New-York tribune., 1890-04-13
THE GROWTH OF DUCKLING
ITS LIFE FROM THE INCUBATOR TO THE
EPICURES TABLE.
HOW LABOR is DIVIDED AMONG ITS PARENTS
AND HOW ALL ARE KEPT IN CHEER
FUL FRAME OF MIND.
VIII a duck swim 7

poultry farm will not. This farm Is at Red Bank,
" j. and Is the largest Of its kind in this part OF the
country. Generations Of artificial breeding. artificial
incubation and artificial broodng have eliminated all
the natural instincts Of the Peksn ducks which nhao
the farm and they exist and with only one pur-
pose and that is TO furnish meal for epicues When
tho Columbia duckng is laid out on platter at Del
monico's with celery urncly laid near him ana bood'
warm Burgundy ready to wash his particles down ap'
preciatlve throats, his destiny Is fulfilled
The ducks on this farm are divided into TWO
classes the breeding nocks and the ocks Of ducknss
preparing for market All the breeding nocs have to
do to lay having done that all responsibility
on their part The incubator and the brooder
do the rest. Year after year tho ducks OF theso
breeding ocks have been carefully selected and bred
together with the single idea OF making them good
layers So successful has this been that every other
habit OF life seems to have been eliminated from ther
nature.
II is seldom that duck in the breeding hocks
wants to SET and when recently Mr.. Burr, the pro-
pretor the farm put tank OF water In one OF the
breeding pens tho ducks had TO be driven into IT, ana
when they got there were scared that they got out
again, heaping wild anathemas In ducK
language on the head Of Mr. Burr
for trying to drown them. But when 1t comes 10
the business of laying eggs these ducks are in their
element, and for about five months in tho year eacn
sclfrcspcctlng hard-workng member Of the flock WIZ
lay egg day.
HOW TIE BIRDS ARE CLASSIFIED.
The 500 ducks which compose the breeding focHs
at the Columbia farm arc kept during the breeding
season in long, low house divided into twpve coinr
partments Twelve yards Of which they have the
rum adjoin the compartments. They are divided into
twelve tribes in order to facilitate selection and OBJ
servation, for a duck that falls below the standaro
is eliminated. Mr.. Burr has been for five years cx-
perimenting with artificial incubation, and has finally
got it to a point which is nearly perfection
At first he read crude and scientific books on the
subject and set to work to his farm on the prln'
ciplcs laid down therein. Somehow ducks and scen-
tifc theories did not seem TO tbe Nature
objected Then he thought ne woulo
SEQ what observation and experience would do In tha
matter The result novel. successful and rat2nas
system which IS based on facts
Having got the breeding ducks to lay profcally ana
confne their attention entirely TO that one brancn
Of the business the next thing TO get eggs from
them best suited to the personal pcculiaritles ana
habits of life Of the incubators. 1t found that LII
order to make good egg shells, the ducks needed TO
be furnished with some sort Of sea shells as an
appetizer as it were, for their other food. oyster
shells were tried but the result was an egg with
shell so hard that the duckling which the ncueaors
tried to hatch gave up the struggle to get out Ok
his she'll and quietly settled down die before he had
fairly begun 10 live Finally. fine, brittle shells. COLI
ected Oh the seashore, tried. with the result OF
forming an eggshcIf Just firm and hard enough to eve
the duckling little healthy exercise when he PICKS
his way out under the genial warmth OF the IN
cubator.
Given the proper breeding focss and the proper
eggs the next problem was the management OF tho
lncubators II found absolutely necessary to have
perfect control Of the regulation Of tho Temperature.
An incubator house built partly Under grouho
so that the effects of sun and the variations OF 'ho
climate would have little effect. Twelve lncubators
in which are 5000 eggs are at work IN thls house'
x~nrfy ~
they have reievND the ducks which laid the eggs Ihs
incubators are heated by hot water. the heat coming
from above which arrangement has been found "
give the best results
WHAT THE TNCUBATORS CAN DO.
When duck sets on a nest Of eggs, and the cerm
n, life begins 10 grow in them evaporation takes place
through the porous shells and the water eliminated
from inside the shell leaves room for the embryo
duclSngs to grow. AS the incubation proceeds, the
broodng duck furnishes from her feathers an oil
which covers the shell and stops the
evaporation. Mr. Burr has accompnshe0
tho same results in his ncubators by regulating tho
moisture When the eggs first put In there is
only one pan OF water put in with thcm' but as the
process of incubation proceeds other pans are added
until the hot dry air which first filed the incubator
has been replaced by a moist atmosphere IN "hico
evaporation is almost impossible.
II was also found that duckngs grew IN the
eggs q large amount OF animal neat was sciieiaeco'
Ihi, rendered 1t necessary 10 diminish the eAerna'
appllcation Of heat and now the last day or TWO oS
tho Matching is done almost entirely by heat furnished
hv the ducklings themselves. The incubators are
kent at a temperature OF 102 degrees for the nrsr
twelve or fourteen days. After that slight variations
I'm temperature will do no harm. "hch 'ho
eggs begin TO hatch the temperature Is pns
up to 103 degrees, and kept there u"'A
all are out For thirty six hours after they arc
l,a.t in
Then they are taken TO the troodins mouse.
Tho broodinc house is nearly 200 feet long ana
pays the mother duck to $500 ducklng' at the same
time II is divided into pens COMMUNICATING , Mi.a
glass yards and here can oe d eG l Sdea OF accord
ng 10 their age. When one of tle ducks III e p yeu
Sot tedious Job is being taken oil her hands there.
and then catches sight OF the bro9d;ns mouse Wasn
hood he Is 50 grateful that she and lays another
ngy The brooding house is heated by hot "stes
heater aud kept at a uniform temperature
THE METHOD OF FEEDING
Once having got the duckllng Matched the next thna
is b prepare him for market which operation taxes ten
weeks At first the duchns receives bread and MIX ana
boiled eggs. As soon As lie has learned 10 eau anu
begins to gain strength he is put on Diet OF pran'
middlings and ''t;lc corn-mea This makes MS
frame grow In his third dietary stage he gets bran.
oats. middllngs little meal and ground meah
etc lie now has become sound Of Frame healthy
and firm Of flesh and magnes that he Is being 'rainca
uis frame ha, been nourishcd enough and whethcr
he nhcs il or not. he must stop growing and sette
down Ia the business OF getting fat. HIS supply oI
,Shcat and oats IS diminished and his supply OF
meal ard grr1nd 'noat incrcased. ,i.n, rna.w me no
meal and milk Then he is 1t for his maTtyrom
and fulfs his destiny on the tables or those wns
his system of feeding 10 Tribune reporter, We niss
rrow The frame OF the dnching and then fatten II.
IS,uId growth Is "A necessity 10 tender, JUICY meat.
Hi the food carefully cooked and IS fed nairsiy
lure corn meal wheat middlings and bran, ground
,ats pure meat and fresh vegetables grown on our
own farm make up the bill OF fare We also ie. .hen
cat grass as they grow older. am going TO try thc
cxrermcnt Of feeding them celery 20 see what enece
IL viii have on the favor Of tho meat It's mat whlon
cives the canvashacll his delicious favor dd dont
sec why il would add 10 the favor Of our dncklngs
ait is what the birds eat that makes the quality OF
the flesh We are careful about the water, too. ana
have the little fountains In the yards ana hrouinS
ouses so arranged that the birds can Only get tlelr
bills in the drinking trough
Tho success OF Mr. Burr In MS farm IS in,cfcstihg az
n is n field where many have tried and flleh
Ton heat Is used In the broodcrS al the Columbia