DUCK DOLLARS 41 
The Egg 
Shut up the breeding ducks and drakes at night and do not let them 
out until eight o’clock the next morning. They lay their : 
eggs during the night and early morning. By eight Eggs eee 
o’clock in the morning they have all laid. Biehe 
Fill the water pails in the outside yard and let the ducks out to drink, 
then go from pen to pen inside the house and gather up the eggs. 
Sometimes a very cold night will come on in our latitude. In that 
case it is necessary to go around as soon as you can in the morning to 
get the eggs, so that they will not have a chance to freeze. (This applies 
only to a cold house. In a warm house you would not have to watch 
out so carefully for frozen eggs.) One frosty morning, in the value of 
eggs spoiled by freezing (provided you are not on guard), would more 
than pay for. the heater necessary to warm the house. 
If the weather is stormy, do not let the ducks out of the house, but 
go around from pen to pen among them slowly gather- 
ing up the eggs. Do not go hurriedly, for if you do 
you will scare them. 
Use a basket to gather up the eggs. Some eggs are in the shavings 
where the ducks have hidden them. Sometimes a duck will make a nest 
three or four inches under the shavings, then lay in the nest and cover 
the eggs with shavings. She will do this night after night in the same 
place, so after you have once located the place you can go to it morning 
after morning unfailingly. Most of the eggs are in plain sight, on top of 
the shavings. 
The first eggs of a duck are infertile. After she has laid several eggs 
then they begin to run fertile. The first eggs should be used for cooking 
or sold at market, where they bring from thirty cents a 
dozen up. They almost invariably bring more than hens’ 
eggs, and there is a good demand for them. They are a 
trifle different in taste from hens’ eggs. There is some prejudice against 
duck eggs in some markets on account of the fishy taste found in the 
eggs of common or puddle ducks. Ducks which are fed The Flavor 
on grain lay fine eggs of good flavor. As far as cooking ' E. 
goes, duck eggs taste the same as hens’ eggs, and a duck or begs 
egg will equal two hens’ eggs. : 
The number of eggs laid by the duck steadily increases. By Febru- 
ary Ist, in our climate, about half of them should be laying. We begin 
to save eggs for the incubators as soon as we see that the production 
of eggs is increasing steadily from day. to day. 
As soon as gathered, the eggs should be taken in the gathering 
basket to a cellar and washed there in cold water at a temperature of 
about forty-five degrees. Do not use ice-water or hot Washinp die 
water. If you use ice-water, you will freeze or chill the Resa 
germs in them. If you use warm water, you will start ~8® 
the germs to growing. z 
Use a cloth to wipe the eggs clean. After washing them, put them 
in a basket in the cellar, and keep them there at a temperature of about 
Don’t Scare 
the Ducks 
First Eggs 
Are Infertile 
