86 DUCK DOLLARS 
Q.—You say that in selecting breeding birds, other considerations 
besides size need to be considered. What? Please enlarge upon the 
proper selection of breeding stock from a flock. A.—The most impor- 
tant consideration in selecting breeders is contained in three words, 
stamina, vitality and activity. The experienced duck breeder has these 
three features always in mind when making selections. Secondly, size 
and weight are in order, in connection with shape, contour or symmetry. 
Q.—You speak of granite grit, and I should like to learn if that 
is really necessary and distinctly better than other gravel which the birds 
might pick up anywhere. A.—Where only a few ducks are kept, com- 
mon sand or fine gravel may be sufficient. Duck grit, however, is so 
cheap that we use it for our birds and always recommend it. 
Q.—What is the relative proportion of duck eggs needed to fill an 
incubator of 150 hen-egg capacity? You may also give me the figures as 
to geese and turkey eggs. A.—An incubator of the foregoing capacity 
will hold 100 ducks’ eggs and seventy-five geese or turkey eggs. No 
matter what the size-of your incubator, you can put in it two duck eggs 
for every three hens’ eggs. 
Q.—If you were to turn the eggs with cold and clammy hands, would 
it not be apt to chill the embryo at certain stages, and thus impair its 
vitality? I have never noticed any caution in this matter, but it seems 
to me that if one were to come in out of a cold day, and especially with 
low blood circulation which no amount of action or warmth would gen- 
erate, and do the work of turning the eggs, it would not be just the 
thing. Perhaps people with cold hands should don a pair of woolen 
gloves before turning eggs in an incubator, or let some one else do it. 
A.—WNo danger. You do not pick up the eggs to hold them long enough 
to chill them, no matter if your hands are cold as ice. You turn the 
eggs with the tips of the fingers. Certainly you can wear gloves as a 
preventive if you wish, and your mind will be at ease on this point. We 
warm our hands by holding them up against the heater of the incubator. 
Q.—I can get scraps, meats, etc., from the restaurants and hotels 
here. Would you advise their use at any time after the ducklings are 
six weeks old? 4.—Yes, this is an excellent way to obtain feed for the 
ducks. The stale bread could be soaked in water and mixed with regular 
grain with fine results. 
Q.—When we scald a duck, can the feathers be made marketable 
like dry-picked ones? A.—Yes; the feathers are put very thinly on the 
floor of a room and shaken with a hay-fork every few days until dry, 
then they are pushed upon a heap to make room for more, 
Q.—I have been observing the market quotations here (Iowa) for 
several months, and find they never exceed twelve cents. If the duck- 
lings average six pounds, they would average seventy-two cents. If it 
costs from six to ten cents per pound to raise and market them, I am 
unable to figure out fifty cents profit on each'one. A.—The market quo- 
tations you see apply to the commonest or puddle ducks, always about 
a third to a half lower than the quotations on first-class ducklings. They 
generally apply also to old ducks, not to the young and tender dry-picked 
ducklings, with which few markets are acquainted. You cannot learn the 
true market prices by what you see in the papers, as these frequently run 
