DUCK DOLLARS 39 
do not wish to pair. Then they go about with their heads and necks 
drawn in. When they are making love, they extend their heads and 
necks, and walk proudly. 
The drakes keep cleaner and whiter than the ducks. Their bills are 
a darker orange color. 
Drakes and ducks are stronger sexually than other animals their 
size, or anywhere near their size, and their reproductive 
work proves it. The testicles of the drake (inside the 
body) are of extraordinary size, as large as eggs or 
lemons. The duck lays an astonishing number of the big, fertile eggs. 
Suppose you wish to, pick out certain ducks or drakes from a pen, 
for breeding or for kiling, or for examination, or for any purpose. Do 
not go at it single-handed. Get a helper. Also a board 
ten feet long and a foot wide. Give your helper one end Flow ea 
of the board and you take the other end. Both you and Gateh Dicks 
your helper then walk to a corner of the pen, holding the board 
between you, driving the ducks along ahead of the board into the corner. 
Then you can reach the duck or drake you wish and pick it up by the 
neck. Never attempt to drive more than twenty at a time into a corner. 
The following does not apply to youngsters, but only to grown ducks 
and drakes: Always catch a bird by the neck, in a firm grasp. Never 
pick up a bird by the body. If you do you will make 
trouble for yourself and the duck. You are liable to 
bend, or twist, or dislocate or break the bones of the 
wings and legs. You can carry three or four ducks, or more, as many 
as you can lift, between two hands, in front of your body. Do not be 
afraid of strangling the ducks or breaking their necks. 
The foregoing applies only to birds beyond the age of four weeks. 
Little ones just out of the incubator can be gathered by armfuls or 
apronfuls. From one to four weeks of age they can be handled best by 
picking them up with the hand around the body, and this will not hurt 
them. 
Walk around, not through. Never walk through a flock of ducks, 
young or old. Always go around them. An inexperienced person 
will always try to go through a flock, which will con- Walk Avoand 
fuse the ducks, and some will crowd under his feet and Dace 
will get hurt either by his feet or by themselves as ne 
they jostle one another. Just walk slowly and take your time, and they 
will get by you. Do not rush around among them. 
A yearling duck is not a duck that has lived a year, but a duck which 
has passed through one year’s work. For example, a duck may be 
hatched in March, but she will not be a yearling duck what Are 
the following March. She will not be a yearling duck Yearling 
until the end of the second December following the Ducks? 
March in which she was hatched. By that time she has passed through 
one year’s laying. 
The selection of breeders should be going on all the time while you 
are killing. Select the very best and save them for 
breeders and kill the balance for market. To examine 
a bird in order to find out whether it should be saved 
for breeding, pick it up by the neck, look at it and feel of it. 
Ducks Are 
Great Layers 
How to 
Carry Ducks 
Selecting 
Breeders 
