Morning journal and courier., 1889-04-12
Buck Raising.

Not much attention has been given in this country to duck raising until recent years, partly owing to the fact that wild ducks have
 been so plentiful that hunters have kept the
 markets very we'll supplied at the season
 when those birds are most in demand. The
 wild duck has almost disappeared from our
 markets and the introduction of the Imperial
 Pekin duck, together with the rapid strides
 in methods of artificial hatching has made
 duck raising an important and profitable
 industry. By forcing their growth while
 they are young their flesh is sweet. tender and juicy, and our city epicures are willing to pay very high prices for them in the spring.
 There are many advantages possessed by ducks over other domestic fowl. They are very hardy, are entirely free from vermin and are liable to few diseases. They take to confinement much better than fowls and cheap Every low) fence is sufficient to keep them in the desired place. They stand transportation, either alive or when dressed, better than most kinds of fowls. They are great egg producers, and their feathers are of
 considerable value, about fifty cents pound.
 If kept growing when young, the Pekin duck will commence laying when five or
 
 what less politically than when more ma- ture. They will moult slightly in December and soon after that will resume laying, pro- ducing one hundred and twenty to one hun- dred and forty eggs within year if well cared for. We have heard complaints of the unfertility of the earlier ducks eggs and have the impression that not until about Febru-
 ary 1, are they sufficiently fertile to be prof itable for matching.
 Ducks are not reliable sitters and for that reason, as we'll as because they are not as good mothers ss hens, it is better to allow hens to hatch the eggs and brings up the young ducks They should be fed much the same as young chicks for week or ten days, mixing their food with milk if it can be had. Feed five or six times 8 day on bread soaked in milk, table scraps mixed with chopped meat, lettuce, onion tops, cab- bsge, green rye, green corn (or any green stuff, with little salt and pepper added Ducks are gross feeders and eat almost every thing without injury. Care should be taken | the krbt few days to keep the ducklings warm and dry as they suffer more from cold and wet than chicks; after they week | or ten days old they will endure more of | either than chicks. Care should be taken, ! also, to provide shade from the hot sun, as | they suffer greatly from the heat. | Contrary to the general belief it is not ne- l ceesary- for ducks to have water to swim in and giving them all the water they need to drink is sufficient. It is advisable to have water dishes constructed that they can I drink freely without getting wet themselves and the water will have to be replenish- ed many times day.
 It is the early duck that commands the fancy price of forty to fifty cents pound and as they can be brought to weigh nine to ten pounds per pair at ten weeks old it | is easy too zee that there is large profit in them.
 Mir. Rankin Says: q keep nay breeding
 ducks warm and dry during winter to induce
 early laying, feeding them on equal quanti-
 ties or boiled turnips, corn meal, and wheat
 bran, and giving them all the green stuff
 they will eat in the shape of refuse cabbage,
 green rye, and ensilage. The young ducks
 commence laying about January first. My
 ducks are all matched and reared artiGcally
 and are put upon the market at a cost of
 five cents per pound"