house. The latter house is planned in a way similar to the former, with
the exception of the 30-inch brooders. When the birds are taken from
the warm brooder house they are three weeks old and of sufficient age
to withstand a cooler temperature. They do not need the extra heat of
the warm house, and in it would not grow nearly so well. The size of
pens in the growing house is larger, and the ducklings are not crowded
so many in a pen. If the birds are to be raised in colonies of one
hundred each, the accommodations should be ample for them. It has never
been proved to be good policy to crowd the growing stock; it retards
their growth and encourages disease.
The cold brooder house should have a system of heating if birds are to
be raised for an early market. The same system of pipes used in the
warm brooders should be run around the sides of the building, about 2
or 3 feet from the floor. This will give sufficient heat for the house
and keep the birds comfortable. These pipes may be connected with the
same heater used for running the warm brooder pipes. In the Northern
States, in extremely cold weather, raisers also use the heating pipes
in the warm brooder house in addition to the cold brooder pipes.
[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Plans of brooder.]
An excellent plan is shown in fig. 20 for the arrangement of the heater
for connecting the pipes in the warm and cold double brooder house. It
will be seen that the heater is placed in the center of the building;
the warm brooder house is shown on the right and the cold brooder house
with runs attached is shown on the left, and pipes, indicated by dotted
lines, run in both directions. This is the most economical house to
build and lessens the work in attending the stock. The room in the
center of the building will be found very useful and is generally used
as the feed room. The heater is in the cellar beneath this room. This
plan is used by one of the largest and most successful raisers of ducks
on Long Island, and it has his highest indorsement.
The building may be of any size, the plan being as successfully carried
out on a large scale as on a small one. If a small building is used at
first, it may be enlarged on either end to suit the growing business,
and extended upward of 100 feet in either direction, thus making the
building more than 200 feet in length. The heater must be considered,
when put in, with this object in view. A heater capable of heating the
200-foot house can easily be regulated to heat one of 50 feet, but a
heater that will heat properly only a 50-foot or 100-foot house would
be insufficient to heat the larger one.
Another difference between the cold brooder house and the warm brooder
house is that the former has outside runs attached. These runs are
used for feeding and watering when the weather permits, instead of
the feeding troughs inside the house. The ducks should be allowed the
freedom of the outside runs as soon as the weather is suitable. Ducks
like a life in the outer world, and they will grow more rapidly there
than when they are confined to the house.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Plans of a double brooder house.]
[Illustration: Fig. 20.--Plan of a double brooder house, showing
arrangement of beating pipes.]
Ducklings are kept in the cold brooder house until they are six or
seven weeks old, when they are transferred to large quarters known as
growing houses. It is here that they are pushed for the market until
they are 10 weeks old, when they are salable. There is no heat in the
growing houses, which are used only as a means of shelter during the
early spring months. When the weather is well advanced, the ducks
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 atmosphere will do more harm in a single
night than if they had not been housed at all.
[Illustration: Fig. 21.--House for growing Ducks.]
[Illustration: Fig. 22.--Two-pen house for growing ducks.]
[Illustration: Fig. 23.--Three-pen house for growing ducks.]
A Pekin duck at 10 weeks is quite large, weighing close to 4 pounds.
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 growing houses they will be marketed at the weight of 4
to 5½ pounds each. This weight is easily obtained, and when reached
the profitable time to sell has arrived, as they then command the best
prices. Often a bird kept after this time loses in weight and becomes
unprofitable. 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 other houses shown in figs. 22 and 23 may be built
singly or in rows, with 12-inch boards separating the runs.
SUPPLYING WATER.
[Illustration: Fig. 24.--Gutter water trough.]
As has been previously stated, water for bathing is not at all
necessary for growing ducks, but a liberal supply for drinking is
absolutely essential to their growth. The food of the duck is such as
to require drink when eating, as it is comparatively dry and can not be
eaten hurriedly as grain is. When feeding, always replenish the water
troughs or fountains with pure, fresh water.
A duck when feeding will eat a small quantity and go to the water
troughs, for drink, repeating this performance several times during the
meal. Conveniences for supplying drinking water to breeding and growing
ducks are varied, and almost any contrivance will answer the purpose.
When small numbers of ducks are kept, the simplest method of supplying
water is in wooden troughs. These may be built V-shape or with square
bottoms. They are shown in figs. 24 and 25.
[Illustration: Fig. 25.--Flat water trough.]
For smaller ducks, those kept in the warm brooder house, the fountain
plan is to be preferred, as the youngsters can not get into the water
and become wet or chilled. These fountains may be made of air-tight
cans for the reservoir and a tin plate 2 inches larger in diameter than
the can. A tomato can and an ordinary tin pie plate make an excellent
fountain. Remove the top of the can and punch a small hole in the side
about a quarter of an inch from the free top edge; fill the can with
water and place it inverted on the plate. The water will run out until
it reaches in the plate the level of the hole in the can. The plate
will not overflow and water will be supplied automatically.
