THE GAME BREEDER 



13 



a nest is in a rainstorm. A black duck 

 will lay between 8 and 13 eggs the first 

 litter, the next will be about 10, but only 

 one litter will be laid if the eggs are not 

 taken away. 



If you hatch the first of the eggs use 

 a R. I. red hen for foster mother, not 

 too heavy. Set on the ground in a wood- 

 en box to shed the weather ; line the nest 

 with sand and cover this with moss about 

 one inch thick, and if the weather is 

 very hot or dry soak moss in cold water, 

 wring out by hand, place the eggs on it 

 and let the hen go right on to it and 

 shut her on. Of course if it is damp, 

 rainy weather this does not need to be 

 done. 



The hen should be let off every day 

 to be fed and watered. 



The best food for young ducks at the 

 start is dried bread crumbs soaked in 

 milk and fed in a low pan or R. I. corn- 

 meal scalded and made mushy by adding 

 milk with plenty of clean sand mixed in 

 and also plenty of good fresh water. 



But the best results, I think, come 

 from letting the old duck hatch her 

 brood in her own manner. 



I have nearly 100 breeders, all clear 

 wild stock, trapped here in the state of 

 Maine. Breeders should give these birds 

 more attention. They are our own native 

 birds and live with us the year round. 

 The black duck is one of the best game 

 birds in the duck line that flies. 



My holler is, raise black duck, don't 

 let them go out like the wood-duck did ; 

 go to it, brother breeders, while the go- 

 ing is good. 



THE WEASEL. 



By M. J. Newhouse. 



The greatest enemy of the poultry or 

 game farm is the weasel. While there 

 are several quite distinct species, both as 

 to size and color, their habits are iden- 

 tical. The most common in the Eastern 

 and Middle States are not much larger 

 than the red squirrel and in summer are 

 of a brownish red color with a white 

 breast. Their small size makes them 

 especially destructive, as they enter holes 

 none too large for rats. Being extremely 

 bloodthirsty and very courageous, thev 

 are a terror to rats, hens, rabbits, par- 

 tridges and game birds in general. While 

 the blood of two hens would furnish all 

 they require, either for sport or down- 

 right cussedness, I have known of their 

 killing twenty-seven hens in a single 

 night. Passionately fond of blood, full 

 of curiosity, extremely active and not 

 suspicious, they are easily caught in 

 steel traps. 



If the trapping is to be done inside the 

 enclosure where game and little chicks 

 are kept, I much prefer a small trap like 

 the No. Newhouse Victor or Oneida 



Jump, taking especial pains to secure one 

 with a spring stiff enough to hold a 

 mink. 



An excellent set can be made by taking 

 a wide board or an old door, leaning 

 same against the building with base five 

 or six inches away from building. This 

 leaves ample room in which to set a trap 

 at each end behind the door. The traps 

 should be set six or eight inches from 

 opening so as to be out of reach of a 

 hen. Care should be taken to conceal 

 the traps with litter, leaving it looking 

 as old and natural as possible as by so 

 doing you would lay claim to a passing 

 mink. A handful of feathers between 

 the traps makes an attractive lure. When 

 the door is placed in position, the en- 

 trance should be reduced by driving a 

 stake or narrow board at the opening, 

 leaving entrance only large enough for 

 a mink to enter. Chickens will naturally 

 run to cover at sight of a hawk and as 

 further protection I take a short board 

 four or five inches wide and set it edsre- 

 wise, as shown in Fig. 1. A chicken 

 may occasionally alight on this board, 



