May, 1912 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Raising Ducks on the Small Place 
By E. I. Farrington 
Suamag)| ANY people with only a little land can keep 
Bes gedal| ducks to better advantage than hens. At 
the same time, the owners of large estates 
find ducks well worth raising both because 
they are attractive to look upon and because 
a"} they contribute a desirable delicacy to the 
It really does not matter whether the flock be large 
table. 
or small, or whether there be water for the birds to swim 
in or not. A dry goods box will do for a house, if there 
is nothing better, and the amount of attention required is 
much less than is demanded by a flock of hens. 
Ducks are remarkably free from disease and seldom 
troubled with vermin. Neither perch nor dropping-board 
is required in the house they occupy, for they roost on the 
- floor. To be sure, the floors must be kept dry, but that is 
easily accomplished by throwing in more bedding in the 
shape of straw or shavings when the 
need requires and cleaning out the 
house once a month. 
Low fences will confine ducks and 
the birds are driven about with the 
greatest ease if not frightened. 
They grow much faster than hens 
and begin to lay when younger. 
After laying becomes well estab- 
lished, the eggs run surprisingly 
fertile and the percentage of young 
birds hatched is considerably larger, 
as a rule, than when eggs from hens 
are used. At the same time, for it 
is only fair to set forth the draw- 
backs along with the advantages, 
four weeks are required for incuba- 
tion and the eggs must be set 
quickly, not being kept over a week. 
Likewise, duck eggs have thin yolk 
cells, which are easily ruptured, so 
that the eggs must be handled care- 
fully. Furthermore, the shells are 
tough, and considerable moisture is 
required during the hatching period, 
but this is easily supplied, when the am 
natural method of incubation is ~ ie 
being followed, by sprinkling the es 
eggs every day, after the second week. The eggs are not 
laid in nests, but on the floor of the house or on the ground, 
and usually in the early morning, so that it is customary 
to keep the laying birds confined until the day is several 
hours advanced, for if allowed to wander, they will not 
take the trouble to return to the house in order to lay their 
eggs, but deposit them wherever they happen to be. 
The eggs should be gathered before they have been ex- 
posed to the cold long enough to freeze and are best kept 
in a cool and dark place, and the quicker they are set, 
the better. 
Ducks are kept for two purposes, meat and eggs. Many 
readers will be surprised, no doubt, to learn that people 
keep ducks almost solely for the eggs they lay and that 
there is a market for these eggs. This is rather an inno- 
vation, to be sure, and has come about through the intro- 
duction of the Indian Runner duck as a commercial experi- 
ment. Already large numbers of these ducks are being 
REET SLA EN ie 
Indian Runner drake of the 
raised, largely by town people who have only a little land, 
suburbanites and farmers, who find their breeding a profit- 
able side line. Several women have taken up the growin 
of Indian Runners, Mrs. Andrew Brooks of Auburn, N. Y.., 
being one of the most prominent, with results, apparently, 
which are highly successful from a pecuniary point of view. 
No doubt the demand for hatching eggs and breeding ducks 
will be sufficient for some time to promise the disposal of 
considerable stock in this way. 
The beginner, however, should be sure to get Indian 
Runners of the English standard’s requirements, or he 
will find himself in bad company. The ducks imported 
from England lay white eggs and a great many of them. 
The American standard show type has had alien blood 
introduced in order to produce solid fawn color with no 
penciling in the plumage of the females and to get drakes 
with head and rump markings much 
the same as the body color. As a 
result, some of the characteristics 
of the pure Indian Runner have 
been lost, fewer eggs are laid and 
the eggs often have a greenish tinge. 
The market wants white eggs, so 
that it is well to be careful about the 
purchase of breeding stock. Breed- 
ers in this country are having a 
spirited debate over the question of 
changing the American standard. 
The Indian Runners lay day after 
day for weeks without a break. 
They have often been known to 
lay over 200 eggs a year, and fre- 
quently are referred to as the Leg- 
horns of the duck family. Purely 
as egg-laying machines, they may be 
rated higher than hens, and the 
eggs are larger and richer. ‘The 
eggs weigh about six to a pound and 
two of them are equal to three hen 
eggs in the kitchen. Probably 180 
eggs a year would be considered a 
satisfactory output for an average 
bird. That would mean a total of 
thirty pounds, or seven and a half 
times the bird’s own weight. Put in that way, the figures 
sound surprisingly large. 
It is not fair to judge the eggs of Indian Runners by. 
those which other breeds lay. They have a delicacy of 
flavor and an obvious richness which speedily commend 
them to epicures. At first there is generally some pre- 
judice against duck eggs to be overcome, although many 
people prefer them to the eggs laid by hens. The whole- 
some white color does much to remove the prejudice in the 
case of Indian Runners and after a few have been eaten 
they are selected on their merits. Suburban and other 
people who like to produce their own eggs in order to be 
sure of their quality can well afford to investigate the Indian 
Runners to see whether they cannot be kept with less bother 
and expense than hens and with a greater degree of satis- 
faction as regards their eggs. 
When it comes to ducks for meat, the Indian Runner 
drops to the rear and the White Pekin comes to the front 
DPOB SAE 