[Illustration: Fig. 26.--Plan for supplying water by pipes.]
Some raisers use a pan--a pie plate, for instance--and place a stone
several inches smaller in diameter than the pan in the center, leaving
a margin for water around the edge.
When large numbers of birds are kept, it is of course necessary that a
system for watering be adopted for saving labor. A practical system in
use is where the water is supplied by 1-inch pipes and having a cock
in each pen directly over the water trough. Fig. 26 shows a diagram
drawing of this plan. The flow of the cocks is regulated by having
the one in the first pen run very slowly and gradually increasing the
flow of the water in each pen. Thus all the troughs will be full at
the same time. The pipe should rest on top of the fencing about 2 feet
high which divides the runs. This plan of watering can also be used in
brooder houses to good advantage.
FEEDING.
The food of the duck is both vegetable and animal in nature. In the
wild state it gathers its food from brooks and marshes, consisting
of flag, grasses, small fishes, water insects, etc. When the birds
are raised in confinement this diet must, in a measure, be imitated
to get the most satisfactory results. The duck has no crop, the food
passing directly from the throat to the gizzard, and as a consequence
the food must be in a soft mushy state. Too much hard food, such as
grain, does not agree with these birds and they can not thrive on it.
While some raisers use a small allowance of grain others do not, and
it has not been proved to be of any advantage to feed it. Soft food
is their natural diet, together with grasses, vegetables, and animal
food. The proper selection of the food is extremely important to secure
the rapid growth of the duck, and the ingredients of the food must
be such as will afford a well-balanced and substantial ration. As a
whole, it may be said that the rations used by the largest duck raisers
are essentially the same, differing only in the quantities used in
the mixing. Investigations show the real values of the food to be the
same for producing rapid growth and early development. The duckling
grows twice as rapidly and is a much heavier eater than the chick, and
to produce the best results its food must be such as will be easily
assimilated. The various methods of feeding given in this bulletin are
recommended for raising ducks successfully.
It costs from 6 to 12 cents a pound to raise a duck for market at ten
weeks of age. The cost of feed is from 4½ to 5 cents a pound, and
that of labor, etc., is from 4 to 8 cents a pound. It costs from $1.75
to $2.50 each to keep breeding ducks a year.
The three different methods of feeding ducks are as follows: (1)
Feeding ducks for market (ten weeks old); (2) feeding young ducks to
be kept as breeders; (3) feeding old ducks. The first method, for the
sake of convenience and to explain more fully the composition of the
rations, is subdivided into four parts, as follows.
(1) From time of hatching to five days old provide the following
mixture: Cracker or bread crumbs and corn meal, equal parts by measure;
hard boiled eggs, 15 per cent of the total bulk of crackers and meal;
sand, 5 per cent of the total of crackers and meal. Mix with water or
milk, and feed four times a day.
(2) From five to twenty days old, the following mixture: Wheat bran,
two parts by measure; corn meal, one part; rolled oats, 50 per cent of
this bulk; beef scraps, 5 per cent; sand, 5 per cent; green food, 10
per cent. Mix with water to a dry crumbly state and feed four times a
day.
(3) From twenty to forty-two days old, the following mixture: Wheat
bran, two parts by measure; corn meal, one part; beef scraps, 5 per
cent of this bulk; sand, 5 per cent; green food, 10 per cent. Mix with
water to a dry crumbly state and feed four times a day.
(4) From forty-two to seventy days old, the following mixture: Corn
meal, two parts by measure; wheat bran, one part; beef scraps, 10 per
cent of this bulk; coarse sand or grit, 5 per cent; green food, 10 per
cent. Mix with water to a dry crumbly state and feed four times a day.
The hours for feeding are 6 a. m., 10 a. m., 2 p. m., and 6 p. m.
Below is given another system of feeding ducks for marketing at ten
weeks of age. This system is practically the same as the one given
above, differing only in the ingredients used for the first two parts
or until the duckling is twenty days old. The method given below is
used successfully by one of the largest duck raisers on Long Island. It
is divided into three parts, as follows:
(1) From time of hatching to seven days old, feed equal parts by
measure, corn meal, wheat bran, and No. 2 grade flour, and 10 per cent
of this bulk coarse sand. Mix with water to a dry crumbly state and
feed four times a day.
(2) From seven to fifty-six days old, feed equal parts by measure, corn
meal, wheat bran, and No. 2 grade flour; 10 per cent of this bulk beef
scraps; 10 per cent coarse sand, and 12½ per cent green foods (green
rye, oats, clover, etc.). Mix with water to a dry crumbly state and
feed four times a day.
