 

 tion of temperature, is most generally used in this country. Duck 



