DUCKS
Ducks rank next to fowls in economic importance. If there were no fowls,
domestic ducks would probably be as numerous as fowls are now, for it is
much easier to produce eggs and meat from ducks than from any known
species of gallinaceous bird except the fowl. To most people who are not
accustomed to eating them, neither the flesh nor the eggs of ducks seem
quite as palatable as the flesh and eggs of fowls. On the other hand,
people accustomed to eating fat ducks and the eggs of ducks, which
contain a much higher percentage of fat than hens' eggs, often consider
the flesh and eggs of fowls rather insipid. The feathers of ducks are
more valuable commercially than those of fowls but are not
correspondingly profitable to the producer, because ducks are much
harder to pluck.
=Description.= Common ducks are about the same size as common fowls. The
improved breeds vary greatly in size but do not present such extremes of
size and diversity of form as are found in the races of fowls. As the
duck in a state of nature lives much upon the water, its form is at
nearly every point different from the typical form of the fowl. The duck
is usually described as boat-shaped, but, while this is a good
description, it would be more correct to say that a boat is duck-shaped.
The duck was the natural model for the first builders of boats.
The bills of ducks are large, rather flat, and broad at the tip. The
species to which most of our domestic ducks belong has no head ornaments
corresponding to the comb and wattles of the fowl. There is one variety
of this species which has a topknot, or crest. The Muscovy Duck, which
is of a different species, has a bare face with a carunculated red skin.
The plumage of ducks is very soft and dense, forming a thick covering
which, when the feathers are in a natural position, is impenetrable to
water and so perfect a protection from wind and cold that hardy ducks
are quite indifferent to keen winds and low temperatures, and, if left
to themselves, rarely seek shelter in winter. During a heavy snowfall
they will get under cover to escape being buried in the snow. At other
times they seem quite as comfortable on snow and ice as on the ground.
One of the most interesting sights of the poultry yard is to see a duck
sit down on the snow or ice when the temperature is below zero, draw up
its feet and work them into the feathers at the side of its body until
they are completely covered, tuck its bill into the feathers of its back
until only the nostrils and a little of the base of the bill are
exposed, and remain this way through the coldest nights rather than go a
few feet to a comfortable house with warm bedding on the floor. Being
better adapted to cold than fowls, they are, as would be expected, much
more susceptible to heat and suffer greatly in hot summer weather if
exposed to the sun or kept where there is not a good circulation of air.
The tails of ducks are short, spread laterally, and are usually folded
close and carried with the tip a little higher than the base. The legs
are very short, comparatively slender, and weak. Most ducks walk
awkwardly and fall down and flounder about helplessly when they try to
run. The legs of a duck are so weak that it is not safe to catch or
handle them by the legs, as fowls are usually caught and handled. It is
very easy to break or dislocate the leg of a duck in this way. Hence,
the usual method is to catch and carry them by the neck, which is very
strong. Most persons who are not used to handling ducks are afraid of
choking them by grasping the neck firmly, but there is very little
danger of this. The feet of a duck are webbed between the forward toes,
which makes them more serviceable as paddles in swimming. They are not
suited to perching. There is a wild tree duck, and it is said that the
domestic Muscovy Duck sometimes alights in trees or on objects above the
ground, but the familiar kinds of ducks rest only on the surface of the
land or on the water.
Although the males average a little larger, the male and female of the
same stock are usually nearer the same size than in gallinaceous birds.
The only marks by which sex can be distinguished in all ducks are the
voice and the presence or absence of the small curled feathers on the
tail which characterize the males. In party-colored varieties the color
markings of the male and female are sometimes different. The "quack" of
the duck is the note of the female; the male makes a very subdued
similar sound, comparing with it as a hoarse whisper compares with the
natural tones of the human voice.
The duck derives its English name from its habit of ducking its head
into the water in search of food at the bottom of the shallow waters,
which it prefers. The term "duck" is applied to males and females
collectively, and also to the female as distinguished from the male. The
male is called a _drake_. The name "drake" is supposed to be derived
from an Old German word meaning "the chief duck." Any one who is
familiar with the habits of ducks will see at once the appropriateness
of the term. Ducks often march in single file, and when they do so, all
the drakes in a group go first, the ducks following them, usually with a
little space between. So if there is only one male, he marches a little
ahead of his flock, like a commander. Young ducks are called
_ducklings_, the name being applied to both sexes. In our language there
are no special terms applying to a young duck and a young drake as
distinguished from adult birds.
=Origin.= Useful domestic ducks are of two species. All the breeds of
this class, except the Muscovy Duck, are derived from the wild Mallard
Duck, specimens of which are still frequently captured and domesticated.
The Mallard takes very readily to domestication. Although in the wild
state it is a migratory bird, in domestication it soon becomes too heavy
to fly far. After a few generations in domestication it becomes as large
as common domestic stock, loses its power of flight, and cannot be
distinguished from stock that has been domesticated for centuries.
Mallard Ducks captured in the wild state and kept in captivity have been
known to lay from eighty to one hundred eggs in a season, which is as
many as the average domestic duck lays.
