The duck should always find a place in the poultry-yard, provided that
it can have access to water, even a small supply of which will suffice.
They have been kept with success, and the ordinary duck fattened to the
weight of eight pounds, with no further supply of water than that
afforded by a large pool sunk in the ground. In a garden, ducks will do
good service, voraciously consuming slops, frogs, and insects--nothing,
indeed, coming amiss to them; not being scratchers, they do not, like
other poultry, commit such a degree of mischief, in return, as to
partially counterbalance their usefulness. A drake and two or three
ducks cost little to maintain; and the only trouble they will give is,
that if there is much extent of water or shrubbery about their home,
they will lay and sit abroad, unless they are brought up every night,
which should be done. They will otherwise drop their eggs carelessly
here and there, or incubate in places where their eggs will be sucked by
crows, and half their progeny destroyed by rats.
[Illustration: ROUEN DUCK.]
The duck is very prolific, and its egg is very much relished by some,
having a rich piquancy of flavor, which gives it a decided superiority
over the egg of the domestic fowl; and these qualities render it much in
request with the pastry-cook and confectioner--three duck's eggs being
equal in culinary value to six hen's eggs. The duck does not lay during
the day, but generally in the night; exceptions, regulated by
circumstances, will, of course, occasionally occur. While laying, it
requires, as has been intimated, more attention than does the hen, until
it is accustomed to resort to a regular nest for depositing its eggs;
when, however, this is once effected, little care is needed beyond what
has been indicated.
The duck is a bad hatcher, being too fond of the water, and,
consequently, too apt to allow her eggs to get cold; she will also, no
matter what kind of weather it may be, bring the ducklings to the water
the moment they break the shell--a practice always injurious, and
frequently fatal; hence the very common practice of setting duck's eggs
under hens.
There are several _varieties_ of tame ducks; but their merits are more
diverse in an ornamental than in a profitable point of view. Of _white_
ducks, the best is the _Aylesbury_, with its unspotted, snowy plumage,
and yellow legs and feet. It is large and excellent for the table, but
not larger or better than several others. They are assiduous mothers and
nurses, especially after the experience of two or three seasons. A much
smaller race of white ducks is imported from Holland, useful only to the
proprietors of extensive or secluded waters, as enticers of passing wild
birds to alight and join their society. This variety has a yellow-orange
bill; that of the Aylesbury should be flesh-colored. There is, also, the
_white hook-billed_ duck, with a bill monstrously curved downward--a
Roman-nosed duck, in fact--with Jewish features, of a most grotesque and
ludicrous appearance; the bill has some resemblance in its curvature to
that of the Flamingo. White ducks, of course, make but a sorry figure in
towns or dirty suburbs, or in any place where the means of washing
themselves are scanty.
There are one or two pretty varieties, not very common; one of a
_slate-gray_, or bluish dun, another of a _sandy-yellow_; there are also
some with top-knots as compact and spherical as those of any Polish
fowl, which rival the hook-billed in oddity. What are termed the _white_
Poland and the _black_ Poland are crested; they breed early, and are
excellent layers; the former are deemed the most desirable though the
black are the larger.
Of _mottled_ and _pied_ sorts, there exists a great variety; black and
white, bronze and white, lightly speckled, and many other mixtures. To
this class belongs the _Rouen_--or Rhone, or Rohan, since each
designation has been used--duck, which has been needlessly overpraised
by interested dealers. This variety is highly esteemed by epicures; it
is a prolific bird, and lays large eggs; its size is the criterion of
its value. There is also a pied variety of the _Poland_ ducks, a hybrid
between the white and the black, the Beaver.
Another variety, known as the _Labrador_, the Buenos Ayres, or the black
East Indian duck, is somewhat rare and highly esteemed by dealers. They
are very beautiful birds. The feet, legs, and entire plumage should be
black; a few white feathers will occasionally appear. The bill also is
black, with a slight under-tinge of green. Not only the neck and back,
but the larger feathers of the tail and wings are gilt with metallic
green; the female also exhibits slight traces of the same decoration. On
a sunshiny spring day, the effect of these glittering black ducks
sporting in the blue water is very pleasing.
A peculiarity of this variety is, that they occasionally--that is, at
the commencement of the season--lay black eggs; the color of those
subsequently laid gradually fades to that of the common kinds. This
singular appearance is not caused by any internal strain penetrating the
whole thickness of the shell, but by an oily pigment, which may be
scraped off with the nail. They lay, perhaps, a little later than other
ducks, but are not more difficult to rear. Their voice, likewise, is
said to differ slightly from that of other varieties; but they are far
superior in having a high, wild-duck flavor and, if well kept, are in
deserved repute as being excellent food when killed immediately from the
pond, without any fattening.
Still another breed, known as the _Muscovy_ duck, is a distinct species
from the common duck; and the hybrid race will not, therefore, breed
again between themselves, although they are capable of doing so with
either of the species from the commixture of which they spring. This
duck does not derive its name from having been brought from the country
indicated, but from the flavor of its flesh, and should more properly be
termed the _musk_ duck, of which this name is but a corruption. It is
easily distinguished by a red membrane surrounding the eyes, and
covering the cheeks. Not being in esteem, on account of their peculiar
odor, and the unpleasant flavor of their flesh, they are not worth
breeding, unless to cross with the common varieties; in which case, the
musk drake must be put to the common duck. This will produce a very
large cross, while the opposite course will beget a very inferior one.