76 



THE GAME BREEDER 



are not satisfied with killing what they 

 need, but simply for the sport often- 

 times killing from 10 to 18 chicks in 

 one night. They have regular runs 

 whjch they follow about once a week. 



About the best method of capturing 

 them without running any risk of catch- 

 ing a pet cat, or poultry, is to set a No. 

 Oneida Jump Trap in each end of a 

 hollow log about six inches back, scat- 

 tering a few old dead leaves or other 

 light natural looking litter over passage, 

 as well as over the trap after having 

 previously placed a dead mouse, bird, 

 portion of a rabbit, or a chicken head 

 beyond the trap as bait — a little tuft of 



chicken feathers is also very attractive 

 to them. In the absence of a hollow 

 log, a very good substitute is a tile 4^^ 

 inches inside diameter, or larger. If tile 

 is too large, one or more sticks pushed 

 into the ground will reduce the opening 

 so as to prevent catching pets or chick- 

 ens. 



Still another way is to set up on edge 

 a small door or wide board leaning back 

 against a coop or building, placing traps 

 at either entrance with bait or tuft of 

 feathers between traps. 



With a No. 1 or 1^ Oneida Jump 

 this same set works admirably for mink 

 or skunk. 



MALLARD BREEDING AT FRIENDSHIP FARM. 



r.v Mrs. Fletcher Harper. 



I bought my original Mallard stock in 

 the West — five ducks and one drake. 

 Not knowing anything about raising 

 ducks of any kind, I made inquiries and 

 was told that I must surely feed the 

 young ducklings on wild duck meal. The 

 time came for the ducks to hatch and I 

 had neglected to get the meal so I started 

 in feeding the young ducks with bread 

 and a few handfuls of middlings and 

 plenty of sand mixed and dampened 

 enough to make the mixture crumbly. 



The eggs were hatched under hens 

 and the ducklings had free range from 

 the time they were a few days old — 

 but they had no pond. I found that 

 during the first ten days they needed to 

 be fed four times a day but later three 

 times a day was sufficient. When the 

 birds were a month old I tried putting 

 boiled potatoes in their food. I wanted 

 to see just how cheaply they could be 

 raised. By giving a ration of half mashed 

 potatoes and the rest middlings, bran 

 with a little corn meal I found their 

 board bill was not running up too high. 



When the ducks were feathered out 

 and almost ready to market, I fed pota- 

 toes, bran and corn meal in the morn- 



ing, all potatoes at noon, and bread 

 soaked in skim milk at night. I bought 

 the bread from a hotel, all the broken 

 pieces from the dining tables. I paid 

 sixty cents a barrel for it. This makes 

 cheap food and the hogs ate all that the 

 ducks could not. 



I have kept the wings clipped as I 

 could not bear the idea of any of them 

 flying away. 



This year I kept twelve ducks and 

 three drakes and I have had plenty of 

 eggs to sell at 25 cents each. I raised 

 sixty young ducks last year but I did 

 not attempt to market them as we ate a 

 great many and gave some away. It 

 would be difficult to say just what It 

 cost me to rear a Mallard. It was less 

 than a dollar, I should say, and appar- 

 ently it is always easy to get three dol- 

 lars for them. I sold a pair of drakes 

 last fall for ten dollars and they were 

 shown at the Boston Poultry Show, 

 where they won. I am afraid that my 

 way of raising Mallards will not ap- 

 peal to a sportsman. However I get a 

 great deal of amusement out of it, some 

 very good eating and a fair amount of 

 cash. 



