Money in Broilers and Squabs. 85 



is persisted in it will cause inflammation of the egg producing 

 organs. 



Duck eggs generally pip 36 to 48 hours before hatching. 



Walking past a flock of ducks with an umbrella hoisted will 

 cause a panic. 



The morning feed for grown ducks should be one-half the 

 quantity fed at night. 



F. E. Hege says the best matings are one-year-old ducks to 

 two-year-old drakes. 



In driving ducks go about it slowly. Excitement makes them 

 weak in the legs. 



Neglect will cause a foul stench to the yards, and produce sick- 

 ness among the ducks. 



As soon as a duck yard is empty, sow rye or oats in it. There 

 is no better disinfectant for the pointed soil. 



Walter P. Laird says that in duck eggs there is ordinarily enough 

 moisture to hatch them, but in case the membrane of shell becomes 

 tough, and the duckling has difficulty in freeing itself from the shell, 

 the moisture pan nearest the lamp should be partly filled with water 

 at no degrees. 



A recent issue of the Ploughman says : "Duck raising will pay 

 well for the right person, but it will not pay conducted in the care- 

 less way in which hens are managed on the average farm. Hens 

 will lay some eggs if left to shift for themselves, but ducks will not 

 pay a cent unless the owner understands his business and attends 

 to it. They are enormous eaters and quickly consume the profits, 

 besides being a deal of a nuisance unless grown, managed and sold 

 just right." 



F. E. Hege, poultry manager of the North Carolina Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, says : "Ducks have always been reared 

 in or near ponds in our state, and the general supposition is that 

 water in large quantities is an indispensible adjunct, while the fact 

 is that a pond of rUhning water for the old ducks is all that is 

 wanted, and even that is not necessary. It is detrimental to the 

 young, and they should not be allowed to have more than a plen- 

 tiful supply of cool, fresh drinking water, and even that arranged in 

 such a way that they can only get in their bills." 



Walter P. Laird, in Practical Poultryman, gives this method of 

 dressing ducks for market: "Market stock when ready are killed 

 by sticking through the roof of the mouth with the blade of a sharp 

 knife, penetrating the brain, well bled and immediately dry-picked. 

 After this is thoroughly done they are placed in tubs of clean water 

 for a few hours. Before packing, ice is placed in the tubs to plump 

 the birds and to free them from all animal heat. After this is done 

 they are weighed, tagged and carefully packed in ordinary sugar 

 barrels, which make a neat package. Six inches of space is left at 

 the top' of each barrel which is filled in with ice ; the barrel is then 

 nicely covered with a piece of cotton cloth, marked to our dealers, 

 and they are ready for the express company. The birds are never 

 drawn, and the feet and head are left on." 



