Ducks. 
381 
fine is given them mixed with the oatmeal, etc. This is mixed twice a day so as to be as fresh as possible, 
and as much given to them at a time as they will eat up greedily, any food whatever being left over is 
immediately removed. They are fed for the first week every two hours. AVhen the weather is fine the 
ducklings are allowed out into the open runs attached, the food and water being placed in shady spots. The 
water is renewed every two hours, being placed in iron vessels with a margin about one inch in width for 
them to drink from, the centre being occupied, so that the ducklings cannot get into the water. The runs 
are all built with a northerly aspect, and ample shade provided. During showery or wet weather the 
ducklings are confined in the brooding sheds, and never allowed to get wet until they are well advanced in 
feathering. The brooders are well littered with straw, which is taken out every fine morning and placed in 
the sun to dry, in this manner keeping sweet and clean for a long time. At a fortnight to three weeks old 
the ducklings are removed to large roomy sheds, which are perfectly dry and well ventilated, Mr. Ellis stating 
that nothing is so fatal to young Ducks as damp floors. Great care is taken to prevent overcrowding, as this 
causes the disease known as swelled face, and young ducklings, if overcrowded, sweat and stew ; and as Mr. 
Ellis aptly remarked, a sick Duck is a dead one in the morning. 
AVhen the ducklings are well feathered on the wings, they are again removed to another run in which 
there is a running stream. Their food is again changed to oatmeal; barley meal, mixed with boiled liver and 
lights, the soup made also being incorporated, the soft food having a little bonedust added. Potatoes and 
turnips are also well boiled and minced up, the food being placed on sheets of iron to prevent fouling, and 
also on rainy days the water runs off the iron. This plan is adopted in preference to feeding from troughs, 
as during wet weather, if fed in the latter, it becomes sloppy and unwholesome, and in that state retards the 
early growth of the stock which is so desirable from a pecuniary point of view. 
Of the principal domestic varieties of Ducks opinions are much divided as to which is best, whether 
Aylesbury, Rouen, or Pekin. Any of these varieties crossed with each other will give a fine framed quickly 
maturing bird, and in fact any one of them crossed with the Muscovy will give even a bigger and better 
bird for ordinary consumption. These, however, run a trifle coarse in flesh after they are four or five months 
old, but killed at from ten to fourteen weeks are of the very highest quality. 
The Aylesbury Duck. — Of the pure bred domesticated varieties, the Aylesbury has held pride of place 
in public esteem for many years, but of late the Rouen and Pekin varieties have proved worthy opponents, 
many Duck farmers leaning to the last named as being the most profitable breed to keep. The town of 
Aylesbury in the County of Buckinghamshire, England, in which the Aylesbury duck is universally raised for 
market gives the breed the name ; and the soil in the vicinity tends towards the development of the main 
characteristic trait that the Aylesbury duck possesses, that of its peculiar coloured pinky flesh bill. It is a 
remarkable fact that this breed originated in the County of Bucks, and still more remarkable that it should 
have attained the world renowned position it now occupies, as the breed may be found in purity throughout 
the whole poultry world. Much of this latter being no doubt due to the fact of the breed adapting itself 
to all variations of climatic surroundings, growing to an immense size under nearly all conditions, being of 
an extraordinarily hardy nature, and arriving at maturity at an early age. 
Our readers will understand the enormous dimensions the trade of raising Ducks alone for the London 
market assumes, when we state that upwards of ^25,000 per year is returned to the immediate neighbour- 
hood of Aylesbury. The ducks, as supplied, are of one uniform colour, viz., spodess white, and the slightest foul 
marking in the plumage is a sign of impurity of blood. The legs and feet are of a bright orange hue, the bill 
a pinky flesh colour, and the difference in the male and female is only noticeable by the drake being a little larger 
than the duck, and having a feather curled upward in the tail. They do not, as a rule, weigh above 8 lbs. 
for drakes, and 7 lbs. for ducks, at a year old, though at times these weights are considerably exceeded in 
individual specimens. In breeding the Aylesbury Ducks it is always best to allow an average of one drake 
to three ducks, experience proving that better results accrue from this proportion than from a larger or 
smaller number, and for breeding purposes, a pond, lagoon, or river is absolutely necessary. The ducks, if 
