28 
seldom take to the houses at night; they prefer the outside and spend 
their nights on the ground. The growing houses should be abundantly 
ventilated, as too 
close an atmos¬ 
phere will do more 
harm in a single 
night than if they 
had not been 
housed at all. 
A Pekin duck at 
10 weeks is quite 
large, weighing 
™ ot „ „ . , close to 4 pounds. 
Fig. 21.—House for growing (lucks. 
It is quite as large 
as a full-grown duck of some of the other breeds. In the space of two 
or three weeks 
from the time the 
ducklings are 
placed in the grow¬ 
ing houses they 
will be marketed at 
the weight of 4 to 
5J pounds each. 
This weight is eas¬ 
ily obtained, and 
when reached the 
profitable time to 
,, , Fig. 22-Two-pen house for growing ducks. 
sell has arrived, as 
they then command the best prices. Often a bird kept after this time 
loses in weight and 
becomes unprofit¬ 
able. The growing 
houses are built 
after the plan of the 
breeding houses, 
only much smaller. 
They need not be 
more than 4 or 5 
feet high in rear 
and 1 or 2 feet high 
in front. Such a 
house is shown in 
„ ™ . „ . , , fig. 21. This and 
Fig. 23.—Three-pen house for growing ducks. ® 
other houses shown 
in figs. 22 and 23 may be built singly or in rows, with 12-inch boards 
separating the runs. 