(3) From fifty-six to seventy days old, feed two parts by measure. Corn
meal; one part wheat bran; one part No. 2 grade flour; 12½ per cent
of this bulk beef scraps; 10 per cent coarse sand; 12½ percent green
food. Mix with water to a dry crumbly state and feed three times a
day--morning, noon, and night. Give last feed an hour before sundown.
When ducks are raised for breeders they are fed differently from those
intended for market. They are not forced so much as are the latter,
and less fattening food is given them. The corn meal and beef scraps
are reduced to one-half the quantity used in the above rations. The
following is an excellent ration: Equal parts corn meal, wheat bran,
green food, 5 per cent beef scraps, and 5 per cent coarse sand or grit.
A ration for breeding (laying) ducks is recommended as follows: Fifty
per cent, by measure, corn meal; 15 per cent wheat bran; 15 per cent
green foods (cooked vegetables, such as potatoes, turnips, etc.); 12
per cent beef scraps, and 8 per cent coarse sand or grit. Mix with
water to a dry crumbly state and feed twice a day, morning and night.
After the breeding season is over and the ducks have stopped laying
they are changed from this to the equal-parts ration, as given above
for ducklings from seven to fifty-six days old.
MIXING FEED.
The feeding stuffs should be mixed in a trough sufficiently large to
hold the quantity without wasting over the edges. First mix the corn
meal and bran together while dry; after these have mixed thoroughly,
making an evenly colored mixture, it should be moistened with water
and mixed to a dry, crumbly state. It should not be too wet or sloppy,
as it is then not so good for the fowls, neither can it be handled and
fed properly. Warm water should be used when the weather is excessively
cold. In a second trough place the green foods, such as cut rye, oats,
etc., and dampen with water; then mix the allowance of the No. 2 grade
flour with it. Thoroughly mix, so that the flour will completely cover
the green stuff. After this has been done mix the flour and green
mixture with the corn meal and bran mixture and add the allowance of
beef scraps and sand. When vegetables are used, they should be well
cooked before mixing in the rations.
The duck raisers on Long Island use large quantities of fish for their
breeding stock. This is known as the "fish diet," and is considered
as being very valuable to induce egg production. Where fish are cheap
they form an excellent substitute for beef scraps in the rations
for breeding ducks or ducks not intended for market, but under no
circumstances should fish be fed to stock that will be marketed. Fish
makes the flavor of the flesh strong and ducks fed on fish will not
have ready sales in the market. The fish are cooked by boiling in iron
camp kettles until well done, and then mixed, bones and all, in the
rations as given above for breeding ducks. When fish is used the beef
scraps are omitted.
HOW MUCH TO FEED.
The amount of feed needed each day for young ducks varies as much as
does their growth. Their growth averages a half pound a week, and to
make this increase of weight each week requires an additional quantity
of food over the preceding one. The rule is, feed each meal what they
will eat up clean with a relish, and do not allow them to linger over
the feed trough. It is better they should have not enough than too
much, as they will be in a much better condition to relish the next
meal. One thing is considered to be of as much importance as the feed,
and that is removing the feed left over and thoroughly cleaning the
troughs after each meal. This is scrupulously attended to by successful
duck raisers.
One raiser gives, as a generous allowance for one day's ration for one
hundred laying ducks, the following: For the morning meal, 35 quarts
of the mash, and for the evening meal 40 quarts, making a total of 75
quarts for the day's portion, or three-fourths of a quart to each duck
a day. Another raiser allows 400 quarts, fed in halves, twice a day, to
six hundred breeding or laying ducks, averaging two-thirds of a quart
to each duck a day.
There are many patterns of feed troughs in use, hardly any two being
alike. They are simple affairs, the simpler the better, as they are
more easily kept clean. The designs given for water troughs are equally
as good for feed troughs and answer the purpose very well. Each pen of
birds should have two troughs, one for water and the other for feed,
built proportionately to suit the age and size of the birds they are
intended for. Make them of sufficient length to avoid crowding, so that
all the birds in each pen will have ample room to eat at the same time.
OYSTER SHELLS AND GRIT.
Grit in some form is essential to ducks and should be kept before them
at all times. Many overlook this fact and do not seem to understand
that it is of as much value to them as it is to chickens. The sand used
in the mashes tends to supply a certain amount of grinding material or
grit to them, but does not fully satisfy them for digesting their food.
On a farm where more than ten thousand birds are raised annually, and
where disease is practically unknown, it was noted that in every pen
there was a box of grit and a box of crushed oyster shells. This raiser
states that he considers grit and oyster shells an absolute necessity
for ducks, and he attributes the healthy appearance of his stock to it.
