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WILD DUCKS
[Illustration: _W.L. Colls. Ph. Sc._
"_The Fleet at Flight time._"]
WILD DUCKS
HOW TO REAR AND SHOOT
THEM
BY
CAPTAIN W. COAPE OATES
WITH 4 PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES FROM DRAWINGS
BY G.E. LODGE, AND 12 ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1905
All rights reserved
TO
MY WIFE
PREFACE
The main object of this book is to assist those who are anxious to rear
wild ducks on economical lines. The Author is not without hope that the
pages which it contains may even be of some use to old hands at the
game.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. SELECTION OF STOCK AND THEIR HOME 13
II. LAYING AND SITTING 25
III. HATCHING AND REARING 41
IV. SHOOTING 61
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES
_From Drawings by_ G.E. LODGE
THE FLEET AT FLIGHT TIME _Frontispiece_
ON GUARD _To face p._ 25
A TIDY MOTHER 33
QUITE TALL ENOUGH 61
FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
COMING IN TO FEED 16
THE CAGE 20
THE REARING PADDOCK 41
A SMALL RUN 46
WARE WIRE! 48
WIRED IN ON THE WATER 51
AN INEFFECTIVE CRIPPLE STOPPER 64
BEFORE THE EVENING MEAL 67
A RIGHT AND LEFT 69
AT THE END OF THE DAY 70
COMING ON A SIDE WIND 73
LADIES IN WAITING 74
SELECTION OF STOCK AND THEIR HOME
WILD DUCKS
CHAPTER I
SELECTION OF STOCK AND THEIR HOME
The first point to be decided by the would-be owner of wild-fowl is the
locality where he intends to turn down his stock.
Wild-fowl can undoubtedly be reared far from any large piece of water,
but I am strongly of opinion that birds do better on a good-sized
stretch of water with a stream running into it and out of it. Given
these advantages, the running water must be constantly bringing a fresh
supply of food, especially after a fall of rain sufficiently heavy to
cause a rise of water; further, if the stream which runs out of our lake
empties itself into a large river, the latter will, when it floods or
rises rapidly, cause our stream to back up and bring in a further
supply of food from the main river.
Some morning the ducks are absent from their accustomed haunts, and if
we walk up to the spot where the stream enters the lake, ten to one we
shall find our birds there thoroughly enjoying some duck-weed or other
food swept down by a rise in the water.
This supply of fresh food is a gratifying source of economy to the grain
bill at the end of the year, and it is most fascinating to watch the
birds "standing on their heads" in their endeavours to reach this change
of diet.
Another great advantage, too, is that a far higher percentage of fertile
eggs will be obtained if the ducks have a large piece of water at their
disposal.
Given these advantages, it is, however, most necessary for the birds to
have some shelter near the lake, both as a protection against the
weather and to serve as suitable nesting places.
Nothing, for instance, could be better than a stackyard or paddock in
the vicinity of the water, and if the paddock is bounded by a flood
bank or tall hedge, giving shelter from the prevailing wind, so much the
better.
Ducks love to nest in stacks, and I have known a pinioned bird work her
way up the side of a stack and make her nest fifteen feet from the
ground. In stacks birds can burrow so deep that no weather, however
inclement, can damage the eggs.
Outhouses too are very favourite places for ducks to lay in; also old
stick heaps and the bottom of thick hedges. My main point is this, that
if you take the trouble to regularly feed your wild ducks morning and
evening and keep them quiet, you will soon find that you can get them
_to lay where you want them to lay_, and the places you select will
naturally be those where they are secure, or nearly so, from their
natural enemies, such as rats, cats, weasels, moles, and other vermin.
This is the first secret of success.
I have seen wild ducks so tame that within a fortnight from the time
they first joined my own birds they were eating maize close to my feet.
Having obtained my piece of water and decided on the spot where I mean
to feed my birds, the next step is to get the breeding stock.
I consider that the best time to purchase the stock is December, as this
gives ample time for the birds to pair and get used to their
surroundings before the breeding season commences; one is almost sure to
get some cold weather in January, and the cold will make the birds more
dependent on the food given to them, and therefore more easily managed.
Next as to the stock and where to get it.
I advise you to obtain your birds from different places, two or three
birds from each place, taking care to get fairly young birds, and not
older than, say, two years. By this means you will get a certain amount
of change of blood, particularly during the second season, when the
different broods, which have been well mixed at hatching time, pick
their mates and breed.
[Illustration: COMING IN TO FEED]
I believe that this method is more satisfactory than buying eggs in the
first instance, as in the latter case you cannot tell for certain how
long the eggs you purchase have been laid, nor what the birds are like
which laid them. We next come to the question of the proportion of
drakes to ducks. On a small piece of water, one drake to every three
ducks will do very well, but if you have at your disposal a large lake,
I am strongly in favour of plenty of drakes, say fifteen drakes to every
twenty ducks. Most of the birds will pair, though occasionally one finds
as many as three drakes paying court to one duck, and one drake taking
away two or even three ducks.