[Illustration: Fig. 122. Domesticated Mallard Ducks, Brook View Farm,
Newbury, Massachusetts]
When ducks were first domesticated is not known. The figure of a duck
was used in the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphics. As the Mallard is
widely distributed and so easily tamed, and as domestic ducks of the
same type (but apparently not related in domestication) are found in
widely separated parts of the earth, it is plain that the distribution
of domestic ducks has been less dependent upon the movements of the
human race than the distribution of the fowl. Wherever at any time in
the history of the world male and female wild Mallards happened to be
caught and kept in captivity, a domestic race might be developed. A
missionary who went to Africa in 1885 and worked among the Bakubas--a
people more than a thousand miles from the west coast of the
continent--reported that he found there such little mongrel fowls as are
common elsewhere in Africa, and a local race of domestic ducks varied
in color as are the common ducks of Europe and America, but as large as
the Rouen and Pekin ducks. The Bakubas had had so little intercourse
with civilized peoples that it was not at all likely that an improved
race of ducks had been introduced from the outside world, and whatever
possibility of that might be supposed to exist, the fact that the ducks
of this country, like the domestic quadrupeds, were dumb indicates that
they are a distinct and very old domestic race.
[Illustration: Fig. 123. Colored Muscovy Ducks. (Photograph by E. J.
Hall)]
It is worth noting in this connection that the missionary, Dr. William
H. Sheppard, found it the accepted opinion among this savage people
that, by a process of natural selection, the character of dumbness had
been acquired by the domestic animals, to which it gave a measure of
protection from wild enemies in the forest around them. It seems
wonderful that the theory of evolution was found out by such people
before it was developed by modern scientists.
=The common duck.= Like the ordinary mongrel fowl, the common duck
(sometimes called the puddle duck, because, when it cannot find water
elsewhere, it appears to be perfectly satisfied with the filthiest
puddles) is much the same in all parts of the world and is a very
inferior bird in comparison with ducks of the improved races. Common
ducks are usually very slow growers and weigh at maturity from three to
four pounds each. As a rule they are very indifferent layers, laying
only in the spring. They are of various colors.
=Improved races.= Nearly all our improved races of ducks are of foreign
origin. At the poultry exhibition at Boston in 1849 the only kinds
exhibited were the Aylesbury, the Muscovy, and the ornamental Wood
ducks.
The Aylesbury Duck is a large white duck developed as a local variety in
the vale of Aylesbury, in England. It has a flesh-colored bill, and legs
of a pale orange color. Although the favorite market duck in England,
and early known in America, it never became a favorite here.
The Muscovy Duck is, as has been stated, of a different species from our
other useful breeds. It is a native of South America and is supposed to
have been taken to Europe in the seventeenth century. It was probably
brought to North America from Europe less than a hundred years ago. It
differs from ducks of Mallard origin in several other particulars
besides the naked head with its bright-red, carunculated skin. The male
is very much larger than the female. The tail is longer and more
depressed. There is an entire absence of red pigment in the plumage. The
natural color is black and white, unevenly distributed. This variety is
called the Colored Muscovy Duck. Many specimens are nearly black. The
White Muscovy Duck is an albino variety. By crossing these two varieties
a blue variety is sometimes obtained, but, although Blue Muscovy Ducks
have been made at various times, fanciers have never taken enough
interest in them to encourage the originators to continue their
breeding.
The Rouen Duck takes its name from the town of Rouen, in the north of
France, though the type seems to have been common over quite a large
area and not peculiar to the vicinity of that town. It is like the
Mallard in color, and is just such a duck as by good care and selection
for size might be developed at any time from common ducks of that color.
Rouen Ducks are said to have been well known in the south of England
early in the nineteenth century. When they were brought to this country
is not known. Although for a long time they have been familiar to those
who attend poultry shows, and have been widely distributed in small
numbers, they have never been extensively bred because the Rouen, having
dark plumage, is not desirable for the production of young ducks for
market. When mature it dresses clean and the quality of its flesh is
unsurpassed.
[Illustration: Fig. 124. Rouen Ducks, Brook View Farm, Newbury,
Massachusetts]
The Cayuga Duck is an improved black duck developed about the middle of
the last century in Cayuga County, New York. Some early accounts of its
origin stated that it was a domesticated wild black duck, but it is much
more reasonable to suppose that it was developed by selection from black
and nearly black common ducks.
[Illustration: Fig. 125. Flock of Pekin Ducks]
The White Pekin Duck is a Chinese breed closely resembling the Aylesbury
Duck of England. It has an orange-yellow bill and legs. No large ducks
of other colors than white have ever been brought to this country or to
Europe from China. As far as is known, the importations from China to
England and the United States consisted of only a few birds and were
made about 1872-1875. Information about these is not very definite. The
most commonly accepted version is that they were brought to England in
1874 and to the United States from England in the following year, but
some accounts say that both England and America received them direct in
1873, and one account places the first importation to England in 1872.