His birds eat it freely and the supply is never allowed to run out.
KILLING AND DRESSING FOR MARKET.
There are two methods of dressing ducks for market, by dry picking and
by scalding. Both of these methods are good and are being successfully
employed by the largest raisers. Some have a preference for dry picking
and others for scalding, and it becomes only a matter of taste which
method is used. When birds are dressed by scalding they should be
dipped several times, or until the feathers come out easily. The back
should be dipped in the water first. After scalding, wipe them as dry
as possible with a sponge and pick the breast feathers first. A bird
when dressed for market has left on it the feathers on the wing, the
tail feathers, and the feathers on head and neck, as shown in fig. 27.
The legs are left on, and the birds are not drawn.
The process of dry picking is considered the simpler of the two
methods, and one who is accustomed to the work can readily dress 3
dozen birds in a day. The picker's outfit consists of a chair, a box
for the feathers, and a couple of knives, one knife being dull and the
other being sharp pointed and double edged, for bleeding. The bird
is taken between the knees, the bill held open with the left hand,
and a cut made across the roof of the mouth just below the eyes. The
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.
[Illustration: Fig. 27.--Pair dressed ducks (10 weeks old).]
The dull knife and the thumb are used to remove the long pinfeathers,
and this should be done without tearing the skin. The down can usually
be rubbed off 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
the birds are picked they should be carefully washed, and plumped by
placing in a tank or barrel of ice water. They are hardened in this 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 shipping and have
the empties returned free.
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 promoted and
everything done that will assist to increase the fertility of the egg.
Comfortable houses, cleanliness, pure water, and above all wholesome
and nutritious food, are the best promoters of health. The best stock
to be had is none too good, and it is erroneous to send the earliest
and best stock to market for the small increase in price, and save the
later and inferior stock for breeding purposes. A continuation of this
practice for a few years means degenerate stock, infertile eggs, weak
germs, and large mortality among the newly-hatched birds.
[Illustration: Fig. 28.--Duck picker.]
After an egg has been under incubation for thirty six hours, it will,
if fertile, when held to the light, show a small dark spot a trifle
larger than a pin's head. This little spot is the life germ and shows
the egg to be fertile. From this time the development of the germ into
the duckling can be plainly seen if the egg be held to a strong light.
On the sixth or seventh day the first testing of the eggs should be
made and all infertile ones taken out. The germ is very distinct at
this time, and there has been a gradual change going on in the interior
of the egg. The little spot has been constantly enlarging and becoming
more dense, and little veins are seen running in divers directions.
This is the appearance of an egg with a strong, live germ, which under
favorable circumstances will produce a duck.
An egg that is not fertile on the sixth or seventh day will be
perfectly clear and transparent; all such should be removed at
once, as it is useless to allow them to remain. Another kind of egg
often seen is a weak or imperfectly fertilized egg, and shows an
irregularly-shaped blood vessel, which had started but lacked vitality
enough to continue. Such an egg will not hatch and should also be
removed from the nest or incubator. Frequently the germ in an egg
will show life when tested on the seventh day, but lacks the vitality
to carry it through, and when tested later will show dark, irregular
blotches over the surface of the egg. These will not hatch, and should
be taken out when noticed.
On the fourteenth day the little creature inside the egg begins to
assume shape and show considerable life. It has increased many times in
size since it was seen on the seventh day; the red veins have become
more numerous and have spread over the entire surface, while the yolk
is scarcely distinguishable from the other portions. The pupil of
the eye has now become distinct, and the projection of the wings is
clearly perceived. The absorption of the yolk has also commenced, and
this will continue until the twenty-fourth day, when it will be nearly
completed. The egg from this time on will rapidly grow opaque, and at
the eighteenth or twentieth day is entirely so. On the twenty-fourth
day the duckling is ready to make its way out of the shell, and in
forty-eight hours after pipping the shell it will be entirely out.
NATURAL INCUBATION.
Hatching under the sitting hen (generally used for hatching ducks) is
what is termed the natural process of incubation. The hatching of eggs
by this means has always been followed, and no special skill is needed
for success, provided the eggs are well fertilized with healthy germs.
Many who raise ducks in large numbers, however, use almost exclusively
artificial means; some use both the natural and the artificial, while
others use the natural entirely.
Of the natural method we shall treat first: Hens of medium size of the
American class, barred Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes, are considered
the best for sitting. Nine duck eggs are about the right number to
place under a hen in early spring weather, but when the season is far
advanced as many as thirteen are used. The hens should be provided with
large, roomy nests, and slatted fronts that can be removed and replaced
easily when the hens are fed and watered. The nesting material should
be of hay or straw, and the nest should be slightly concaved; in the
bottom place a little finely cut hay.