It will generally be found, however, that if any of your ducks are
without mates, wild birds will soon come and pair with them, and this
is, of course, just what you want. I have adopted this principle for
some time, and practically all the eggs collected are fertile. It will
be found that at times--particularly whilst the ducks are sitting--the
drakes are a great nuisance, but at this period one can always catch
them and shut them up.
The next point to be considered is as to what food is best for breeding
birds, and I say unhesitatingly maize. There is practically no waste,
and you have not the mortification of seeing crowds of sparrows swoop
down on your ducks' food as you turn away.
Better still, ducks lay capitally on maize, and you may calculate on
obtaining an average of twenty-three to twenty-four eggs apiece from
your ducks if fed carefully.
You will find that strange ducks when they first join your own will not
eat maize, though they soon take to it when they see your own birds
feeding.
It is easy to tell the advent of a stranger by this peculiarity, and by
his generally alert and suspicious manner.
I am a strong believer in the infusion of fresh blood each year, and
this is easily done by catching a few stranger drakes and pinioning
them. These birds, if kept up until their wound is healed, and then
enlarged in good time, will pair with your own birds and often become
very tame. I did not find that pinioning strange ducks answered so well,
as they were very prone to stray and lay their eggs at a distance, and
their young were always shy and difficult to tame; moreover, the ducks
never bred the first year after pinioning, whereas the drakes did. It is
quite a simple matter to catch these wild birds; you have only to
construct an ordinary wire-covered cage, somewhere near the water, and
with the face nearest the water closed by a door; you then accustom your
own birds to feed inside this cage, and you will soon find that in
winter they will come for food as soon as it is light, or rather just as
day is breaking, always provided that you feed them at that time.
You have been careful to leave the door of the cage open over night, and
have put some maize inside the cage. A strong cord attached to the door
is passed across the doorway and round a wooden "runner" on the opposite
post, and then to the back of the cage, where your man lies concealed.
Often during severe weather, which is always the best for this kind of
work, your own birds will be followed by one or two strangers, who in
the half light come inside the cage before realising their mistake. Once
you get them inside the cage with their heads away from the entrance,
pull the string and shut the door. Care should be taken that the string
is fairly high up, so as not to catch the duck's eye. Having got your
birds safely inside, catch them quietly and quickly, and having pinioned
them, take them, if possible, to a cage with some part of it projecting
out into the water. You, of course, feed them regularly, and are careful
to give them some artificial cover to skulk in, as for some time the
pain of the wound and the fright they have had makes them terribly shy.
This cage, once constructed, is most useful for such work, and can be
built at trifling cost, and the size I would recommend is about fifteen
yards long by five yards wide, with a height of five or six feet. Your
own birds soon get used to their part of the business, and, if you are
quiet and quick, soon get over their nervousness.
The advantage of confining your captives for a short time is obvious.
They get used to their surroundings and recognise the lake as their new
home, and soon take to their diet of maize, so that when you liberate
them they rarely give much trouble, and readily mate with your own
birds.
[Illustration: THE CAGE]
One very important point which I have omitted to mention is the
necessity to kill down all rats, hedge-hogs, moles, and weasels in the
vicinity of your breeding places. Rats are the ducks' worst enemies, and
I have known one old doe rat which had no less than sixteen wild ducks'
eggs in her larder when she was dug out and killed. All these eggs had a
small hole in them, and were of course spoilt. We proved conclusively
that she had no partner in her crimes, as we never lost another egg
after her death. Rats are a perfect curse to young ducks, and they will
carry them off even when they are half-grown, occasionally killing two
or three ducklings in a single night without even taking the trouble to
remove them. On another occasion I remember a rat killing a duck whilst
sitting on her nest; the unfortunate bird had allowed herself to be
killed apparently without moving.
Moles do a good deal of damage by burrowing under the nests, thus
forming a cavity into which the eggs fall; they are then carried off by
the mole. More than this, many a duck is either put off laying or
induced to desert her nest when sitting owing to the restless movements
of this little pest.
A last word as regards the numbers you should retain as a breeding
stock. This largely depends on the size of the piece of water you own
and the amount of food it can supply to your birds. If your stock is too
large, your birds will do a lot of harm to the meadows adjoining the
water, and you must bear in mind that the possession of the goodwill of
the farmers round is the second secret of success. Ensure this, and you
don't get eggs stolen, and, better still, you are informed of the
whereabouts of any truant ducks that may be nesting away from home.
A present of a couple of fat wild ducks will cover a multitude of their
sins.
LAYING AND SITTING
[Illustration: _W.L. Colls. Ph. Sc._
"_On Guard._"]