The exact truth is not of importance in such a matter, but those who are
interested in the remarkable developments in duck culture which followed
the arrival of this breed in the Western World naturally wish to know
the facts. All accounts agree that there were only a few ducks brought
from China. In England the Pekin became quite popular at once. It was
hardier and more prolific than the Aylesbury, and was used largely in
outcrosses, to give vigor to Aylesbury stock. In America it became
immensely popular in a few years. It was found to be remarkably well
adapted to intensive methods of poultry keeping, and large duck farms
were built up; some of these made very large profits for long periods of
years.
The Indian Runner Duck is a small, active duck which originated long ago
as the common duck on the meadows of certain marshy districts in the
Netherlands. The peasants of these districts compelled their ducks to
forage for their food, and so developed ducks with a more upright
carriage and stronger legs than the other races. In the Netherlands
these ducks are of all colors.
[Illustration: Fig. 126. Indian Runner Ducks. (Photograph from owner,
Clayton Ballard, White Pine, Tennessee)]
Ducks of this type, in color white with fawn-colored markings, were
introduced to poultry fanciers in England in 1893 or 1894 as Indian
Runner Ducks. It was said that they had been first brought from India to
Cumberland fifty or sixty years before, and that ever since that time
they had been bred pure by a few breeders and more or less mixed with
the common stock of that section by many others. The story of their
history in England is much more plausible than that of their origin in
India. When the breed was shown on the Continent of Europe it was at
once recognized by fanciers there as an improved variety of a common
duck.
Compared with other ducks the Indian Runner is a remarkable layer, but
it does not, as many admirers of the breed claim, surpass fowls in egg
production, and the market for duck eggs is so limited that it is easily
overstocked.
[Illustration: Fig. 127. Flock of White Indian Runner Ducks. (Photograph
from Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of
Agriculture)]
Blue Swedish Ducks and Buff Orpington Ducks are simply color varieties
of an improved type of the common duck. There are several other quite
well-marked varieties in Europe that have not been seen in this country.
=Ornamental ducks.= The ornamental ducks of the same species as the
common duck, and derived either from common ducks or directly from the
Mallard, are the East India Duck, the Black, White, and Gray Call Ducks,
and the Crested White Duck. The Call Ducks are so named because their
persistent quacking makes them valuable for calling wild ducks within
range of the guns of hunters, and they are much used as decoys. They are
very small and were produced by dwarfing common ducks. The name "gray,"
to describe the colored variety, is misleading. The color is like that
of the Mallard but of a lighter shade. Some Mallards are quite as gray
as the average Gray Call Duck. The Black East India Duck is a dwarf
black duck differing so little from the Call Ducks as to leave no doubt,
in the mind of any one acquainted with the mysteries of making and
naming breeds of poultry, that, like the Call Ducks, it is of European
origin.
[Illustration: Fig. 128. Blue Orpington Ducks. (Photograph from owner,
Sunswick Farm, Plainfield, New Jersey)]
There are many ornamental ducks of other species, the most interesting
of which are the brilliantly colored Wood Duck (sometimes called the
Carolina Duck) and the Mandarin Duck, which, besides being gorgeously
colored, has a peculiar crest and has some of the feathers on its wings
oddly curved and spread, giving it a singular appearance. Specimens of
these ducks are almost always to be seen in a collection of fancy
waterfowl. The Wood Duck is a native of North America, the Mandarin Duck
of Northern China.
=Place of ducks in domestication.= It has been stated that if there were
no fowls, the duck would make the best substitute, but as we have fowls
in great variety, and as they suit us better than ducks for nearly every
purpose for which either might be used, ducks are not often kept in
place of fowls. Small flocks of ducks are kept in addition to a flock of
fowls, both on farms and by town poultry keepers, either because the
owner likes to have them about or to add to the variety of poultry meat
for home consumption. The flocks of ducks so kept are of comparatively
little economic importance. The ratio of ducks to fowls is only about
one to fifty, and the ratio of values of the products of these two kinds
of poultry is probably nearer one to one hundred. But when poultry
keeping is made a special business, duck growing gives the surest and
the largest profits, because ducks can be grown in large numbers more
easily than any other domestic animal. The largest permanently
successful poultry farms in the world are the great duck farms of the
United States.
[Illustration: Fig. 129. Black and White Call Ducks, Brook View Farm,
Newbury, Massachusetts]
To the fancier, ducks are decidedly less interesting than fowls, not
only because, as has already been stated, they present fewer superficial
characters upon which he can exercise his art, but because they are, on
the whole, less intelligent and less capable of developing confidence in
one who handles them. Fowls are much easier to handle in the way the
fancier must often handle his birds for thorough examination. As a
rule, a fowl quickly learns that it is not going to be hurt, and the
more it is handled the tamer it becomes. Young ducks are almost stupidly
fearless of the person who feeds them, as long as he goes among them
without touching them, but after he catches them they are as stupidly
shy. It takes very much more patience to handle ducks as a fancier
handles birds than the average human being possesses, and so very few
people find them satisfactory for pets after they cease to be a novelty.
Perhaps if the interest in the breeding of ducks for exhibition were
greater, stocks of ducks that were free from this timidity could
gradually be developed. Individual birds are often found which are not
at all shy; and, as a rule, persistent selection for any quality will
eventually make it a race characteristic.