53 § 
The Illustrated Book of Poultry . 
Mr. Digby lays great stress on obtaining the Aylesbury stock pure , which is by no means so 
easy, or to be taken for granted, since the wide dissemination of the Pekin duck. Ducklings 
hatched in January are left in the nest for a day and night, and then placed on a boaid well 
covered with cut straw in the corner of an old cottage, which is well cleaned and re-bedded with 
straw every day. There is a fire, as all the food is cooked in the cottage ; but this is not regaided 
as really necessary, and door and window are kept open all day. A large shallow tin furnished 
with sharp grit and water is placed near, and in this, not too cold, the ducklings dabble at pleasuic, 
while a large sod of turf is also given them every day, and is made good use of. They eat little 
the first two or three days, and are fed on hard-boiled egg and breadcrumb every two hours ; after 
five or six days they are weaned off to Spratt, or some other kind of cooked meal, mixed with oat- 
meal, thirds, or barley-meal, and a little meat cut up very small, all scalded into a crumbly paste 
with either milk or water, adding a little bran and bone-dust. They are gradually brought to four 
or five meals per day of this ; after the last feed some handfuls of good wheat being put into the 
drinking-trough, which is eaten early in the morning. 
When the ducklings are about a month old, the shallow tin no longer suffices for a bath, 
though still useful for the water and grit, and still the weather may be too severe for them to 
stand the pond ; if so, they are provided with a large tin bath about 3 ft. 6 in. across and a foot 
deep, or an ordinary sponging bath would do. They are placed in this, and after a while lifted 
out again. Food must never be left, except at night ; green food, especially duckweed, must be 
regularly supplied, and sharp grit or gravel always kept in the drinking trough. Great care 
must be taken to keep them clean and dry under foot. When a supply of small worms can be 
obtained, many breeders find them a great assistance in rearing ducklings. 
As the ducklings get older, their bills require taking care of if they are to be preserved. Mr. 
Digby justly remarks upon the folly of people who purchase a fine duck, let her grub about all day 
in the filthiest places, after the orthodox duck manner, and shut her up at night without cleansing : 
a very few days of such treatment will discolour a very fine bill. So will the sun. They are 
therefore only let out during sunny weather for an hour or two morning and evening — that is, if 
for exhibition. Breeding ducks must have their liberty, even at the risk of tanning their bills ; other- 
wise their eggs are sterile, or have thin shells, or the constitution of the progeny will be weakened. 
The houses in which they are kept must be cleaned ; and there should always be furnished an iron 
pan with sharp gravel and water, in which is mixed some wheat to make them use it. These are the 
means by which a good young bill is preserved ; but with age a coarse horny substance is apt to 
form upon the bill, especially on those of breeding ducks, left necessarily at liberty as above noted. 
This has to be carefully pared away with a sharp penknife, taking care not to touch the inner skin 
or to make it bleed ; after this it is finally smoothed with the finest sand-paper, and then the duck 
is kept in semi-darkness for a fortnight or three weeks, with free use of the wheat and gravel 
system above described, which will bring out a good bill nearly as fresh as ever. 
The greatest abuse connected with duck exhibiting, is that of cramming them at shows. This 
originated in the practice of judging almost exclusively by weight at Birmingham. Many years 
ago we have personally known an exhibitor give a drake a pound and a quarter of live worms ; 
but lately it has been more usual to cram them with pellets of paste made for the purpose, or with 
raw beef cut in small pieces, after first giving them all they would eat of it. More than one bird 
has been killed in this way at Birmingham. Mr. Digby tells a funny story of a man who crammed 
a drake so successfully that the bird won the first prize ; but unfortunately in his eagerness he had 
got hold of the wrong pen, so that a rival had the benefit of his exertions ! Other exhibitors have 
purchased raw sausages, and given them in portions before judging. The ducks eat this eagerly, 
