34 
bird is then stunned by striking its head against a post or some hard 
substance. The picker seats himself in the chair with the bird in his 
lap (fig. 28), its head held firmly between one knee and the box. The 
feathers arc carefully sorted while picking; the pins are thrown away 
and the body feathers with the down are thrown into the box. Care 
should be taken about this, as the feathers from each bird will weigh 
about 2 ounces, and will quite pay for the picking. 
The dull knife and the thumb are used to remove the long piufeathers, 
and this should be done without tearing the skin. The down can 
usually be rubbed olf by slightly moistening the hand and holding the 
skin tight. Often 
some of the pins 
can not be taken 
out without tearing 
and disfiguring the 
skin; when such 
is the case they 
should be shaved 
off. Seven or eight 
minutes is all the 
time necessary to 
dress a bird. After 
thebirdsare picked 
they should be care¬ 
fully washed, and 
p 1 umped by pi acin g 
in a tank or barrel 
of ice water. They 
arehardenedintliis 
ice water and given 
a rounded and full 
appearance. They 
are then packed in 
barrels or boxes and 
shipped to market. 
The first or bottom 
layer is packed with backs down; a layer of ice is then placed over 
them, and all other layers are packed with the breasts down, a layer 
of ice being between each layer of ducks. The top of the box or barrel 
is then rounded off with ice and covered with burlaps. A flour barrel 
will hold about three dozen birds. Some raisers use boxes for ship¬ 
ping and have the empties returned free. 
Fig. 27.—Pair dressed ducks (10 weeks old). 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE DUCKLING IN THE EGG. 
Eggs to hatch must have good, strong germs and must be laid by 
healthy stock. Debilitated, degenerated stock will not produce healthy 
and vigorous young. The health of the breeding stock must be pro- 
