58 



Ducks as Egg-Producers. 



[Apr., 



Khaki Campbells. They cannot be considered first-class egg 

 producers until the green egg, now all too frequent, has been 

 eliminated entirely. This breed of duck is larger and heavier 

 than either of the above-mentioned birds and serves the dual 

 purpose of egg production and table use. 



Pedigree Breeding of Ducks. — Chiefly owing to the supposed 

 difficulties of keeping individual records of production, very 

 little pedigree breeding of ducks has been undertaken, except 

 by a small number of specialist breeders. More attention is now 

 being given to this branch of the subject and various methods 

 of obtaining individual duck egg laying records have been 

 evoked. 



Type of Duck Eequired. — Primarily it is essential to obtain 

 birds of a strain which has been developed for egg production by 

 a skilful specialist breeder. The anatomical points of a good 

 layer seem to be the same with ducks as with hens. The bird 

 should be so built that plenty of room is available for the digestive 

 and reproductive organs; breadth and depth of body, width across 

 the back and between the legs are therefore desirable. Small 

 boned active birds with sharp, snaky, fine looking heads and 

 necks, seem to give the best results, especially those with bright 

 prominent eyes set high up in the skull. The thick clumsy head 

 and short thick neck are undesirable features. Large, coarse 

 boned, heavy birds should be avoided. 



Housing: Open-air Methods. — There is a great difference of 

 opinion as to the best methods of housing ducks. The primary 

 object is to keep them healthy, contented and productive as 

 economically as possible. Few duck houses comply with these 

 conditions. It is almost impossible to keep them clean vdthout 

 a large expenditure in labour and bedding material; the ducks 

 rarely approve of being shut in at night, and if left alone 

 will usually remain outside. Mopt authorities insist that a dry 

 bed at night is essential for ducks: the writer, however, con- 

 siders that the natural clothing of feathers in waterfowl is so 

 arranged that their bodies remain dry and warm in wet sur- 

 roundings. He prefers, therefore, to keep ducks without a house 

 as soon as they are large enough to escape from rats. An open- 

 air sleeping pen surrounded by wire netting, is provided instead 

 of a house, and ducks kept in this manner appear to be more 

 contented and less disturbed at night. In consequence, the air 

 they breathe is fresher, they are hardier, healthier and better 

 breeders. These open-air methods have proved extremely f-uc- 

 cessful in the case of Khaki Campbells at Appleby, in North 

 Lincolnshire. When severe wintry weather comes on, the egg 



