Money in Broilers and Squabs. 97 



germs strong, the fertile eggs will hatch if the temperature is any- 

 where near right." 



The eggs are tested on the fifth day, and the infertile ones are 

 «oId to cheap markets and to peddlers who supply bakers and 

 restaurants, at the usual price received for ducks' eggs, or about five 

 cents more per dozen than hens' eggs. His egg tester consists of a 

 lamp inside of a box, in the front of which is a hole several inches 

 in diameter covered with rubber cloth, in which is an egg-shaped 

 opening somewhat smaller than the eggs to be tested. Inside the 

 box, back of the lamp, is fastened an ordinary lantern reflector, to 

 ■concentrate the rays of the lamp on the egg. The tester is well 

 traced and firmly placed, so that the operator can lean against it 

 without stirring it. He does not put pans of water in the machines 

 to make the air moist, until the ducklings pip the shells, then but 

 one pan is placed in each machine. As soon as the ducklings dry off 

 and can stand, they are taken out of the egg trays and put in the 

 "bottom of the machine, where they are left from 24 to 36 hours 

 without food or water. Then they are put out in the brooder house 

 Tinder the hot water pipe brooders and are fed and watered imme- 

 ■diately. They are given a mixture consisting of bran, two-thirds 

 and corn meal one-third, and this is not cooked or scalded, but is 

 mixed with cold water or skim-milk. He finds that the ducklings 

 ■do just as well on uncooked food, and that it is unnecessary work to 

 cook it. According to his experience green stuff is not necessary 

 in raising green ducks that are to be killed for market while young. 

 His young ducks were not fed green stuff the past season. Bran 

 answers his purpose just as well. When asked whether green 

 crops that furnished both carbonaceous and nitrogenous matter 

 would not have lessened his grain bill, "he remarked that grain had 

 been so cheap the past season that he did not think that it would, 

 "besides the flesh of the young ducks would have been softer. His 

 ducks, the marketmen say, are firmer and stand up better than 

 others that are fed differently. 



The above mixture is fed for the first four days, after which 

 they are given a mixture consisting of equal parts of corn meal and 

 bran, and seven or eight per cent of beef scraps. After this, the 

 per cent of beef scraps is gradually increased. At three weeks of 

 ;age, their food contains 15 per cent of beef scraps. This mixture 

 is fed up to the time they are killed. He does not leave off the bran, 

 as some do to make them get extra fat, before they are killed, be- 

 cause he finds that they do not do as well with him. Leaving off the 

 bran stops their eating. It might work with green food, but does 

 not work without it. Feeding green food makes the ducks yellow, 

 and they sell for less. "White-skinned ducks and geese are de- 

 manded. 



The green ducks are usually killed when eight weeks old, when 

 they weigh about nine pounds per pair. Sometimes they are as 

 "heavy as 10 pounds per pair at that age. At 10 weeks, they average 

 about II pounds per pair, and range from 9 to 14 pounds per pair. 

 Thev are usually selected and killed when "fit," although the num- 



